To paint or not ?

[Paladini09]

Hi,

firstly I don’t know anything about narrow boats but I have inherited a 2007 50ft ovation narrowboat.

the interior is near mint condition and it has central heating with 3 radiators and the boat seems solid but definitely needs new paint as it’s cracked and peeling in places quiet badly.

my question is do I sell it as is at a lower price or is it worth the time and effort to get it professionally painted to get more for it ? I’ve seen prices ranging from £8000 to much much higher but if I’d only get the same for it once I’d got my £8000 back then it seems pointless.

I’d attempt it myself but haven’t got the time plus it’s 45 miles away from where I live.

any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

thanks

stephen

 

[Tonka]

That is an interesting question.

Have you asked a broker as to what the value of the boat is in the current condition?

Was it not valued for probate?

[Stroudwater1]

You could have it painted, use and enjoy for 2-3 years then sell on with decent paint. This allows years of thanking the person who left it to you and years of happy memories? 
 

Boating isn’t difficult but is much fun, usually. 

[Tony Brooks]

8 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

You could have it painted, use and enjoy for 2-3 years then sell on with decent paint. This allows years of thanking the person who left it to you and years of happy memories? 
 

Boating isn’t difficult but is much fun, usually. 

 

and if it is only faded or flaking pant with little rust this would also give you a chance to wield your own paint brush to smarten it up a bit.

 

I am sure that if you posted some photos of inside and out you will get some opinions on price and if it is worth having it painted. You could even try an advert for it in the Forum "for sale" section at no cost.

[blackrose]

As you say, if you're just going to sell it on then I wouldn't bother to get it professionally painted as you'll never get your money back. Whether you have a go yourself depends on how bad it is, how much there is to do, how much time you've got and how good you are are prep and painting. 

[agg221]

I would say this is right in the difficult margin price/value wise.

 

If this was a 1970s/80s boat it would have fully dropped in value based on age and people begin to expect to see a solid DIY paint job. There are a few much loved boats which get professional paint jobs (see Clarrie or Song of the Waterways) but this is about personal enjoyment rather than value.

 

On a boat under 10yrs old, poor paintwork will definitely devalue it significantly.

 

In the middle ground like this it's hard to say. You almost certainly won't get your money back (unless it is currently really bad to the point where it would put anyone buying off except if they are at the very bottom end of the market) but it might make it quicker to sell. The warm weather is coming up but before the insects get bad, so if you are OK with the prep work (deal with rust, rub down, spot prime) then a decent DIY job could be done to freshen it up by staying aboard for a couple of weekends and cracking on. You might even find you enjoy being on the boat!

 

Alec

Edited March 21 by agg221

[LadyG]

Yes, If the engine etc is working,, and its in the water , it would be a great idea to at least take it out for a long weekend. If its in a marina its going to be running up a bill, so you need to determine what to do. The yard may make suggestions.   To my mind the flaking paint above water could be cosmetic but if the windows need to be removed and everything stripped back, then its probably is not worthwhile having this done in order to sell. One cant be sure,  but yes £8K and more might be ballpark. 

If you want to sell it ring up a few local brokers, they take a comissiion, but may offer a free mooring for a few months. You may at least get a valuation. Be aware that most brokers are trustworthy, and your money is ring fenced, ask them, by email.

There are a few , eg Whilton who have a lot of boats for sale, you might talk to them as they will likely take any boat, sell it as it is, and deal with the hassle , advertising, etc.

Some boats are sold with a sellers survey, which involves expence, maybe up tp £1000 , the boat needs to come out, be power washed, and the thickness of the steel checked. If doing this, you could have the yard black with bitumen to cover scuffs and waterline rust, but it would make it look better. I dont think i would have it surveyed in case its bad! Also it may not help with the sale, you cant be sure.

