NEWExplore America's campgrounds on our interactive map

How to Repair a Dent in a Pontoon Boat

How to Repair a Dent in a Pontoon Boat
Apr 16, 2010
2 minute read

Dents are an inevitable aspect of ownership when it comes to pontoon boats. Regardless of how careful you are, at some point you'll end up denting one of the pontoons during docking, and then have to decide whether to deal with an expensive and time-consuming trip to the marina to have it repaired, or just live with the dent. Another alternative is to remove the dent yourself using a dent-repair trick commonly used on automobiles.

Items you will need

  • Damp polishing cloth

  • Hairdryer

  • Outlet

  • Full air-duster

Step 1

Wipe down the dent on your pontoon boat with a damp polishing cloth. Plug your hairdryer into an electrical outlet so that it reaches the dent with enough slack in the cord to move the hairdryer back and forth across the entire dent. Find a place for the air-duster canister within easy reach, because you need it immediately after heating the dent with the hair dryer.

Step 2

Turn the hair dryer on to its highest power and heat setting. Position the hair dryer so the nozzle is no more than one inch away from the dent on the pontoon boat, but do not allow the hair dryer to actually touch the boat. Slowly move the hair dryer back and forth across the dented area for one minute, heating the dent. Turn off the hair dryer.

Step 3

Hold the air-duster canister and and quickly turn it upside down with the top facing the ground. This will cause the air-duster to dispense liquid carbon dioxide instead of compressed air. Spray the entire heated dent with liquid carbon dioxide for 30 seconds.

Advertisement

Step 4

Wait two minutes until the extreme temperature difference between the heated dent in your pontoon boat and the liquid carbon dioxide causes the dent to pop right out.

Step 5

Wipe off any remaining liquid carbon dioxide with your damp polishing cloth.

Elizabeth Grace

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Elizabeth Grace is a freelance writer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in public relations from Pepperdine University, and has 15 years of experience developing marketing campaigns for universities and…

Sponsored
Gone Outdoors Logo

Explore the outdoors with the best source for fishing, boating, camping, hunting, firearms, electronics, trailers and towing, maintenance and much more.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.