You accidentally bumped into your neighbour in the water, dropped your surfboard, your niece ran into it at home or it had a rough treatment by the baggage carriers at the airport. Dings and cracks are all part of surfing and are inevitable when working with hardware. Get your surfboard fixed again. Just follow our easy Do It Yourself Guide and you will be surfing on your fixed surfboard in no time.

We will guide you through the different possibilities, what to use and the costs of fixing your surfboard. The fix will depend on the severity and sort of damage to the board, but we will go over the main damages.

Minor dings on surfboards are easy to DIY. If you leave a ding for too long, the performance of your board will be affected and water will enter your surfboard. Firstly, figure out if the board is made of Epoxy or PU. This matters for the resin you will use to fix the ding. If you have an epoxy board, fix the ding with epoxy resin from the Epoxy Repair Kit. If you have a PU board, fix the board with polyester resin from the PU repair kit. If you are going on a surf trip, it is advised to purchase a Travel Repair Kit for your next adventure which can fix both PU and Epoxy boards and is airplane-safe!

Step-by-step beginner guide to fixing a snapped surfboard

1. Clean your board - Remove all wax, sand and water. 
2. Materials - Lay out all the materials you need for the repair, perhaps put some old newspapers under the surfboard, to create your working space. 
3. Locate the dings and cracks - Locate all the dings and cracks you want to fix, we advise putting a post-it next to them, or taping them off with duct tape so you do not forget where they are. 
4. Put pressure on the ding - if there is no water coming out of the ding, you can proceed. If there is, you will need to let it dry out first.
5. Remove area - If the area is significantly big, or chipped, you might need to remove the “bad” area completely with some light machinery, before applying resin. If you are unsure of what you are doing, it is best to see a specialist. If the ding is smaller, you can get away with putting the resin on the ding directly.
6. Sand the area lightly - If you have cut out the bad spot, sand the area roughly and place a fibreglass cloth in the bad spot and cut it to size (if it is a big ding or hole)
7. Apply resin - Apply the resin from the above-named repair kit with the wooden stick, making sure to cover the hole ding and wear gloves. 
8. Cover the spot with a plastic sheet - This will mould it into the shape of your board.
9. Expose the area to sunlight - This will harden the resin. 
10. Sandpaper - Once dried, remove the excess resin with the sandpaper to create a flat surface.

How to repair a foam surfboard

If you find your foam board with cuts and gashes, it is best to use Phix Doctor Soft Phix Softboard Repair Kit sold in-store at Sideways. This polymer substance binds to all soft board materials and is UV resistant. It is meant to fill deep holes, gashes and delaminations on your soft board. When applied to the holes, it will take approximately 24-48 hours, until you can take your beloved foamie into the water again. Easy does it!

How Much Does it Cost to Repair a Surfboard?

Do It Yourself Repair Kits, are approximately between 20$ and 30$ AUS. If you would bring your board to a specialist, you might spend between 50$ and 150$ AUS for dings and cracks and longer waiting times. However, a specialist will fix your board up professionally.

What to do with a snapped board?

If you are no expert in surfboard repair, it is best to bring your snapped board to a specialist to see if it is worth salvaging or not. Repairing snapped boards may be costly and time-consuming. You can always have a crack with the many YouTube videos available. Your board, once repaired, will probably not surf the same as before and it is best to start looking at a new surfboard. Check out our Sideways collection of shortboards, longboards and mini-malibus, for the next best thing!