Edited March 21 by LadyG

[Tonka]

2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Yes, If the engine etc is working,, and its in the water , it would be a great idea to at least take it out for a long weekend. If its in a marina its going to be running up a bill, so you need to determine what to do. The yard may make suggestions.   To my mind the flaking paint above water could be cosmetic but if the windows need to be removed and everything stripped back, then its probably is not worthwhile having this done in order to sell. One cant be sure,  but yes £8K and more might be ballpark. 

If you want to sell it ring up a few local brokers, they take a comissiion, but may offer a free mooring for a few months. You may at least get a valuation. Be aware that most brokers are trustworthy, and your money is ring fenced, ask them, by email.

There are a few , eg Whilton who have a lot of boats for sale, you might talk to them as they will likely take any boat, sell it as it is, and deal with the hassle , advertising, etc.

Some boats are sold with a sellers survey, which involves expence, maybe up tp £1000 , the boat needs to come out, be power washed, and the thickness of the steel checked. If doing this, you could have the yard black with bitumen to cover scuffs and waterline rust, but it would make it look better.

Whilton may buy it from you.

I know someone were pleasantly surprised by the offer to buy from Whilton.. they sold their Liverpool boat to them

[LadyG]

21 minutes ago, blackrose said:

As you say, if you're just going to sell it on then I wouldn't bother to get it professionally painted as you'll never get your money back. Whether you have a go yourself depends on how bad it is, how much there is to do, how much time you've got and how good you are are prep and painting. 

Ive painted a few boats, and its quite a job, i reckon two weeks, maybe seven days if under cover, and getting the yard to do the blacking., you need power, and  everything to hand,  wire brushes,  orbital sander, detail sander,, personal protection,  brushes, all the paints, and long days. If you look at SML paints Marine Paint there are kits which give you an idea, but if doing tne hull, and the topsides, its going to be a marathon. 

Edited March 21 by LadyG

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Ive painted a few boats, and its quite a job, i reckon two weeks, maybe seven days if under cover, and getting the yard to do the blacking., you need power, and  everything to hand,  wire brushes,  orbital sander, detail sander,, personal protection,  brushes, all the paints, and long days. If you look at SML paints Marine Paint there are kits which give you an idea, but if doing tne hull, and the topsides, its going to be a marathon. 

I wouldn't like to see your paint job.

The wife and I took 5 weeks to paint our 62 ft boat in a wet Dock. All portholes out. Mushrooms off. Professional signwriter

[Lady M]

I would not have my boat painted by anyone who didn't make me wait at least a year.  A poor paint job is worse than peeling paint in my opinion.  Potential buyers may well be more interested in the inside anyway.  A new boater may get scratches on the paint job as they learn to navigate and avoid vegetation.  The boat will be costing money in basic running costs every day.  I'd say just sell it and move on.

[matty40s]

If you arent keeping it, just sell it.

Ovation boats even now are not craftsman built, they are pretty much B&Q kitchen and other generic areas with painted ply filling the gaps. This was one of the early ones, if not the first.

You will not get your £8k back, and £8k is at the seriously budget end of paint jobs now.

[Paladini09]

48 minutes ago, Tonka said:

I wouldn't like to see your paint job.

The wife and I took 5 weeks to paint our 62 ft boat in a wet Dock. All portholes out. Mushrooms off. Professional signwriter

I used to paint cars and cycles professionally for about 20 years and was also a hand sign writer for the same amount of time approximately along side it,I sell my own art now for a living so don’t see it being something that’s above me I just don’t have the time and just wanted to know if it was even worth it that’s all but thanks for your reply.

stephen

[Ex Brummie]

If your inheritance was a windfall and does not stimulate any interest of yours, then my advice would be to look on Apollo  Duck for similar boats, pitch your for sale at a similar price and see what offers come in. What you dont know is what the"paintwork" is like under the water where you cannot see and that could conceal a can of worms that you don't really want to start investing in before a sale.

It owes you nothing, but procrastination could end up costing you a lot.

[David Mack]

You won't see your money back on a professional paint job, and you haven't the time to DIY. And all the time you own the boat, it is costing you for licence, mooring and insurance. So sell it as is. Then the next owner can choose what to do about the paintwork.

