AndyP

HI it hasn't been delivered yet in any directorate or statement but we're being advised that these products won't be able to be produced very shortly and even with wet coatings there is a move towards water based or water based crosslinker products that show it is already happening in the industry.

Hi yes we've seen this one Ballastic? it does appear that you can coat over bitumen with this one. I don't have any experience of how it actually performs but I guess from a paint manufacturer point of view I can only advise if a customer advised they had placed a paint over a previous coating then the new say the new coating failed. You would never advise the failing is with the new coating as the surface has had insufficient preparation. So I guess it could be seen to a diyer to save time and if all goes well then great. If there is a failing across the entire hull then it would definitely be a 'on your head be it' clause if you admit to placing it over a previous coating without surface preparation back to the original substrate. horse for course perhaps on that one !

Hi @seadog yes think a good pressure wash and some back breaking scraping of the blacking is prob the best way to go for the diy'er (light blasting if you have it on drydock and are paying someone). The residual bitumen issue yes no big tips round it other than elbow grease as you want the surface as good as possible for the new coating but perhaps if you see it that bitumen blacking won't be around in the very near future unless you have a stockpile you'll be doing it at some point soon anyway. The 2 pack don't forget can be brushed and rollered on if you use a product like Jotun Jotamastic 90 on the hull and if you choose wintergrade rather than standard (still a 2 pack , still brush or roller) then it dries quicker, protects against a more severe marine setting (ie: its often used to protect the legs of oil rigs) so you get a better coating, with better marine properties If you also look at the cost paypack then these coatings will last 10-15 years against a blacking of about 2 so a no brainer really. Saw an interesting comment above about the FOMO fear of missing out - as in the boat owner likes to have the boat out to check every two years for damage and then do the blacking. Don't think there is anymore risk of damage with 2 pack coatings as there is blacking so if you really want to take the boat out every 2 years then do and just touchup if neccessary with a brush or roller...and enjoy more time looking after the aesthetical side of the boat rather than the boring maintenance areas!

Hi @DHutch thought i'd tagged you into the original post - please see above br Andy

Hi Tony thanks for the comment the only additional I can comment is - we tend to provide coatings and training for organisations like the MOD, tanker companies etc in term of our boating experience. As you say rightly 'blacking' is being phased out as (I'm a former oil man) and can advise it is hideously bad for the environment and is graded a low bi-product of oil and as such isn't filtered as rigorously as other blends. The govt has therefore clamped down on this rough blends as they are known because they contain too many polymers and 'dirty' branch connectors at the microscopic level that cause colossal damage to the environment. That said it's also a very inefficient product - it is very difficult to apply in an even paint film thickness ratio and it's nature to retain moisture and flexibility means it inevitably scrapes off far quicker than traditional coatings. As you say as the tops of boats, decks etc have and still are traditionally painted anyway it makes sense to bring freshwater boats into the 21st century with more robust paint systems such as Jotun J90 as a primer and undercoat and top it with something like Jotun Hardtop (which can also be used for the above waterline areas). Maintaining a same brand paint system is always advised as they react less negatively with each other and have been designed for best protection performance and aesthetics. Yes with self-build marina spraying the 2 Pack spraying isn't always viable, but most Jotun paints even the two packs can be rollered on or brushed on which makes them so dynamic for boat painters. If the 2 pack nature still worries some and the applied respiratory complications it can cause without the proper respiratory protection. Then there are now Isocyanate free 2 pack paints available that can be sprayed with standard equipment and in open air. Hope that gives a bit of background as to why we suggest the painted coating system methods now even for freshwater owner / self builders as the pro equipment and systems that we used to exclusively offer to the pro's are now being made available to a wider market and making techniques such as blacking redundant. br Andy

it wasn't really our intention to advertise - we were advised by a member John Gregory who we helped with our tech advice to paint his boat correctly seems a lot of people are still tarring boats which is a pretty old practise. He thought it might be a good place for us to swap some ideas on poeple trying other paints and techniques that we might be interested as a trade off. We're more than happy not to be here though if the articles aren't welcome ? If so please just delete my login @admin br Andy Ultrimax

Hi all just wondering what methods everyone employs for painting / maintaining their boats especially wood construction or wood and metal construction hulls? I've created this myself to show a preferred preference for painting but wondered if anyone else had any tips tricks or shortcuts better than mine listed and what kind of paint you are using ?? (thinking more fresh water and canal than salt based by the way ) my list of preparation and paint prep is here: https://www.ultrimaxstore.com/blog/freshwater-and-canal-boat-paint-everything-you-need-to-know/ any help appreciated br Andy