"Boat Paint"

[Phil Speight]

I really have had to twist my own arm to bother with this. Again. Perhaps something sarcastic would suffice like " yes - we charge an arm and a leg to paint a boat because our customers are gullible and I exploit our good reputation to finance my glamorous lifestyle. We use our own Craftmaster Paint because it only costs us twopence a litre - otherwise of course we`d use B&Q`s finest. Or cheapest of course."

Or I could tell you I`ve just spent 3.5k of an inheritance getting my very small Alfa Romeo repainted to very good standard. It took a fraction of the time and effort we spend painting a boat and has far less paint on it. The "super-shiny brigade" have every right to enjoy the ownership of their boats in whatever way they choose and if you don`t want super shiny yourself - well, that`s easy enough , just paint it badly with bad paint ( or good paint for that matter). Then tell your neighbours and friends that they are wasting their time and money getting a good professional job done. You won`t be the first! We couldn`t produce something less smooth and shiny than we actually do because we dont know how. All three "big brush" users in our dock are trained coach painters.

What I aren`t going to do again here is explain about scratch-filling , build, flexibility, finish retention and solids content - and knowing how best to optimise such qualities when you have a brush in your hand. Or a grinder , or a scabbler , or a linisher , or a wire brush attachment ........................................ end of rant.

Edited October 19, 2009 by Phil Speight

[pugwash61]

Or the cost of Gold Leaf work on yer sign writing either!

[dor]

There's a chap on my mooring who swears by Crown Gloss from Focus. "No need to pay for that fancy boat paint at the chandlers" - "This gloss does a great finish"

It is so good, and he enjoys painting his boat so much, he re-does it just about every year. And you should have seen the finish he got when he picked up Crown emulsion one time and thinned it with white spirit.

[Chris Pink]

It took a fraction of the time and effort we spend painting a boat and has far less paint on it.

 

aah but did it have Northern or Southern roses and castles?

[Guest TowpathTownie]

As someone just said all you will get for you your £500.00 is a quick blow over in someones shed.

 

I'm glad you said 'over'

 

Thanks for the detailed answer Phil, albeit a huffypuffy one

[WotEver]

Thanks for the detailed answer Phil

Trust me, that wasn't detailed. Detailed would make a small book.

 

As has been said.. Peanuts & Monkeys, Horses & Courses, Pays yer money and makes yer choice...

[Guest TowpathTownie]

Trust me, that wasn't detailed. Detailed would make a small book.

 

As has been said.. Peanuts & Monkeys, Horses & Courses, Pays yer money and makes yer choice...

 

It was more detailed than 'rub down, prime, paint'

[bag 'o' bones]

Perhaps the argument be not how much a paint job costs but moreover does the money paid reflect the quality of the finished job?

 

Whether a paint job cast 500 quid or 5k, as long as the finished result is adequate to protect the steel it doesn't really matter!

 

Yes there are loads of uber expansive paint jobs out there that look fantastic but unless you keep up the polishing and touching up regime they all go tatty and dull in the end!

Edited October 19, 2009 by bag 'o' bones

[Guest TowpathTownie]

keep up the polishing and touching up regime

 

Speaking of which, do people use car polish to protect the paintwork? And is it ok to use a product such as T-Cut if the paintwork starts to dull?

[buggsy]

Is this:

http://marinestore.co.uk/Merchant2/merchan...-paint-finishes

 

really any better than this?

http://www.international-paints.co.uk/scri...rior_gloss.html

 

Or is it simply that the word "boat" doubles the price of everything? (The 10 year gloss is half the price of the Toplac)

 

I'm using 10 year gloss now and it goes on well and has a good finish. Of course I don't know what it will look like in a few years, but if it's good enough for front doors why not boats?

Let's face it if you drag an anchor chain over your bow any paint will get scraped off - even twin-pack epoxy - so my feeling is why bother with expensive paints marketed at boaters?

 

Hi,

i am actually responsible for automotive paint production for a well known company so i understand a fair amount paint. I have recently just painted my boat and i chose to use Craftmaster paint. I understand why coach enamels are expensive and it was my choice to use these to acheive the results that i wanted. I followed Phils advice and would recommend Craftmaster paint for is application and the service is excellent, i even went and watched Phil's team painting a boat to gain as much knowledge as possible. My only advice is that we did it in two weeks in a det dock and that is much too tight you should ideally have a minimum of three weeks. One of the reasons that paint jobs cost so much is tha t its bloody hard work.