Edited March 21 by David Mack

[PaulJ]

Maybe-IF you have a bit of time/equipment,the weather is kind and its not the whole boat you could at least scrape/treat the worst areas and patch it.

It wont look pretty but at least it wont look derelict and may help.

 

[Paladini09]

I honestly can’t thank everyone enough for all your feedback it’s extremely informative and really helpful !

when I go back there in a few weeks time I’ll take a load of photos of it inside and out and update this post.

 

kind regards

stephen

[ditchcrawler]

@Paladini09 as this is all new to you I take it you are aware that the boat must be insured, have a licence and a current BSS om 95% of the cases if the boat is afloat .

[LadyG]

4 hours ago, Tonka said:

I wouldn't like to see your paint job.

The wife and I took 5 weeks to paint our 62 ft boat in a wet Dock. All portholes out. Mushrooms off. Professional signwriter

I dont need the windows out, or portholes, no external rust or water ingress.  I had the roof done by a lad, and it looks OK, there were couple of rust patches underneath, but they were treated and no rust showing.

Its not worth doing a full pro job as the main intention is to stop corrosion, thats all thats needed. I'd not get my money back whether I did it myself or paid someone.

No way would I want to strip it back to bare metal and so on,  I'd had enough when my two weeks in the paint shed was over!

I did get a passing sign writer to do the name and registration number.

The gunnels and the bow deck will get a coat of paint this year, preferably by the yard, but it looks OK. 

Your a bit of an odd bod if you can assess the paint job on a boat you've never seen.

 

Edited March 21 by LadyG

[Paladini09]

Update:: the boat is a Amber boats Venice 50 v13

[MrsM]

Hi there. We had a 2008 Amber narrowboat and they certainly had problems with the top coat of paint failing. By 50 v 13 do you mean it is a 50ft fattie with a 13ft beam? We had our boat professionally repainted a year before we sold it and it certainly made it easy to sell but I don't think I can say that we recovered the full cost. The job cost a bit under £10k and took 2 months. Depends how quickly you want the boat sold I guess. I would caution against doing a DIY paint job (unless you are skilled) as I think many buyers would see that as a bit of a red flag. Good luck. Feel free to DM if you want any info about Amber boats etc. 

[Gybe Ho]

Before spending money consider the diverse buyers out there shopping for a narrowboat.

1. Some will pay top dollar for a shiny boat.
2. Some will be looking for a superficially shabby boat because they are confident in their DIY skills and have the time to add value.
3. Others will be looking to continuously cruise a boat in urban areas and don't want a boat that looks ostentatious when moored on the tow path.
4. Finally some buyers will have very strong opinions about colour and the message they want their new boat to convey about them. This type of buyer will already have a niche colour scheme penciled in for their future boat.

Spending £8k on a budget paint job might possibly mean you breakeven selling to the category-1 buyer. A new paint job will deter the other 3 categories of buyer because they will believe the price of the boat is inflated by £8k to recoup money spent on something they don't value.

[cuthound]

3 hours ago, Gybe Ho said:

Before spending money consider the diverse buyers out there shopping for a narrowboat.

1. Some will pay top dollar for a shiny boat.
2. Some will be looking for a superficially shabby boat because they are confident in their DIY skills and have the time to add value.
3. Others will be looking to continuously cruise a boat in urban areas and don't want a boat that looks ostentatious when moored on the tow path.
4. Finally some buyers will have very strong opinions about colour and the message they want their new boat to convey about them. This type of buyer will already have a niche colour scheme penciled in for their future boat.

Spending £8k on a budget paint job might possibly mean you breakeven selling to the category-1 buyer. A new paint job will deter the other 3 categories of buyer because they will believe the price of the boat is inflated by £8k to recoup money spent on something they don't value.

 

I would take the age of the boat into account.

 

A good paint job will last 10 years or more if looked after.

 

If the boat is relatively new, then a poor paint finish will devalue it much more than an older boat.

 

Buyers in your categories 2 and 3 are probably less likely to buy a nearly new boat.