Jump to content

Boat Painting

Chalky White

By Chalky White
in Boat Building & Maintenance

 Share

Featured Posts

matty40s Veteran II

matty40s

Posted
Posted (edited)

as I recall July was about as humid as the sahara.

Good painters to not blame the weather, they wait until the weather is right or they can control the conditions. If that means they are painting at 4am -7am and 8pm -10pm in high summer, then thats what they have to do.

 


 

Edited by matty40s
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Leo No2 Rising Star

Leo No2

Posted
Posted

My experience, having had my boat painted in June last year, is that certain additives were taken out of all paints, (EU law I think but I stand to be corrected) which seemed to encourage the phenomenon of micro blistering or so I was told by the person who painted my boat. Originally there was no advice given to those who bought the paint. I was lucky enough, to the best of my knowledge, not to experience micro blistering, but I believe it is a nightmare for the painters and can only be 'guaranteed' not to occur if the boat is painted in a heated environment.

 

You've not said what the issues you are facing are I only offer the above as one of the things that can cause issues and painting (of any kind) is not my specialist subject.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dave moore Influencer

dave moore

Posted
Posted

Hi

 

I've worked with many coach painters over many years and I've yet to come across a cowboy outfit. Those I've worked with have striven to do a good job in sometimes difficult circumstances and their last wish is to have a job bounce back....indeed, it's put several out of business.

 

A good job isn't cheap, partly on account of the time needed to remove Windows, fittings etc, make good from bare steel upwards, before building up many coats of paint. It's an exacting, tedious and arduous process and painter's often have to try and correct earlier cock ups. It's not unusual for issues to emerge that may not have been apparent at the start.

 

If, and I've no idea of what was paid for the job in question, it was bottom end, then the preparatory work could well have been slumped and I'm not surprised to learn of problems. I'd like to know more but not just to give the painters a kicking. You have to work with these people to understand the difficulties that can arise, problems I'm well aware of. And, after several weeks of hard work, I go in and steal the glory in a couple of days with a lettering job....I've been told this more than once!!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kevinl Rising Star

kevinl

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

What question? He didn't ask any questions.

Makes perfect sense to me, the OP says "you get what you pay for" implication he didn't pay much so QED he got a less than satisfactory job, pay peanuts get monkeys and all that. Now he's asking why he didn't get perfection at a cut price, answered his own question like wot she said.

K

Sorry "she" is a bit impersonal I meant GoodGurl

Edited by kevinl
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Phil Speight Rising Star

Phil Speight

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

My experience, having had my boat painted in June last year, is that certain additives were taken out of all paints, (EU law I think but I stand to be corrected) which seemed to encourage the phenomenon of micro blistering or so I was told by the person who painted my boat. Originally there was no advice given to those who bought the paint. I was lucky enough, to the best of my knowledge, not to experience micro blistering, but I believe it is a nightmare for the painters and can only be 'guaranteed' not to occur if the boat is painted in a heated environment.

 

You've not said what the issues you are facing are I only offer the above as one of the things that can cause issues and painting (of any kind) is not my specialist subject.

 

Oh no - not another one ! Forgive me please - but perhaps you would seek out my last several contributions here on the subject of micro-blistering - there is so much to say on the subject that I aren`t going to start all over again here. I will repeat however that the alkyd enamels we all use on boats were exempted from the 2010 legislation. Very few painters are willing to acknowledge that most micro-blistering problems are not paint related. Note; I say most - not "all". Why don`t customers ask why , if the paint is no longer to be trusted, do the painters continue to use it and while fully intending to use it disclaim any responsibility if it goes wrong? There`s a lot of convenient drivel being presented as fact out there. There are problems yes and all concerned should take their fair share of responsibility and work to find solutions. As for "no advice" being given - well guys, learn your trade and use your brains. You are the ones at the sharp end and paint may behave a little differently in the hostile environment in which many of us work. That is one area where the painters have more experience and first hand knowledge than the paint technicians. They need to deal with their chosen environment which most accept is less than ideal using the materials most of us do.

Edited by Grace & Favour
cleaned up the formatting
Link to comment
Share on other sites
kitman Community Regular

kitman

Posted
Posted
As for "no advice" being given - well guys, learn your trade and use your brains. You are the ones at the sharp end and paint may behave a little differently in the hostile environment in which many of us work. That is one area where the painters have more experience and first hand knowledge than the paint technicians.

 

Couldn't agree more. One of the main obstacles to improving the situation is the reluctance of boatyards and painters to introduce the practice of record keeping when applying paint.

 

These records document the environment, date, time and type of paint. This practice has been recommended to me by all paint companies because it actually helps research into why paint fails occur. I can remember being advised to do this by epiphanes, blakes/hemple, international and craftmaster, in fact they have been recommending it for years. However I only know two painters who actually bother, and I'm one of them! So not much take up on that one. The paint reps and techs do give good advice, but whether painters listen or not is up to them.

 

So in regard to the statement 'no advice was given', I've just passed on some good advice right here. If you are serious about narrowboat painting in the 21st century then take records. If more record keeping was done then paint companies and painters might be closer to a workable prevention of microblistering.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LEO Influencer

LEODonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

 

Couldn't agree more. One of the main obstacles to improving the situation is the reluctance of boatyards and painters to introduce the practice of record keeping when applying paint.