 

cheers,

 

Steve

[RLWP]

Hi,

i am actually responsible for automotive paint production for a well known company so i understand a fair amount paint. I have recently just painted my boat and i chose to use Craftmaster paint. I understand why coach enamels are expensive and it was my choice to use these to acheive the results that i wanted. I followed Phils advice and would recommend Craftmaster paint for is application and the service is excellent, i even went and watched Phil's team painting a boat to gain as much knowledge as possible. My only advice is that we did it in two weeks in a det dock and that is much too tight you should ideally have a minimum of three weeks. One of the reasons that paint jobs cost so much is tha t its bloody hard work.

 

cheers,

 

Steve

 

Out of interest, and as £500 is a number that is being thrown around, would £500 have bought the materials to paint your boat?

 

Richard

[Chris-B]

We repainted Baldock this year, excluding Signwriting, Wet Dock Hire, Consumables , Tea Coffee etc]

£500.00 didn't cover the paint !

It ain't cheap stuff....but the end result is worth it

Flatted back to steel( after removing on the roof rubberised floor paint covered in gloss then sanded)

3 Primer coats

3 Undercoats

3 Topcoats

 

all dutifully sanded, filled, smoothed in between

 

We were VERY lucky to have a local painter ( Sarah Brooks ) do the big brush work but we did all the rest to keep costs down and make it a bit more ours

 

2 weeks of bloody hard work, but well worth it

 

No she isn't a shiney but an honest boat

 

Chris

 

If I had 6k to give Phil or do it ourselves next time ......................

 

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[soldthehouse]

We repainted Baldock this year, excluding Signwriting, Wet Dock Hire, Consumables , Tea Coffee etc]

£500.00 didn't cover the paint !

It ain't cheap stuff....but the end result is worth it

Flatted back to steel( after removing on the roof rubberised floor paint covered in gloss then sanded)

3 Primer coats

3 Undercoats

3 Topcoats

 

all dutifully sanded, filled, smoothed in between

 

We were VERY lucky to have a local painter ( Sarah Brooks ) do the big brush work but we did all the rest to keep costs down and make it a bit more ours

 

2 weeks of bloody hard work, but well worth it

 

No she isn't a shiney but an honest boat

 

Chris

 

If I had 6k to give Phil or do it ourselves next time ......................

 

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[buggsy]

Out of interest, and as £500 is a number that is being thrown around, would £500 have bought the materials to paint your boat?

 

Richard

 

Hi Richard,

approx £600 for paint 2 primer , 2 undercoat and 3 top coat coats of paint. i was lucky i had a free supply of abrasives and tack cloths etc. Sign writing was a good price of £200 and wet dock was £150 per week. I am pleased with the end result but it is not as good as a professional job. however at least there is plenty off paint on the boat compared to some of the local painters i have seen.

 

Steve

[kitman]

£500.00 will buy you a guy who lives in a hedge throwing watery paint onto your lovely boat. He will have spent all of 2 minuites rubbing your boat down with a pan scourer whilst simultaneously taking many a 'strongbow' break!! Will that paint work actually last long enough to be adequate to protect the steel? I'd hope not, or I'm out of a job!

 

I'm glad you said 'over'

Hehe!

 

Thanks for the detailed answer Phil, albeit a huffypuffy one

Well tbh all the quality canal craftsmen/tradesmen that I know put their heart and soul into what they do for not that much money, it can make you huffy when people think you are making a killing and you arent!

[churchward]

I really have had to twist my own arm to bother with this. Again. Perhaps something sarcastic would suffice like " yes - we charge an arm and a leg to paint a boat because our customers are gullible and I exploit our good reputation to finance my glamorous lifestyle. We use our own Craftmaster Paint because it only costs us twopence a litre - otherwise of course we`d use B&Q`s finest. Or cheapest of course."

Or I could tell you I`ve just spent 3.5k of an inheritance getting my very small Alfa Romeo repainted to very good standard. It took a fraction of the time and effort we spend painting a boat and has far less paint on it. The "super-shiny brigade" have every right to enjoy the ownership of their boats in whatever way they choose and if you don`t want super shiny yourself - well, that`s easy enough , just paint it badly with bad paint ( or good paint for that matter). Then tell your neighbours and friends that they are wasting their time and money getting a good professional job done. You won`t be the first! We couldn`t produce something less smooth and shiny than we actually do because we dont know how. All three "big brush" users in our dock are trained coach painters.

What I aren`t going to do again here is explain about scratch-filling , build, flexibility, finish retention and solids content - and knowing how best to optimise such qualities when you have a brush in your hand. Or a grinder , or a scabbler , or a linisher , or a wire brush attachment ........................................ end of rant.

Nicely restrained I thought, bordering on the diplomatic! :lol:

[blackrose]

My vessel was painted with De Ijssel coatings, a Dutch 2 component paint and not sold in UK. It is very good and has a rock hard, hard wearing finish. The painter took 5 months to paint the vessel in build. Applied by roller and drys/sets just like car body paint flowing as it drys and not need to lay off with a brush. After 5 years Pearl White is still glossy and paint intact but the Bordeaux Red has faded, as will all/most red paints. However, it is quite pricey and I have been looking at alternative industrial paints.

