Flagpole from the 90s - freshen up

[Rolle85]

I have a fiberglass flagpole from the 90s. It's starting to get a bit flaky and green is growing on it. Can it be taken down and painted or something similar to make it smooth and nice again?

 

[Isakare]

I have a fiberglass flagpole from the 90s. It has started to become a bit flaky and green stuff is growing on it. Can I take it down and repaint or something similar to make it smooth and nice again?

Since it's fiberglass, you should go to a boat store, they'll have what you need to make it nice again and last a long time.

 

[Rolle85]

but it feels like this needs more than what the boat store has (I have a boat myself).

Does anyone have experience with what you have done?

 

[Isakare]

No, I have no experience with flagpoles, but I fixed up a gas box on a caravan.
Washed, sanded, applied gelcoat where the fiberglass was exposed, reinforced a crack with fiberglass cloth, filled, sanded, and painted with 2K lacquer.
Everything was bought at a boat shop.
If you just paint it with "regular" paint, you'll be back in a few years.

 

[Isakare]

If it feels too poor after washing and sanding it down, it's probably a good idea to apply fiberglass strips over the entire rod and brush on gelcoat before painting it, which also reinforces the rod.

 

[InsidersUnited]

I bought a fiberglass flagpole on Blocket a couple of years ago, it cost 1200 kronor, not many cans from a boat shop and you're easily up to double that...

Unfortunately, it seems that having a flagpole isn't popular anymore, so people are basically giving them away. Here's one for 300 kr for example https://www.blocket.se/annons/skane/flaggstang/1209528116

 

[Testarn]

but it feels like this needs more than what the boat shop has (I have a boat myself).

Does anyone have experience with what you've done?

Not flagpole but a boat that has been on land for a long time. Wash it off with algae wash and check for any cracks, repair with fiberglass putty or gelcoat filler (if you're not going to repaint) and sand down with fine sandpaper.
Then either rubbing, polishing, and waxing or painting with two-component paint.

If there are small cracks to be filled, they become practically invisible with filler and after-treatment with rubbing, polishing, and waxing.

 

[cpalm]

Anyone have experience with what you did?

I had high ambitions and bought some boat/gelcoat product and started rubbing it with a polisher, but it didn't turn out at all as I had imagined.

No problem blowing off the superficial dirt with the pressure washer, but the "polishing" basically had no effect at all.

I don't know if it's because I used the wrong product/technique, didn't have enough patience, if the surface ages differently in the environment, if it's a different type of gelcoat, or if the deterioration is simply too far gone. I'm also not a boat owner so I find it hard to relate to the equivalent work on a boat. But I didn't manage to achieve a shiny, water-repellent surface in any case, so it didn't take long before the lichen, black mold, dirt, or whatever it might be came back.

So for me, it's not worth it to put in the work unless the result becomes more durable.

 

[Rolle85]

which two-component paint are we talking about

 

[Testarn]

An example:
https://erlandsonsbrygga.se/epifanes-2-komp-polyuretanlack-vit-750-g/

There are probably more brands and suppliers

 

[Rolle85]

ok thanks

 

[Rolle85]

same as this?

https://www.biltema.se/bat/batvard/...oOq68Q9yFu_zkm6YBBYotD26F30ob7ixoCkpAQAvD_BwE

 

[Testarn]

same as this?

[link]

Well, the one from Feltema is a clear coat and the other one, which I linked to, is a white covering paint. I can't see that BT has any white 2k paint.

 

[Rolle85]

aha