Corrosion around windows

[Zayna]

Hello, can anyone help with this please.

 

Our boat has some corrosion around the windows, the paint is bubbling and flaking off, it doesn't look disastrous but we need to stop it getting any worse. So I guess the windows have to come out, the paint rubbed down and the metal primed and repainted?

 

My chap is of the handy variety but I don't want him to start this job without getting some good advice from you guys please. I was wondering whether he should paint around the windows in a totally different colour, or will the paint match ok if he uses the same colour (the boat is only 3 years old, the paint might not have faded that much???), or if anyone has any more suggestions please, I'd appreciate them.

 

Thank you very much.

[RobinJ]

Our boat has some corrosion around the windows, the paint is bubbling and flaking off, it doesn't look disastrous but we need to stop it getting any worse. So I guess the windows have to come out, the paint rubbed down and the metal primed and repainted?

 

My chap is of the handy variety but I don't want him to start this job without getting some good advice from you guys please. I was wondering whether he should paint around the windows in a totally different colour, or will the paint match ok if he uses the same colour (the boat is only 3 years old, the paint might not have faded that much???), or if anyone has any more suggestions please, I'd appreciate them.

Reds and greens tend to be bad for fading!

If the windows are within panels, then you can repaint the whole panel!

Otherwise you may be able to blend the new paint in if its not too faded?

[Zayna]

Reds and greens tend to be bad for fading!

If the windows are within panels, then you can repaint the whole panel!

Otherwise you may be able to blend the new paint in if its not too faded?

 

Tis blue...

 

 

[Nightwatch]

As Robinj has said you could repaint within the coach lines. CheekyB looks ideal for this. it will also break up the 'blueness' of the sides. You could also create new coach lines at the forward end around the two ports.

 

If 'she' were mine, and I had the inclination and funds, I would then get the name put on the side between the ports.

Having said this, if the treatment is more urgent, the paint should, with a bit of elbow grease and polish, as near as dam it, match.

 

Only ideas, not instructions may I add.

 

Still in love then?????

 

Martyn

[Grace and Favour]

Your windows would appear to made of anodised aluminium, and I suggest that the (all too common) rusting around them is caused by galvanic corrosion between the aluminium and the mild steel of your boat.

 

Others (or Wikipedia) will be able to give you detailed advice on galvanic corrosion, all I would suggest is that the windows should be removed from the boat, the steel thoroughly cleaned, rust treated, and as good a job made of the painting as possible (primer, undercoats, top coats)

 

If it were mine I would also consider bedding them in on a good bed of Sikaflex, (and possibly even a thin neoprene gasket - though I haven't yet had the need to research that)

[Zayna]

As Robinj has said you could repaint within the coach lines. CheekyB looks ideal for this. it will also break up the 'blueness' of the sides. You could also create new coach lines at the forward end around the two ports.

 

If 'she' were mine, and I had the inclination and funds, I would then get the name put on the side between the ports.

Having said this, if the treatment is more urgent, the paint should, with a bit of elbow grease and polish, as near as dam it, match.

 

Only ideas, not instructions may I add.

 

Still in love then?????

 

Martyn

 

Can you tell?

 

I can't wait to start looking after her properly. It looks like she's been bashed about a bit and just left sitting by herself, with nobody to love her...

[Chalky]

Try T-cut on the paint and see what shade of blue you get. Then paint a small area next to it. You might find that the colour hasn't faded too badly and you can get away with it.

 

Having seen professional car painters at work I've seen some other techniques used.

Professional car painters sometimes use 1500 grade wet and dry for the same purpose as T-cut but you have to know what you're doing! With cars its common to paint to the edge of a panel to hide a mismatch in colour. It's also possible to buy car paint that is a shade or two lighter and darker than the standard colour to hide fading. Another technique used is to fade the colour across the panel. Not sure how applicable they would be to a boat.

[Nightwatch]

Can you tell?

 

I can't wait to start looking after her properly. It looks like she's been bashed about a bit and just left sitting by herself, with nobody to love her...

It's surprising what a bit of TLC and a coat of touch up paint can do.

 

I'm sure in time to come you will have her looking her Sunday best.

 

Martyn

[Higgs]

Corrosion around the frames, but on the actual cabin paintwork, is usually a sign of rust spreading from beneath the window frame. It would be easier to help if you could take some detail photos of the least and the worst corroded areas.

 

Long term solutions to bad corrosion around windows is best treated by removal of the window.

 

Trying to match paintwork can be partially successful. It depends on how well the old paint can be brought back to a good colour by polishing away the oxidation and grime.

 

Rubbing back paint to the steel at the edge of a window frame will leave a depression. It's small, but visible after painting. It all depends on the extent of the corrosion. There's also the need to treat. Paint/rust has to be removed, leaving a margine of bright steel around the bad area. Badly pitted areas will need a filler.

 

Easier to make assessment from photos.

 

Anodised windows should be treated with some care when removing and refitting. It is possible to cause stress marks in the anodising if the frame is bent trying to lever off, and on re-fitting if screws are over-tightened.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Higgs

[dor]

Your windows would appear to made of anodised aluminium, and I suggest that the (all too common) rusting around them is caused by galvanic corrosion between the aluminium and the mild steel of your boat.

 

Others (or Wikipedia) will be able to give you detailed advice on galvanic corrosion, all I would suggest is that the windows should be removed from the boat, the steel thoroughly cleaned, rust treated, and as good a job made of the painting as possible (primer, undercoats, top coats)

 

If it were mine I would also consider bedding them in on a good bed of Sikaflex, (and possibly even a thin neoprene gasket - though I haven't yet had the need to research that)

 

I wouldn't use Sikaflex. If you need to take the windows out again it will be almost impossible without destroying them. Use window tape - that's what it is for - and make sure the screws or clamps are tightened up evenly.

 

If it was galvanic corrosion, wouldn't it be the aluminium that corroded? More like rust spreading from underneath the windows where water has seeped in a started rusting at the poorly painted edges.

 

Three year old dark blue paint shouldn't have faded much. The touching up is more likely to be visible due to brush marks.