How to repair your surfboard by material: PU, EPS and softboards

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Sooner or later your board will take a hit: a rock, someone else's fin, the rail against the car door. A small ding isn't serious if you fix it in time. What ruins a board is surfing it with an open crack: the foam soaks up water, turns yellow, gets heavier and eventually delaminates. This guide explains how to fix the most common dings depending on what your board is made of, and when it's worth handing it to a professional.

First, what is your board made of?

There are three main materials, and each one is repaired differently:

• PU (polyurethane foam + polyester resin): the "classic" board. The foam is white and fine, and there's usually a wooden strip down the middle (the stringer). When it breaks, the resin cracks in fine lines.
• EPS (expanded polystyrene foam + epoxy resin): lighter and more buoyant. Look inside a ding and the foam is made of little beads, like packaging polystyrene. Often the board says epoxy or EPS.
• Softboard: soft foam deck and a slick plastic (HDPE) bottom. It's repaired with glues and patches, not resin.

If you're not sure, look the model up on the brand's website or ask the shaper who made it: you'll find their contact details in the directory.

The golden rule: polyester on PU only

Polyester resin dissolves EPS foam. Put it on an epoxy board and you'll eat a hole instead of filling one. Epoxy resin, on the other hand, works on both EPS and PU boards.

So if you don't know what your board is made of, or you own both types, always buy an epoxy kit.

On the beach: emergency ding tape

If you ding your board mid-trip or in the middle of a good session, the quick fix is emergency ding tape: a waterproof adhesive tape (aluminium or vinyl) that covers the crack and keeps water out. Dry the area, clean off wax and sand, and press the tape down firmly from the centre outwards. It lasts several sessions, but it's temporary: as soon as you can, peel it off, let the board dry and repair it properly.

The other beach option is UV-cure resin: a ready-mixed putty or resin that hardens in a few minutes in sunlight. It works for small dings and comes in an epoxy version that's safe on any board.

Repairing a PU (polyester) board

1. Let the board dry completely, ding facing down, somewhere dry and shady. If the foam looks dark, water has got in: it can take several days.
2. Clean the area: scrape off the wax, wipe with a little solvent, and sand around the ding with 80-grit paper so the resin bonds.
3. Fill missing foam: mix resin with micro-balloons or chopped fibre into a putty, fill and let it harden.
4. Lay the fibreglass: cut one or two patches of cloth slightly larger than the ding, lay them on and wet them out with catalysed resin, pushing out bubbles with a spreader.
5. Sand and hot-coat: apply a final coat, let it cure and sand with progressively finer grits (120, 240, 400) until the surface is flush.

Wear gloves and a mask and work somewhere well ventilated: polyester resin gives off strong fumes. And unless your kit is UV-cure resin, keep it out of the sun while it cures.

Repairing an EPS (epoxy) board

The process is the same as for PU, with three important differences:

• Use epoxy resin only, never polyester.
• Stick to the mixing ratio (resin to hardener, usually 2:1 or 1:1 depending on the brand). With epoxy, "adding more hardener so it sets faster" doesn't work: if the ratio is off, it won't cure properly.
• It cures more slowly (from several hours to a day). In return, the repair is stronger and yellows less.

EPS boards have an extra risk: because the foam is open-cell, water that gets in spreads more easily. If the board feels heavier or sounds hollow when you press around the ding, take it to a repair shop.

Repairing a softboard

Softboards have no resin, so they're repaired differently. Cuts in the foam deck are closed with a flexible glue (contact or neoprene adhesive). Scratches in the plastic bottom can be left alone; if the bottom peels or splits, there are specific kits with HDPE patches and adhesive. Dry the inner foam well before gluing: if water stays inside, the board rots.

When to take it to a repair shop

Small dings on the deck or bottom can be fixed at home. Leave it to a professional if:

• The board is snapped or has a crack running right through the rail.
• A fin box or the leash plug has been ripped out.
• There's a large delaminated area (the glass lifts off the foam and forms a bubble).
• The board is expensive or special: a custom from a shaper, a wooden board or a competition board.

Many shapers in the directory also do repairs, and there are specialist repair shops in several surf regions. A professional repair of a normal ding usually costs €20–60; a fin box, €40–80; and a snapped board, from €100.

Is your board beyond saving? It's a good time to talk to a local shaper: the directory lists more than 200 across Europe. And if you travel a lot, read our guide to travelling with your board.