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Should a dry bilge be painted?

youthoftoday
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youthoftoday Contributor

youthoftoday

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What it says on the tin, really. Should the bilge under 'main bit' of the cabin be painted before it's ballasted on a new build? If it isn't, is that a problem?

 

Of course I don't intend to spill liquids through the floor and I intend for the air to be dry, but things happen.

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TandC Proficient

TandC

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We gave ours a coat of vactan (rust converter) after a wire brush and scrape to get the worst rust off, then a couple of coats of bitumin paint (Toolstation is cheap) - you still get condensation build up on the base-plate so its good to give it some protection.

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simonebb Engager

simonebb

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I am restoring my boat and have cleaned back the internal cabin steel and given it 2 coats of Bonda Prima all over, I now want to relay the ballast, is it okay to put a coat of Bitumen straight on top of the Bonda Prima before relaying the slabs?

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andywatson Rising Star

andywatson

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Yes. I did mine with primer and gloss. A second coat of gloss was added shortly before ballasting and/or covering over the inaccessible places.

 

Here's mine:

DSCN0256.jpg

 

It will help make it easy to clean and keep it clean while you are fitting out and protect it later.

 

Start as you mean to go on.

Edited by andywatson
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andywatson Rising Star

andywatson

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Several reasons:

 

-I got a 5 litre can of it for peanuts from my local Johnstones dept - they sell "mistints" and such like returns cheap.

 

-A light glossy paint is easy to keep clean where you can get at it.

 

-Bitumen is a reversible coating and re-dissolves where fuel' oil and thinners (accidentally) get to it.

 

Where permanent, or even the trim ballast, was fitted or anywhere to be permanently covered I waxoyled as well.

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Ex- Member Veteran II

Ex- Member

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With Hindsight I wish I had thought about the bilge and painted it in a better finish, Grey floor paint would be my choice.

 

Didn't think of it though so the inner hull was coated in bitumen by the builder, once that's applied there isn't much you can put on top but the same, so that's what we did. Was lucky enough to know a builder who had only used a couple of litres from a 25L tin of roofing bitumen, so an additional coat was applied.

 

It was only last week we had the floor up as there's a mid section of bilge in the boat that we left accessible to be able to trim the boat. This was the first time accessed for 6 years and the boat is now 10 years old, so happy when this is what we found.

 

DSCF2879_zps50deb767.jpg

 

All in pretty good shape.

 

I would recommend second coating a bitumen in a bilge if bitumen is already applied , I think ours was sprayed on and not that thick so another brushed on coat was applied.

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Ex- Member Veteran II

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What is the difference between Owatrol and Waxoyle?

 

Waxoyl is a hard grease like wax rather than a flowing oil which is what Owatrol is. Waxoyl would be an excellent solution for a bilge as well.

 

I still have an old transit Luton van where the chassis was coated in Waxoyl from new, there's hardly any rust on it at all, the van is now 30 years old. It sticks like the proverbial and is quite thick compared to paint. It also self repairs should it get scratched of gouged.

 

You can get it in aerosol application for small areas, for a boat bilge though I think there's special spray applications for large area applications. I've used spray Waxoyl on the wheel arches of a Mercedes 190 I owned. It doesn't really dry you can dig tour thumb nail it for instance years after being applied, this is where it's self repairing ability derives from.

 

It's been used in the shipping industry for yonks and farmers use it a lot to protect farm machinery too, popular with Land Rover users too for protecting chassis.

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smileypete Veteran II

smileypete

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I am restoring my boat and have cleaned back the internal cabin steel and given it 2 coats of Bonda Prima all over, I now want to relay the ballast, is it okay to put a coat of Bitumen straight on top of the Bonda Prima before relaying the slabs?

 

I'd just leave it at that without the bitumen, there was a topic a while back that mentioned it may be left without overcoating, would have thought a couple of coats would do fine in a bilge:

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=24984

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited by smileypete
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simonebb Engager

simonebb

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Hi Pete,

Thanks for thIs, i had read the thread on oxides which was why i used Bonda Prima, however there does seem to be conflicting advice as to whether it can just be left and because of this I called the manufacturer, they do suggest a topcoat is applied over the Bonda, it doesn't seem to matter what the topcoat is as long as it is sealed in.

I agree that its probably a bit 'belt & braces' but having spent weeks cleaning back the metal work due to extensive rust caused primarily (but not exclusively, water was coming in anywhere it could!!!) by leaking windows, I never want to do it again! Oh dear i seem to be ranting :(

The boat is stripped right back to the hull and as I am now starting from scratch, I'm really keen to get it right and protect from further damage, should water get in again or just from plain old condensation, its all a bit of a learning curve and I do find myself agonising over every decision, every step of the way!!

Ranting again

I'll stop now...

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