need a repaint, options for media blasting required

[markb]

Hi all,

 

I'll try and keep it brief.

 

My boat is going to require a repaint in the spring. It will also need blacking (it was done just before I bought it; April, but it's already looking sorry for itself.)

 

The boat has several coats of paint on it already and most layers are peeling off underlying layers so chances are that to get a decent finish, it's got to go back to steel.

 

I think (and please let me know if I'm wrong) that finding a company to media blast the whole thing then prime and black the bottom is going to be the "best" solution (I want to do the final paint myself...)

 

Can anyone suggest anywhere that would undertake this kind of work? and if anyone has an idea, roughly how much it will cost for a ~50' trad.

 

I am moored on the River Lark at Isleham, off the Gt Ouse so I am sure I'm going to have to travel, but that would be OK.

 

Many thanks in advance,

MArk.

[BEngo]

Hi all,

 

I'll try and keep it brief.

 

My boat is going to require a repaint in the spring. It will also need blacking (it was done just before I bought it; April, but it's already looking sorry for itself.)

 

The boat has several coats of paint on it already and most layers are peeling off underlying layers so chances are that to get a decent finish, it's got to go back to steel.

 

I think (and please let me know if I'm wrong) that finding a company to media blast the whole thing then prime and black the bottom is going to be the "best" solution (I want to do the final paint myself...)

 

Can anyone suggest anywhere that would undertake this kind of work? and if anyone has an idea, roughly how much it will cost for a ~50' trad.

 

I am moored on the River Lark at Isleham, off the Gt Ouse so I am sure I'm going to have to travel, but that would be OK.

 

Many thanks in advance,

MArk.

 

Media blasting the cabin sides is probably not recommended. The mess inside will be horrendous to start with. More importantly, any media which is aggressive enough to shift the paint and the mill-scale under it will compress the surface of the steel and then the whole thing will start to change shape. That is why you can only buy pickled and primed plate in the thinner sizes, whereas for thicker plate you can buy it blasted and primed

 

The hull is thicker and usually better braced (no windows or doors) so copper slag blasting is OK, but messy.

 

Most good painters will take all your cabin paint off using a scabbler, or 7 inch abrasive discs. This is perfectly good preparation. Alternatives might be high pressure water blasting, (40,000 psi) but again the mess will be awful and it is very specialist kit.

 

For a bottom blast on a 60ft boat in late 2009 I paid just over £1000, including crane out. We had copper slag blast to the sides and baseplate.(We did the masking up before blasting, which is a whole day's work, and put the paint on ourselves). Double that at least if you want the yard to put the paint on and of course add something for inflation.

 

For cabin sides alllow £110-ish per foot, plus any fancy bits like signwriting.

 

Many places do not like abrasive blasting- it makes too much mess for most dry-docks, so you will have to ring around.

 

 

N