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Guys, I know I've seen the answer 100 times on here but my searches didn't get me good results. I have about 20 snaps for bow cushions on my 20' outrage. These screws are loose and a few have stripped out of the fiberglass. I have them all out this winter to dry as much as possible. I want to fill holes and re-drill for new snaps. I hear guys talking 5200, 4500 etc.. what's the best option? Fire away!

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Epoxy thickened with wood flour or cabosil.
Make sure your pilot holes are tapered so the screws don't crack the epoxy. Then dip your screws into your sealant of choice.

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Because you are working with the bow deck area, where at some future time the bow cushion detail might be removed, I would not use Epoxy since you can't later gelcoat over it. And even if I was going to use an epoxy based product, I would use white Marine-Tex. But not in this sitation.

In this case, I would drill out the holes twice the diameter of the snap screw, and fill with Evercoat #27, a white polyester resin based filler that can be gelcoated over, if ever needed. Sand flush and buff out. Then re-drill for the snap screw. The snap base will cover the diameter of the fill, so no white will show.

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While some will disagree with me, let me say there no practical reason to use an adhesive like 3M 4200 or 5200 for filling holes.

An adhesive is for bonding two materials together.

In my 10 years of owning whalers and many hours of restoration and repair,I have never purchased either of these products.

I don't want to start a debate, rather clarify what product is appropriate.

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Open up the holes a little and glue in some hardwood golf tee's. Once the epoxy is dry trim them flush and sand. It's cheap and works great. And being hardwood it holds screws very well.

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I would say marine tex or a similar polyester filler. I used marine tex to repair the srew holes for my Bimini.

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Great discussion, learning a bit more all the time, thanks guys.

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I had several scattered holes in the walls of the montauck I recently purchased. I took a countersink bit and drilled the hole deep enough for a stainless flat head screw to be flush and screwed them in along with a sealer. It makes a clean look and most don't know they don't belong there.

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For repair of screw holes located in the non-skid areas, I've been using an Express Composites product called PVA, (Poly Vinyl Alcohol)
It is a paintable film which can be brushed around the hole to be repaired. When cured, he film will keep the the excess filler material out of the non-skid pattern.
Upon the filler material drying, the film can be then pulled off or washed away with warm water.
Its performed as a better alternative to taping off the non-skid area.

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Seems like everyone has their own magic repair process.

The deck on the 16-7 I am restoring was like swiss cheese with holes from two different consoles, two different seats / posts, battery boxes and...... Most were filled with silicone...

Nonskid too shot and crazed for a perfect restore ( and it is a BSA boat) so will resort to non skid paint for final finish with Gel on the smooth.

My technique was to overdrill to "fresh meat" and fill with Gorilla glue. The stuff works great and the bit of moisture in the hull actually helps it kick. Then with a big drill bit or counter boar open up a shallow cone hole again and fill with thickened west. After grinding off flat...ready to paint.

I had a big thru hull also that I removed from a bait tank pick-up. Top big hole ~2.5" in deck and 1/2' hole in hull with the foam dug out. I plugged the bottom hole with a bung and filled the foam void with the densist spray foam I could find. Epoxy mish mash over that making sure to undercut below the deck for a sound bond. Another grind and then a layer of west and matte over the top...

Presto! Sealed deck again!!

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If we go back to the original question/problem, we have some small screws holding some snaps in place for attaching a cushion. Some of them have become sloppy. They are hardly under very much stress. A little bit of any kind of thickened epoxy in the hole is going to fix this problem.