What kind of paint job do you like.

[Gary Peacock]

Were having a bit of a debate today over wether or not to offer a cheap paint option to reduce boat prices a bit.

 

Sprayed 2 pack commercial vehicle paint undoubtedly does give a very nice long lasting finish but does cost an awful lot of money.

 

The thought from some quarters here is that since paint on a well used boat will be damaged fairly quickly, that it is not worth spending a lot on preparation or paint and a cheaper sprayed, brushed or rolled paint job would satisfy most customers needs.

 

I can see that this might make sense but I aren't an 100% convinced, would you rather save a few thousand pounds or have a nice paint job?

[DHutch]

From the photos ive seen, the finsh you attacheave is truly amazing, and from the build diary ints clear you put a lot of effort to get not only a very nice finsh, but also a very long lasting one.

 

When emilyanne was build my grandad opted to put far more money, time, and effort , into the painting of the boat than was the norm at that time (15years ago now). The paint and methods he used where designed to last a longtime.

- The whole boat was shotblasted inside and out to remove the scale, and shotblasting primmer, applied withing 2hours of shotblasting.

- Then a coat of AluminumEpoxy Primmer.

- Then two coats of two-pack Vinal Blacking on the bottom, and two coats of two-pack Polyurethene on the top and one on the inside.

- And then the white on the stern, the yellow coachlines and the roses/castles/name added later with one-pot International paint.

 

While this was an expensive job, it was over 6years before any repainting was done above the gunnels, and we're only now just in middle of the second repaint now.

 

The finish is not the highly polished one that is becoming all too common place nowadays. Even when new on its only a mild gloss, and has mild roller/brush marks in it. And after 7/8 years of heavy use an no maintaince, it is fairly matt. But its still one there, protecting the steel and looking perfectly acceptable. And according to the manufacturer of the paint, the surface finish can be improved with peroidic cleaning.

 

 

Daniel

[Keeping Up]

Were having a bit of a debate today over wether or not to offer a cheap paint option to reduce boat prices a bit.

 

Sprayed 2 pack commercial vehicle paint undoubtedly does give a very nice long lasting finish but does cost an awful lot of money.

 

The thought from some quarters here is that since paint on a well used boat will be damaged fairly quickly, that it is not worth spending a lot on preparation or paint and a cheaper sprayed, brushed or rolled paint job would satisfy most customers needs.

 

I can see that this might make sense but I aren't an 100% convinced, would you rather save a few thousand pounds or have a nice paint job?

'Keeping Up' had a good paint job when she was new, and it lasted seven years. It was then still 100% intact but I knew something had to be done when I heard someone on the towpath say "that looks like a Stoke-on-Trent boat but it can't be because they're always shiny". So we had a repaint - and for 6 years it needed nothing more than an annual polish to keep it looking good (and gloss black shows any imperfections as if they were lit up in Neon lights).

 

Last year, mainly because the rain had penetrated the anti-slip on the roof and started to lift it, we had a second repaint. In those few areas that had to be stripped right back (on the roof, and the gunwales), the steel still showed the patterns from the original shotblasting.

 

No way would I ever settle for a cheap paint job that would almost certainly be more expensive in the long run. Of course it all gets scraped off the gunwales as soon as you leave the boatyard, but I regard that as just saving in advance the bother of having to remove it manually when repainting them.

[tburgess]

Gary,

 

I'm unfortunately not familiar with your boats, but I'd have thought in general that the quality of the paint job should be in line with the general build quality. Most people paying for a quality fit out would surely not want to skimp on the painting; on the other hand those buying a comparitively cheap boat probably don't want to pay fancy money for the paint job.

 

We bought a 5 year old 50ft Steve Hudson tug last year and the paint is in excellent condition, despite being used previously for extened cruising every summer. It seems to be very resiliant to knocks and scratches and comes up brilliantly with a coat of polish. I know a boat that was new last year and every little scratch on it immediately goes rusty. I guess it just doesn't have the depth of paint on it. The argument that they are bound to get knocks early in their life is true enough, but the effect of those knocks is considerably limited if the paint job is of good quality in my view.

 

Having said all that, I suppose there is no harm in offering a cheaper option, although I would lean toward keeping the quality of build and paint job quality in line. Your boats are an advertisement for your company, and it would be a shame if you are supplying decent boats that are seen around with shabby paintwork.

 

Cheers,

 

Trevor.