Jump to content

How long should a paint job last?


Theo

Featured Posts

When we bought Theodora she was soundly painted in a plain maroon colour.  We didn't like that much so I prepared for a new paint job merely by keying up the topcoat (There was no rust.) and SWMBO set about painting her with undercoat and top coat.  Very nice she looked and after five years she was still looking very good.  After seven years she was begining to look scruffy and after another couple of years we decided to have her professionally done.  The instructions that we gave were that we didn't want a high gloss shiny job.  That was not our taste.

 

We paid a booking fee and then lockdown came.  We paid a couple of staged payments but could not inspect the job because of lockdown.  When we eventually were able to inspect the finished job we were perturbed to discover much that was wrong with the way that the boat had been left dirty and untidy.  Things had not been put back.  The MPPT controller had been destroyed because the electrician didn't understand how to wire up the panels and much else...

 

So far I have not paid the balance but am negotiating an agreement where the balance is reduced according to how much work I will have to do to reinstate poor Theodora.  In addition, because the paint job is suspect I am going to require the yard to give me a written guarantee that they will repaint her if, as I suspect, the rust comes through in various places.  I have attached photos of some of the suspect areas.  The wording of the guarantee (if that is the correct word) will state how long the paint job should last.  This will be the length of time that the guarantee will last.

 

So my question is:  If you have paid thousands of pounds for a paint job, how long would you think it should last until a few rust spots appear and how long before a complete repaint will be needed?

 

Nick

12 Bubbling under surface.jpg

01 Bubbling of paint.jpg

02 Paint flaking.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About as naff as they come.  And one of the staged payments was to strip the hull down to bare metal!

 

 

 

I don't think that I bothered to take a larger shot.  It looks OK from a distance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Sir Barry Whitelock of Bingley 5 Rise often said to me “It’s all in the preparation” and the preparation for that paint job is terrible and amateurish. OK, you didn’t want a shiny boat but I am guessing you didn’t want an orange peel finish either. I doubt they will give you any kind of guarantee, the rust will probably be coming through this winter. Did you ask them if they had heard of masking tape?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think they did any prep work. And they're never going to get a sharply masked edge, the surface is like the Pyrenees. I would expect that paint job to give the boat some minimal protection, but the next winter may see some of it fail. A good paint job can last a decade or more, depending on how good it was to begin with, and how well it is looked after. 

 

 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at that paint finish and your tale of woe my first thought would be is any guarantee offered by this cowboy actually worth anything? 

 

FWIW I'd say a professional paint job ought to last five years but you have to have regard to the age and condition of the boat and how much you are paying.   Eg you could pay over £10k in which case you would not expect deterioration of the finish for a long time, but there are guys around who will do it for much less, still get a decent finish but you might expect a bit of rust to reappear after a couple of years.

 

But honestly that paint job is so bad I would be inclined to not pay a penny more and take the boat away as it is, put it down to experience.  

 

And I wonder if you could warn the rest of us off this shower by giving us a clue who did it?

Edited by Neil2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Bod said:

It's failing now.  2nd photo show a small rust stain, chibble at that, there will be a larger rust pocket behind.

 

Bod.

 

Yes, there is. And some is lifting, at the top edge of the coachline. In other words, they cannot guarantee the paint job. Not really fit for purpose. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's very poor. Just painted over the scabby bits and badly applied the new paint. As for the stripes I could do it better freehand without my glasses. The actual paint itself could last a long time but maroon will fade to a brownish colour, red to a pinkish colour and little bits will chip and flake. I reckon 5 years is the limit for strong reddish colours, the paint could still be OK but it will look tired.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Theo said:

And one of the staged payments was to strip the hull down to bare metal!

Hull only or cabin as well? That cabin has clearly not been taken back to bare metal, so if that is what they were supposed to do I would not only not be making the final payment, but I would be asking for the money already paid to be returned, along with the cost of a replacement mppt controller!

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Theo said:

About as naff as they come.  And one of the staged payments was to strip the hull down to bare metal!

 

 

 

I don't think that I bothered to take a larger shot.  It looks OK from a distance.

Sorry, error: It was only the cabin that they were supposed to take down to the bare metal.