 

Came across Firwood, http://www.firwood.co.uk, and using/trying their 2020 high solids gloss which is formulated to meet defence standards. Time will tell whether it is any good, but may be a better bet for high wear areas.

 

Have you thought about using Hemple, another Dutch 2-part paint that is avainable in the UK.

[The Commodore]

Am i right in thinking that most of you guys are talking about paints for metal surfaces, ie, Craftsman paints, going back to the OP, is there substantial differences in using the International paints "10 yr exterior gloss" and the Toplac, if your looking to use it on a Fibreglass surface ?

 

[gazza]

link to pdf doc fro protegalac abv90 paint pdf

 

used this on a couple of boats now, good application with a roller, brushed out with a foam paint brush to remove air bubbles. good finish and decent price. i had 5 litres of white from granvilles of peterborough for 40 quid including vat. the guys are knowledgeable on paints and there application. will mix to any RAL number for you too

 

i originally used it on FLT/plant that is subject to fairly hard and rough use, stands that application well enough so i am sure it will be ok on yer sewer tubes

 

 

Am i right in thinking that most of you guys are talking about paints for metal surfaces, ie, Craftsman paints, going back to the OP, is there substantial differences in using the International paints "10 yr exterior gloss" and the Toplac, if your looking to use it on a Fibreglass surface ?

 

 

 

 

 

i posted at the start of this topic (see above quote) the protegalac was used on an elysian and my little mayland, standing up well at the moment. we do take care of our boats, and rope thru locks when necessary. no paint will be a match for a concrete lock side 

 

 

it went on nicely, 4" foam gloss roller then foam gennie brush to remove air bubbles.

[Paul Evans]

Speaking of which, do people use car polish to protect the paintwork? And is it ok to use a product such as T-Cut if the paintwork starts to dull?

All the advice I've been given is NEVER use car polish. It contains silicone wax and is a real pig to remove when it comes to painting the boat. If you don't remove it all, the paint will not adhere properly. Use a good quality beeswax polish instead. If you keep the boat washed and polished the paint should stay bright for a fair amount of time. Some colours - red in particular - fade faster than others.

[blackrose]

Am i right in thinking that most of you guys are talking about paints for metal surfaces, ie, Craftsman paints, going back to the OP, is there substantial differences in using the International paints "10 yr exterior gloss" and the Toplac, if your looking to use it on a Fibreglass surface ?

 

 

The instructions for 10 year exterior gloss refer to primed wood and metal. I'm not sure about fibreglass - perhaps you could call the Internationl (Akzonobel) technical helpline. 08447 709 444

Edited October 29, 2009 by blackrose

[Phil Speight]

The instructions for 10 year exterior gloss refer to primed wood and metal. I'm not sure about fibreglass - perhaps you could call the Internationl (Akzonobel) technical helpline. 08447 709 444

Good idea. The difference in paint systems on different substrates is most often in the primer.

As director of a paint company I would say consult a specialist , for instance a car body shop where they regularly paint fibreglass bodied vehicles . As a painter I could say that most modern metal primers will grip fibreglass - especially two pack epoxies. Can`t say that "officially " though.

[wonderdust]

At work our painters use an etch primer for fibreglass, then apply the topcoat.

[The Commodore]

have asked International paints, will report back on reply.

[NB Alnwick]

Our boat isn't shiny, we are painting it ourselves and started over four years ago - progress is slow because we can only apply paint when it is dry, calm, not dusty, not using the stove or running the engine and not doing anything else - such days are rare. As a result we are only about half way through the job and we have already started to go over old ground again - such as refurbishing the sliding hatch.

 

Having said all that, we enjoy doing it and when it is done, we know exactly how much effort and preparation went into it.

 

We use Bonda Primer for all bare metal work and now use 'West System' epoxy coating for all wood finishes. I first used Bonda Primer more than 40 years ago on my old Humber Super Snipe and have used it as an anti-rust primer ever since - it is not as good as modern two-pack metal primers but it does the job and is very easy to use.

 

When we started we used Masons Coach paints because they were the product of choice for painting railway coaches before I retired - unfortunately, I don't think the present day product from Masons is the same as it was in those days so we have switched to 'Craftmaster'. We have found three advantages with 'Craftmaster', the first is that it keeps very well when stored (for years) in the bilge below the back cabin floor, the second is that it is very easy to apply without leaving 'brush-marks' and the third is that when we run out and order some more, the new batch is the same colour as the old!

 

Finally, compared with all the other costs associated with boating, the cost of a good paint compared with a cheap paint is not that relevant . . .

Edited October 30, 2009 by NB Alnwick