Professional Boat Repait

[Andy and Jean Watts]

I am about to have my boat repainted and rust areas retreated by Spring Haven near Nuneaton. Has anybody used this company and what were their experiences?

Thanks.

[Athy]

Springwood Haven. We moored there for about 4 years. Thoroughly professional people, their boat fitter Kevin can just about make engines talk, they will not underprice their work but it will be very satisfactory.

[WotEver]

We had ours done there 4 years ago. We've neglected it, so it's looking a bit sadder now than it should, but there's nothing wrong with their workmanship; many people have commented on what a good job they did. Look across from the covered paint area and you'll see Wot Ever on the 2nd pontoon.

 

Tony

[Andy and Jean Watts]

Springwood Haven. We moored there for about 4 years. Thoroughly professional people, their boat fitter Kevin can just about make engines talk, they will not underprice their work but it will be very satisfactory.

 

Thanks for the reply and the reassurance. They always appear to be a very professional and friendly business when we call in, but a boat repaint is obviously a big financial outlay to us, and though the price given seems quite competetive, it is very comforting to hear any appraisals from satisfied customers

[Mikeonb4c]

Thanks for the reply and the reassurance. They always appear to be a very professional and friendly business when we call in, but a boat repaint is obviously a big financial outlay to us, and though the price given seems quite competetive, it is very comforting to hear any appraisals from satisfied customers

 

Would it be rude to ask (I'm a newbie researching the various costs of narrowboat ownership in case I think I can afford to get one) roughly what kind of cost is involved and what the extent of the work being done is?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[Andy and Jean Watts]

Would it be rude to ask (I'm a newbie researching the various costs of narrowboat ownership in case I think I can afford to get one) roughly what kind of cost is involved and what the extent of the work being done is?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

 

hello Mike. The cost is dependant on the length of your boat, the extent of any rust repair that needs attention, and the amount of fittings/ windows etc that may need to be removed. I am no expert in this field as we have only been boating for 3 years, but the common price range appears to average £70 to £120 per foot length of your boat. I don't think it fair to disclose the price offered to me by 'Spring Valley', however it is fair to say it falls within that range but with a 20% discount as I was able to fill a short notice cancellation. Hope this helps you.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Mikeonb4c]

hello Mike. The cost is dependant on the length of your boat, the extent of any rust repair that needs attention, and the amount of fittings/ windows etc that may need to be removed. I am no expert in this field as we have only been boating for 3 years, but the common price range appears to average £70 to £120 per foot length of your boat. I don't think it fair to disclose the price offered to me by 'Spring Valley', however it is fair to say it falls within that range but with a 20% discount as I was able to fill a short notice cancellation. Hope this helps you.

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

Thanks Andy - thats a great help. Is that just the topside that is being done, or is the hull being blacked also? I didn't realise painting a narrowboat would involve removing much in the way of fittings / windows. I imagined it all got done rather as with a house (that is, either a steady hand for painting edges, around things etc, or else the liberal use of masking tape and newspaper etc.)

[Andy and Jean Watts]

Thanks Andy - thats a great help. Is that just the topside that is being done, or is the hull being blacked also? I didn't realise painting a narrowboat would involve removing much in the way of fittings / windows. I imagined it all got done rather as with a house (that is, either a steady hand for painting edges, around things etc, or else the liberal use of masking tape and newspaper etc.)

 

hello Mike. Yes it is only the top section of the boat, that is to say everything above the 'D' rail or 'Strake rail'. Which should include the front deck area, the well deck, the rear deck, gunwhales and fashes. The blacking was done a few months ago and again is priced by the foot length of your boat and is generally something between £7 and £10 per foot including hauling the boat out of the water, jet washing the hull, and two coats of bitumastic. If you want the hull grit blasted clean and a more hard wearing 'two pack' coating applied the cost will be considerably more but is supposedly expected to last around 3 times that of standard bitumastic.

The fittings being removed from my boat consist of the portholes and mushroom air vents which has less to do with a steady hand or masking tape, but more to do with exposing and treating any rust that is hidden prior to a nice new paint job that may very soon look spoilt if such action has not been undertaken.

 

Andy

[Mikeonb4c]

hello Mike. Yes it is only the top section of the boat, that is to say everything above the 'D' rail or 'Strake rail'. Which should include the front deck area, the well deck, the rear deck, gunwhales and fashes. The blacking was done a few months ago and again is priced by the foot length of your boat and is generally something between £7 and £10 per foot including hauling the boat out of the water, jet washing the hull, and two coats of bitumastic. If you want the hull grit blasted clean and a more hard wearing 'two pack' coating applied the cost will be considerably more but is supposedly expected to last around 3 times that of standard bitumastic.

The fittings being removed from my boat consist of the portholes and mushroom air vents which has less to do with a steady hand or masking tape, but more to do with exposing and treating any rust that is hidden prior to a nice new paint job that may very soon look spoilt if such action has not been undertaken.

 

Andy

 

Clear as can be and thanks v. much for taking time to write Andy. I'm going to create a spreadsheet with loads of costing stuff on it and this data will be very useful.

[Dekazer]

A second thanks for your detailed answers - I found it very helpful too

[WotEver]

I don't think it fair to disclose the price offered to me by 'Spring Valley'...

