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Cost of repainting a narrowboat


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We are thinking of buying a boat but the paintwork is a bit faded, a good polish may do the job but want to factor in the cost of getting the boat repainted, the boat is a 52ft Semi Trad,. The boat has been recently blacked so only needs the external paintwork redone. Can anyone advise a trypical cost for getting a boat repainted.

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How long is a piece of string? I don't mean to be flippant, but much depends on the amount of work involved. It could be a flat and re-gloss, or a complete back to bare metal and start again job. I think Oxon Boatpainters at Brinklow offer an online quote service. Bear in mind that most professional boat painters are booked well ahead....I had a call from a customer for a recommendation for a painter recently, one of them was booked till May 2016. Just a thought..

 

Dave

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The line quote service that I saw gave a figure that was far more than I could afford. No doubt it was for a very complete job (windows removed etc) but I found plenty of places that would do a good professional job for little more than half the price.

 

ETA pretty much in line with Alan's figures above.

Edited by Keeping Up
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  • Excellent thanks for the comments, I hope that the polish approach will work but just wanted a view as to how much I should budget for in case I want a repaint. The boat is only 2005 built so the polish approach should work.
  • Thanks

 

A lot depends on the colours some, especially reds, do seem to fade very quickly.

 

Estimate £100 +VAT per foot and then add extra for any twiddly bits, mouse ears for example. Then add some more for the signwriting.

 

Ken

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There was a remark recently I can't remember who said it something like only a fool would have their narrowboat professionally painted. I wouldn't go that far but I agree that to have it done properly you could be looking at around £8k, I heard in our marina recently someone had paid £12,000 though that was a very long boat. The point is, how many of us here given that amount of money would put a repaint at the top of their wish list? I can think of 101 things I would spend it on before a professional paint job came anywhere near consideration.

 

As the yanks say, YMMV of course.

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There was a remark recently I can't remember who said it something like only a fool would have their narrowboat professionally painted.

I guess that makes me a fool then, having had it professionally repainted 3 times now in 23 years. It cost between £4k and £6k each time. One reason is I know, from having painted my previous boat myself a couple of times, that I don't have the skill to apply black gloss paint (which is particularly unforgiving) to the required standard. Nor do any of the amateur painters that I know, although that is not to say that there is no such animal.

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We are thinking of buying a boat but the paintwork is a bit faded, a good polish may do the job but want to factor in the cost of getting the boat repainted, the boat is a 52ft Semi Trad,. The boat has been recently blacked so only needs the external paintwork redone. Can anyone advise a trypical cost for getting a boat repainted.

 

We had or 52ft traditional stern boat repainted by John Sanderson in 2012 and it cost £5200 including signwriting. For that price all the cabin fittings were removed and all the paint removed back to bare steel primed and numerous coats of paint applied.Two years on it still looks very good, and we get a lot of complimentary observations about how good the paintwork looks.

 

John Sanderson is based at Dadford's Wharf having taken over the paint dock from Phil Speight having worked for him, for 15 years before Phil retired. He has a web site here:- http://www.narrowboatpainting.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx

Edited by David Schweizer
  • Greenie 1
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Does it have to be professionally done?

any reason my partner can't do it while I'm at work!?!

thanks

(newbie with a boat that could do with an external clean up)

 

Of course not. It will save a fortune. I painted our boat when it was new, I wish I had stuck with it,

  • Greenie 1
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The reason he makes it look so easy in that vid is because the surface is totally smooth and well prepared. That's the secret.

I think preparation is always the secret to any successful paint job, whether it's on a boat or in a house, 90% of the job takes place before you first pop off the lid of a tin of paint. I've only recently put the first coat of very thinned varnish on the wooden inserts inside my stern doors, I must have spent five or six hours stripping off the old varnish and sanding down.

 

 

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail, as they say. wink.png

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Difficult to give some sort of figure without seeing the boat, but it would run to a number of thousands of pounds, depending on finish and materials involved as well as if the windows and mushroom vents etc are removed etc. To have it professionally done would also require it to be under cover, so cost of a dry dock would be an additional expense.

 

Think in your case, if you buy the boat, concentrate on the things that make the boat work and function properly plus bring any lapsed maintenence work up to date if necessary. The 'pretty' side can be done in the future. There is no reason that you cannot learn to do the job yourself if the T Cut and polish does not work out to your satisfaction. I would suggest that it is one of the pleasurable sidelines of having a boat. Plus you would save money.

 

Just to add, all our signwriting and coach lines are done in cut vynal similar to vans & lorrys. We did have it done professionaly and it was worth while the relative cost.

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I disagree with the " can do it yourself" suggestion. Certainly it's not impossible, but as someone in the painting business and a long time boater (50+ years ), I've had plenty of experience with owner painted finishes and few have come close to the finish achieved by professionals. Those that do have taken a long time with much looking at appropriate conditions and a motorway bridge or similar is often a wind tunnel, an observation I make from first hand experience. It all depends on the finish you are looking for....long ago, one of my signwriting tutors told me

 

" Most people think..if you can piss, you can paint"...if only....

 

Dave

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You get your £7K paint job. Then some of the blacking gets scraped off going through a bridge hole and goes rusty. Your solid fuel stove, along with a dose of rain, gives you a nice stain running down your fresh paint job. It looks a mess. More of a mess maybe than a hand painted boat that wasn't perfect to start with.

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You get your £7K paint job. Then some of the blacking gets scraped off going through a bridge hole and goes rusty. Your solid fuel stove, along with a dose of rain, gives you a nice stain running down your fresh paint job. It looks a mess. More of a mess maybe than a hand painted boat that wasn't perfect to start with.

Are you allowed to take it out of the marina?

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Cost me £60.

Boat looks decent enough.

Scraped it on the way back from the dry dock.

Out with the roller...quick touch up....perfect.

 

My boat doesn't look glassy smooth, but it's nice and bright, and always will be. Seen so many "sprayed" boats that are faded, or scratched, and the owners are powerless to repaint it themselves....

 

You can do a lot with £6000 - £10 000. But you see....it's that old adage...those who have lot's of "spare" cash, are happy to spend it.....like a handbag my wife saw in a shop...I thought it would be £50...it was £1500..

 

that's my 2 cents worth.

 

Here's the £60 paintjob.

 

purple.jpg

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