Blacking Recommendations Cheshire

[WillCful]

Looking to refresh the epoxy coat on 51ft boat, sometime next year (pref as soon as possible). Had a few quotes from Swanley Bridge Marina and Aquaduct Marina. Anyone have any experience with the work from these marinas re quality of finish/efficiency etc? Price is a lot higher if you want to get the bottom done (which I do). 

 

Other suggestions welcome, ideally cheshire based but can travel. 

 

Is it a good idea to get the hull blasted even if it's already got epoxy on it, or is just jet washing fine? 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[churchward]

Swanley has good faculties and does a good job. I have not had cause to complain about the work they have done for my boat.  I do not have direct experience of Aquaduct but a friend of mine was less than please with a engine install which was poorly aligned with the prop. Which of course says nothing about blacking services

 

I guess it really depends on the condition of the hull to shot blast or not but if it is just patching things up a full shot blast seems over the top top me.

[David Mack]

17 minutes ago, WillCful said:

Looking to refresh the epoxy coat on 51ft boat, sometime next year (pref as soon as possible). Had a few quotes from Swanley Bridge Marina and Aquaduct Marina. Anyone have any experience with the work from these marinas re quality of finish/efficiency etc? Price is a lot higher if you want to get the bottom done (which I do). 

 

Other suggestions welcome, ideally cheshire based but can travel. 

 

Is it a good idea to get the hull blasted even if it's already got epoxy on it, or is just jet washing fine? 

 

Thanks!

 

 

If the existing epoxy is sound there is no point in blasting it all off. A pressure washer will take off the muck and any loose or damaged coating. If that shows the existing coating is mostly sound, then all you need is an angle grinder to remove rust from any damaged areas, prime those and perhaps a first coat of epoxy. Lightly abrade the rest then one or two coats of epoxy all over.

If the pressure wash reveals extensive areas of the old coating which are loose, then you may be better blasting the lot and starting again.

[haggis]

Worth speaking to Northwich Dry Dock. They have the boat up high enough for the base to be done and they use and extremely strong pressure washer 

[LadyG]

19 minutes ago, haggis said:

Worth speaking to Northwich Dry Dock. They have the boat up high enough for the base to be done and they use and extremely strong pressure washer 

This is important, the yard I used only had a Karcher and a boy, took a whole day to get it clean. 

I had mine wire brushed, (mechanical, cup brush) as it was 20 years since being epoxied from new, then I put three coats of Jotamastic 90 from SML, good price for coating, still quite glossy. 

The Hull was in exceptional condition, as noted by the yard staff. 

[matty40s]

11 minutes ago, LadyG said:

as noted by the yard staff. 

.....the boy...

[Tracy D'arth]

Tomas at Wincham Wharf.  T&M .

Sound guy, economical, stands the boat out high enough to work under.

[haggis]

16 minutes ago, LadyG said:

This is important, the yard I used only had a Karcher and a boy, took a whole day to get it clean. 

I had mine wire brushed, (mechanical, cup brush) as it was 20 years since being epoxied from new, then I put three coats of Jotamastic 90 from SML, good price for coating, still quite glossy. 

The Hull was in exceptional condition, as noted by the yard staff. 

The Northwich pressure washer is 4500 psi ! A bit more powerful that a karcher 🙂

 

[Briss]

13 hours ago, haggis said:

The Northwich pressure washer is 4500 psi ! A bit more powerful that a karcher 🙂

 

That would be like a light sabre at that pressure... one slip and you'd cut your own leg off!

[WillCful]

That’s great, thanks everyone. 
 

Swanley have said that they can access the bottom. But for a price! Sides is something like £16 per foot and bottom is additional £19 per foot. 
 

Northwhich dry dock is worth a look then perhaps, is that the one on the Weaver nav? Under the bridge? 
 

I’m not sure aqueduct marina can do the bottom, still waiting to hear from them. Also they don’t use Jotamastic, I’m sure the coating they use is also very good but I’ve got brand confidence in Jotun! 

 

I’ve also sent an email to wincham wharf, I’ll see what they say. Their website looks very professional… 

 

 

[nicknorman]

We had our boat blasted and 2-packed (not the baseplate though) by Aqueduct in 2012. Quite expensive  but they did a good job - no complaints.

[WillCful]

Thanks @nicknorman they’ve just replied to me, they can’t do the bottom. 
 

Price seemed reasonable though? £1020 for slipway in and out and the sides epoxied. 
 

Swanley is about the same inc. slipway. But about twice as much if you get them to do the bottom. Guess it’s tricky getting the boat nice and high. 

[nicknorman]

7 minutes ago, WillCful said:

Thanks @nicknorman they’ve just replied to me, they can’t do the bottom. 
 

Price seemed reasonable though? £1020 for slipway in and out and the sides epoxied. 
 

Swanley is about the same inc. slipway. But about twice as much if you get them to do the bottom. Guess it’s tricky getting the boat nice and high. 