Point of order...

 

The work is being done by Springwood Haven Marina, who also trade under the name Onboard Energy.

 

Valley Cruises (previously owned by the same people but no longer any financial connection) have their base at Springwood Haven. They also trade under the name "Excellence Afloat".

 

There's no such company as Spring Valley.

 

Tony

 

... exposing and treating any rust that is hidden...

It's entirely your choice of course, it's your boat, but personally I'd insist they treat any exposed rust areas with Vactan prior to priming if they're not already intending to do so.

 

T.

[Athy]

Brief historical background: Valley Cruises was started by Adrian and Kay Wagstaff. They were originally based in Atherstone. About 2000 The Wagstaffs opened Springwood Haven Marina. (We were amongst the earliest moorers - it was very bare then and the authentic-looking wharfside building had not yet been built). About 5 years ago they sold Valley Cruises but retain the marina and the chandlery which specialises in electrical equipment (hence Onboard Energy).

[WotEver]

Here's yet more info from Jim Shead (considerably out of date, but it gives a bit more background).

 

To the OP - when's your boat booked in? I might pop down and say "Hi" and make you a coffee

 

Tony

[NewCanalBoy]

As we are talking about painting and blackening - how often should a boat be blackened ? Whats the average amount of years until people do it again ?

[sueb]

As we are talking about painting and blackening - how often should a boat be blackened ? Whats the average amount of years until people do it again ?

Every two years with bichimin spelling?

Sue

[Grace and Favour]

Every two years with bichimin spelling?

Sue

and how often with ordinary spelling?

[kitman]

It's entirely your choice of course, it's your boat, but personally I'd insist they treat any exposed rust areas with Vactan prior to priming if they're not already intending to do so.

 

T.

 

I've always been told by other professionals not to use acid converters under paint work as it causes blistering.

 

And it actually happened to a guy I know who paints for a very well known company, he used a rust converter on a boat roof and the top coats blistered in the place where the converter had been used.

 

Research on the internet reveals this:

"acid rust converters leave residual acid in the steel's pores and this causes failure due to osmotic blistering. Often this cannot be removed by neutralising with fresh water and because of this introduces a new problem to the steelwork"

 

Obviously you need to neutralise the acid with water if you wont to stop blistering.

[WotEver]

I've always been told by other professionals not to use acid converters under paint work as it causes blistering.

 

And it actually happened to a guy I know who paints for a very well known company, he used a rust converter on a boat roof and the top coats blistered in the place where the converter had been used.

 

Research on the internet reveals this:

"acid rust converters leave residual acid in the steel's pores and this causes failure due to osmotic blistering. Often this cannot be removed by neutralising with fresh water and because of this introduces a new problem to the steelwork"

 

Obviously you need to neutralise the acid with water if you wont to stop blistering.

I would suspect that the product your painter encountered was not Vactan and was more than likely phosphoric acid based. Two of the big advantages of Vactan over some other rust converters is precisely that it doesn't require washing off and that it can be painted straight over the top of. Phosphoric acid based converters usually recommend rinsing off with water once they've done their job - so straight away you are introducing the one thing (moisture) that you want to keep away from your steelwork and paint.

 

http://www.paco-systems.co.uk/vactan.html

 

Tony

[kitman]

If your boat is really that rusty you are better grinding out the pitting and filling it. Nice little job for someone!

[alan_fincher]

On our last attempt at a repiant we tried cleaning up some rusted areas with grinder and wire brush before "Vactanning"

 

The Vactan did indeed convert the residual rust in any pits, and turned the required colour. However the end result has not lasted, and the rusting appears to have broken through from underneath, despite us having put in a lot of effort.

 

I'm not convinced applying Vactan under the paint layers is a clever idea, I'm afraid.

[NB Alnwick]

On our last attempt at a repiant we tried cleaning up some rusted areas with grinder and wire brush before "Vactanning"

 

The Vactan did indeed convert the residual rust in any pits, and turned the required colour. However the end result has not lasted, and the rusting appears to have broken through from underneath, despite us having put in a lot of effort.

 

I'm not convinced applying Vactan under the paint layers is a clever idea, I'm afraid.

 

The only way to treat rust effectively is to grind it all out. However, there are some reasonably effective bodges that work for a limited time - in my experience the best is to get as much loose rust off as possible then paint with a good two-pack primer or 'Bonda Rust Primer' (a one pack epoxy based metal primer that contains Zinc) and get an impervious undercoat on as soon as possible afterwards. Most good primers, even the two-pack versions will not keep the corrosive elements (oxygen and moisture) away from iron for long without further protective coats of paint.

[smileypete]

The only way to treat rust effectively is to grind it all out. However, there are some reasonably effective bodges that work for a limited time - in my experience the best is to get as much loose rust off as possible then paint with a good two-pack primer or 'Bonda Rust Primer' (a one pack epoxy based metal primer that contains Zinc) and get an impervious undercoat on as soon as possible afterwards. Most good primers, even the two-pack versions will not keep the corrosive elements (oxygen and moisture) away from iron for long without further protective coats of paint.

One of those Perago stripping tools might be just the job for getting rusty pitted metal back to bright steel.

 

cheers,

Pete.