 

These records document the environment, date, time and type of paint. This practice has been recommended to me by all paint companies because it actually helps research into why paint fails occur. I can remember being advised to do this by epiphanes, blakes/hemple, international and craftmaster, in fact they have been recommending it for years. However I only know two painters who actually bother, and I'm one of them! So not much take up on that one. The paint reps and techs do give good advice, but whether painters listen or not is up to them.

 

So in regard to the statement 'no advice was given', I've just passed on some good advice right here. If you are serious about narrowboat painting in the 21st century then take records. If more record keeping was done then paint companies and painters might be closer to a workable prevention of microblistering.

 

 

Wise words, God, the 21st Century reaches the end of the Brinklow Arm...

 

Coach Paint still looks good on my boat and I recall the fun we had in turning her at the 'end of the Arm' (don't give up the day job Chris).

 

Would love to see the spec the OP's painters worked to, before 'bad mouthing' them let's see see more details.

 

Don't hurry painters - leave the boat with them for a couple of months, they can choose then weather etc. and get the best results.

 

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mark99 Veteran II

mark99

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've perhaps mentioned this before but when we painted external industrial steel/metals (incl a pipe bridge over the Thames) with a blast and 4 coat sytem, we used a rigorous tried and tested paint spec - only painted in the painting season (warm months) and employed paint inspectors who had the final say on when painting started and finished and sentanced (by measurment) adequacy of blast finish, film thickness and coverage. They always logged everything and they were always checking/logging humidity, dewpoint and temp measurements and those records were kept as part of final handover.

 

I'm not suggesting paint inspectors are needed on narrowboat coating (costs too much!) but to illustrate how industry sometimes does it.

 

NB Paint Inspectors were sometimes muliskilled in that they were also Weld, Coat and Wrap Inspectors too - accreditation of weld, coat wrap and paint inspectors was administered via Lloyds of London.

Edited by mark99
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Phil Speight Rising Star

Phil Speight

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yo Kitman !

I feel the need, now I`ve had a brew and a think , to say that my tirade was not against painters in general- just the ones who , being presented with a micro-blistered boat , will not accept that they could be at fault in any way. As a default position it absolutely sucks to be honest. Even when I was younger and more mentally agile I would have struggled to count all the ways micro-blistering can be caused. The problem is ( or rather, ONE of the problems is ) that the blisters generally look exactly the same whatever the cause. No one can look at one boat, offer a cause for the problem and then automatically apply the same reasoning to every other boat that has the same symptoms.

 

Oh yes ! Suppose ( just suppose ) that a material had been produced which wpuld greatly help to reduce the incidence of micro-blidtering Who doesn`t think that the first thing a number of painters would say would be " See, I told you the existing paint was at fault ! So , if you were a paint company would you perhaps be extremely reluctant to lay yourself open to all thcr*p that would then ensue ?

 

Incidentally I do wish the OPwould tell us how much he/she paid for the paintjob and what`s actually wrong with it. £ 2000 TO £10,000 eh ! Which end of the scale are we looking at here - since either could be justified.


Hi

 

I've worked with many coach painters over many years and I've yet to come across a cowboy outfit. Those I've worked with have striven to do a good job in sometimes difficult circumstances and their last wish is to have a job bounce back....indeed, it's put several out of business.

 

A good job isn't cheap, partly on account of the time needed to remove Windows, fittings etc, make good from bare steel upwards, before building up many coats of paint. It's an exacting, tedious and arduous process and painter's often have to try and correct earlier cock ups. It's not unusual for issues to emerge that may not have been apparent at the start.

 

If, and I've no idea of what was paid for the job in question, it was bottom end, then the preparatory work could well have been slumped and I'm not surprised to learn of problems. I'd like to know more but not just to give the painters a kicking. You have to work with these people to understand the difficulties that can arise, problems I'm well aware of. And, after several weeks of hard work, I go in and steal the glory in a couple of days with a lettering job....I've been told this more than once!!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

 

 

Hi

 

I've worked with many coach painters over many years and I've yet to come across a cowboy outfit. Those I've worked with have striven to do a good job in sometimes difficult circumstances and their last wish is to have a job bounce back....indeed, it's put several out of business.

 

A good job isn't cheap, partly on account of the time needed to remove Windows, fittings etc, make good from bare steel upwards, before building up many coats of paint. It's an exacting, tedious and arduous process and painter's often have to try and correct earlier cock ups. It's not unusual for issues to emerge that may not have been apparent at the start.

 

If, and I've no idea of what was paid for the job in question, it was bottom end, then the preparatory work could well have been slumped and I'm not surprised to learn of problems. I'd like to know more but not just to give the painters a kicking. You have to work with these people to understand the difficulties that can arise, problems I'm well aware of. And, after several weeks of hard work, I go in and steal the glory in a couple of days with a lettering job....I've been told this more than once!!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

Ah yes - The Glory Boys !

Edited by Phil Speight
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.