We paid a lot more than that, nearly £3k iirc (in 2012), but of course our boat had bitumen on it so the first step was to grit blast it all back to bare metal. I suspect that was the expensive bit. And we had it done right up to the gunnels.

 

What preparation are they proposing for your boat?

Edited December 6, 2021 by nicknorman

[WillCful]

Just a jet wash. The boat is already epoxied and I think about 8 years ago? So fingers crossed it won’t need a shot blast. 
 

Swanley have said the hire of the blast shed is 250 plus an additional movement fee for getting it there and back but the blaster bloke is an independent so the price of the job depends on him, (waiting to hear back) it could push it all to the £3k mark I suppose. I suspect epoxy in general might be a little cheaper these days as it’s more widely adopted. 

[David Mack]

22 minutes ago, WillCful said:

Swanley is about the same inc. slipway. But about twice as much if you get them to do the bottom. Guess it’s tricky getting the boat nice and high. 

It's not just getting the boat up at a height. Working under the boat is a lot less pleasant than working alongside it. And boatyards charge for that (or decline to do it). All the rust and crap falls on you when you are cleaning it off, and then the paint runs down your arm while you are painting.  And to do a proper job, once you have completed everything you have to move the supports, so you can treat the areas previously inaccessible.  And this extends the timescales since you need to allow sufficient time between coats, even though the areas being done on the second pass are small.  

Edited December 6, 2021 by David Mack

[WillCful]

I see, probably pretty reasonable then! 

[haggis]

2 hours ago, WillCful said:

 
 

Northwhich dry dock is worth a look then perhaps, is that the one on the Weaver nav? Under the bridge? 
 

 

Yes, it is under the railway bridge. You can do DIY or they will do it . The boat is in for a week (saturday to Saturday) and you can live on it in the dry dock. 

[WillCful]

2 hours ago, haggis said:

Yes, it is under the railway bridge. You can do DIY or they will do it . The boat is in for a week (saturday to Saturday) and you can live on it in the dry dock. 

DIY epoxy? 

[haggis]

1 minute ago, WillCful said:

DIY epoxy? 

Best to speak to Matt or Rebekah will give you all the info you need.

[Tony1]

3 hours ago, haggis said:

Yes, it is under the railway bridge. You can do DIY or they will do it . The boat is in for a week (saturday to Saturday) and you can live on it in the dry dock. 

 

My boat's last blacking was a bit over 2 years ago and it needs doing soon, although I'm now going to leave it till the Spring.

I remember you describing the deadly super-high-pressure washer- and some of the grisly injuries it could inflict- when we were talking about it near Nantwich 😀

 

I think if I opt for just blacking I'll visit Northwich dry dock, but I'm tempted to go for epoxy, so that it won't need any further treatments for five years or more (and will have better protection during that time)..

 

I feel that if I'm going to go for epoxy, I ought to get it blasted back to bare metal, and do a really thorough prep job. Do you know whether they do blasting at Northwich?  

 

 

[haggis]

I don't know if they do grit blasting bit I think it unlikely. We had Kelpie pressure washed and epoxied a couple of years ago in Northwich and booked in again in September to see how effective it had been and also to make sure that mooring with boats with shore power on both sides hadn't caused a problem. When the hull was pressure washed we were pleased to see that the hull was in the same condition as before the first treatment. We had it done again and wil leave it for longer this time.

 

Haggis

[Tony1]

2 minutes ago, haggis said:

I don't know if they do grit blasting bit I think it unlikely. We had Kelpie pressure washed and epoxied a couple of years ago in Northwich and booked in again in September to see how effective it had been and also to make sure that mooring with boats with shore power on both sides hadn't caused a problem. When the hull was pressure washed we were pleased to see that the hull was in the same condition as before the first treatment. We had it done again and wil leave it for longer this time.

 

Haggis

 

Thanks, that's really useful to know. 

I have this slight nagging doubt that since the washer isnt quite as effective as blasting, it might leave some small spots of rust or crud, that will then be covered by the epoxy, and I might not get it hauled out again for 5 years, so even small rust spots will have plenty of time to spread. 

 

But the price is very tempting- and if its good enough for say 6 years (i.e. three future blackings not needed), that's all I need.

 

[SteveLevis]

Aqueduct will be reassuringly expensive......

Edited December 6, 2021 by SteveLevis

[Tracy D'arth]

14 minutes ago, SteveLevis said:

Aqueduct will be reassuringly expensive......

Aqueduct is very expensive.  You would do better to cruise to Debdale on the GU Leicester section, get a better job done for a lot less money. Its a pleasant trip too.

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, WillCful said:

DIY epoxy? 

Why not, it comes in two containers, you give them a good mix, my jotamastic was summer grade, not thick like bitumen, it was fairly warm weather, and the three coats went on well, boat gained about a knot! 

I had eight days in boatyard, they wanted to give me four, but that's no good for two pack epoxy. 

If weather had been adverse, I'd have had to keep surface dry somehow. 

Edited December 6, 2021 by LadyG