 

N

44 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Hull only or cabin as well? That cabin has clearly not been taken back to bare metal, so if that is what they were supposed to do I would not only not be making the final payment, but I would be asking for the money already paid to be returned, along with the cost of a replacement mppt controller!

Only the cabin.  I said the wrong thing in that reply.

 

N

Edited by Theo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Neil2 said:

Looking at that paint finish and your tale of woe my first thought would be is any guarantee offered by this cowboy actually worth anything? 

 

FWIW I'd say a professional paint job ought to last five years but you have to have regard to the age and condition of the boat and how much you are paying.   Eg you could pay over £10k in which case you would not expect deterioration of the finish for a long time, but there are guys around who will do it for much less, still get a decent finish but you might expect a bit of rust to reappear after a couple of years.

 

But honestly that paint job is so bad I would be inclined to not pay a penny more and take the boat away as it is, put it down to experience.  

 

And I wonder if you could warn the rest of us off this shower by giving us a clue who did it?

I could possibly say but we are moored at Tardebigge Old Wharf and the boat yard, which also hires out lots of boats (reasonably painted) is the closest one upstream from us.

 

Nick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Theo said:

So my question is:  If you have paid thousands of pounds for a paint job, how long would you think it should last until a few rust spots appear and how long before a complete repaint will be needed?

 

I had a full back to metal repaint 7 years ago. The only place the paint has failed is on the very rear door hinges about 2 years ago. I can see the paint lasting many more years with nothing more than chip touch up and polish.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The original paintwork on my boat lasted 12 years. 

 

To be fair it would have lasted longer but for the red (which on the horizontal bits had been repainted after 7 years because of cracking) coach lines crazing and cracking.

 

I specified a rub down (not to bare metal because apart from the coach lines, the paint was still in good condition) two years ago.

 

Today there is no obvious deterioration even on the red horizontal surfaces, so I expect the repaint to last 7 years or more 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All I can say is either we are not being told the whole story or it was a very cheap job. I did better than that on the towpath, at least I rubbed it down to a smooth finish and dealt with the rust before repainting. This type of thing is why  I am convinced DIY is the best way for canal boaters.

  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I painted my boat 10 years ago it was sprayed by myself in single pack polyurethane used for commercials. It wants a repaint next year, there is no rust but the paint won't polish up, I have thought of the owltrol stuff to prolong it but we will see as I ain't getting any younger and the longer I put it off the harder it will be

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I reckon our boat got a quick repaint (not bare metal) just before we purchased it. That was 14/15 years ago. I have been very lax with my cleaning and polishing. The paint is quite faded now. There is no rust bubbling through, the only rust spots are the various "stone chips/windlass drops (and a few air gun pellets 😀) where the paint has gone right through and I fix these as soon as I reasonably can. I do expect to repair roof damage and put a couple of new coats of raddle on every three or four years.

I don't think rust should come through on the cabin sides at all.

Standing water locations on the roof will need annual repair and high wear areas like gunnels and cants will need constant attention.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Painted my cabin sides in summer 2017 with Dulux Weathershield water based satin.Only flatted back the original paintwork and treated a few rust spots.

Although I no longer own this boat,it is still moored here and looking at it the other day the paintwork was fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a full professional paint job eight years ago. The only serious problem is on the catch, which was new timber. Steelwork is looking a bit tired but it's keeping the tinworm at bay. 

 

I'm glad I followed the painter's advice by not going for too dark a shade of blue. It's faded a bit but at least it hasn't turned purple.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jarrah was painted - bare metal out-  10 years ago.  The red paint is fading, the midnight  blue is getting tired and the signwriting is thin but the paint all comes up nicely if waxed.  There are one or two chips and the roof and decks are  need of a re-do.  There is no rust at all  coming through the cabin  paintwork.

 

The previous non-professional coat lasted from 2000 with a six monthly polish.

 

The first paint job went from 1989 to 2000, though that was varnished and  not waxed or polished.

 

I would say a proper paint job should last 10 -15 years provided it is looked after.

 

N

 

 

 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be asking for my money back.

 

Did ours by hand two years ago and just flatted out the existing paints before covering with new.

 

Not perfect but certainly ok and i don't worry about passing trees trying to remove it😁

IMG_20191010_143944.jpg

Edited by jam
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
  • 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.