Cost of shot blasting and 2-pack epoxy

[AftApeth]

Hello. I'm in the process of buying a 57' trad through a reputable marina in Cheshire. I had my survey done this week and am waiting to get the report within the next week or so. I called by at the end to meet the surveyor and get a run down of the main issues, so I already know that the hull will need shot blasting back to the steel to get rid of corrosion that's taken hold under the blacking paint shoddily applied in the past.

 

The marina are quoting £3,173.76 to shot blast and repaint with a 2-pack epoxy. This seems excessive. They break it down as:

 

£1,767 shot blasting (£31/ft)

£1,406.76 painting (£24.68/ft)

 

Do people think this is a fair price? I'd really appreciate it if anyone has experience of these sorts of costings.

 

I've already lost a fair amount of faith in the marina after my experience of arranging a survey. They offered to arrange a full survey for me at £856.60, but I chose to arrange something myself. It turns out I commissioned the same surveyor they were going to use, but the survey cost me £595. So they were going to add £261.60 on top, which is a 44% mark up!

 

So I'm wondering if they're applying the same mark up to the shot blast and repaint. This would make the original prices something like:

 

£1,227.37 shot blasting

£977.15 painting

£2204.52 (total)

 

Does that seem more like what people would expect?

 

Many thanks.

[Phil.]

I have been quoted 3010 for a 60 ft boat grit blast and two pack. If that helps.

[nicknorman]

Does seem rather expensive but I suspect it might be the same marina we used - aqueduct - who are expensive, but on the other hand do a good job. IIRC we paid around £2800 in 2012 including new anodes. At the time I thought it was at the top end of the price range but I'd struggled to find anywhere else convenient to do it. The job is still very good 3 years later with zero corrosion around the water line.

 

Same marina charges £21 for a pump out when most others charge £15 or so, I guess that tells you their pricing strategy.

 

I'm sure you could get it done cheaper though. Try the boatyard at the A5 aqueduct on the southern end of the Shroppie (can't remember the name).

Edited July 31, 2015 by nicknorman

[dmr]

Shot blasting is a messy and unpleasant business and can involve a lot of preparation (masking up and covering up everything in the vicinity) and a big clean up afterwards. If a yard is organised and and well prepared than they can likely do it much cheaper so its worth shopping around. It may be that your boatyard makes hard work of it, or are just charging a premium because they are not too keen on doing it. About £1500 would be a good price. The epoxy itself may well cost almost £500.

 

.............Dave

[cariad]

Our 58' boat was done by Pinders Worcester in 2012 for a total of £1581.25 when the vat was 15%. It's still good and has a 7 year guarantee which covers the paint system, but not wear and tear. tel : 01527 876438. I have no connection with this company, but will

certainly contact them if i still have the boat and it needs re-painting.

[Raz]

Be very careful with Cheshire marinas undertaking shot blasting and two pack epoxy blacking!

 

A huge generalisation I know, but the one I trusted to first bitumen black twice, and then finally shot blast and epoxy black over my 5 year period of ownership managed to allow my lovely 9 year old 57 foot steel narrowboat to sink within 24 hours of relaunching it while it lay unsupervised in their marina awaiting my collection. I paid them £1760 for the whole job, carried out in 2014, although annoyingly they went on to insist on a further £800 in storage charges while I tried to sort out the consequences of their actions.

 

When the boat was eventually retrieved back ashore it could be seen the blacking job itself wasn't brilliant either, and if the previous work they had done had been of a similar quality, that could explain the now discovered poor condition of my boat's hull, which shouldn't have been painted over in that condition without first doing further remedial work.

 

I wouldn't now trust any third party commercial marina to undertake any work that would subsequently be unseen (underwater), without them being supervised.

 

I certainly would not allow any marina I was buying a boat off arrange a survey for me. My survey should be mine, independently arranged by me. However, I no longer own my boat, and have no intentions of buying another.

[Staarek]

I was always wondering what's the way forward after having a boat out after shot-blasting/applying 2 pack epoxy. Lets say that the boat is out after 5 or 7 years of being in the water, does it need shot-blasting and 2 pack again? Thanks.

[brassedoff]

Be very careful with Cheshire marinas undertaking shot blasting and two pack epoxy blacking!

A huge generalisation I know, but the one I trusted to first bitumen black twice, and then finally shot blast and epoxy black over my 5 year period of ownership managed to allow my lovely 9 year old 57 foot steel narrowboat to sink within 24 hours of relaunching it while it lay unsupervised in their marina awaiting my collection. I paid them £1760 for the whole job, carried out in 2014, although annoyingly they went on to insist on a further £800 in storage charges while I tried to sort out the consequences of their actions.

When the boat was eventually retrieved back ashore it could be seen the blacking job itself wasn't brilliant either, and if the previous work they had done had been of a similar quality, that could explain the now discovered poor condition of my boat's hull, which shouldn't have been painted over in that condition without first doing further remedial work.

I wouldn't now trust any third party commercial marina to undertake any work that would subsequently be unseen (underwater), without them being supervised.

I certainly would not allow any marina I was buying a boat off arrange a survey for me. My survey should be mine, independently arranged by me. However, I no longer own my boat, and have no intentions of buying another.

That sounds terrible but thanks for sharing that, guess we can learn from stuff like this.

 

We wont be taking notice of a brokers survey one bit. Like you said it best to arrange our own and get the truth not the bullony.

[billS]

I had mine shot blasted and epoxied in 2009. I had it taken out of the water last year, and the hull was power washed and re-epoxied (although arguably it did not really need it. The new coating appears to be adhering just fine one year on.

[Staarek]

I had mine shot blasted and epoxied in 2009. I had it taken out of the water last year, and the hull was power washed and re-epoxied (although arguably it did not really need it. The new coating appears to be adhering just fine one year on.

Perfect, thank you!

[brassedoff]

Perfect, thank you!

Sorry Staarek I kinda hid your question with my post after yours.

 

appologies

[Staarek]

Sorry Staarek I kinda hid your question with my post after yours.

 

appologies

That's not a problem at all, got my answer anyway so all good!

[Henhouse]

Our 58' boat was done by Pinders Worcester in 2012 for a total of £1581.25 when the vat was 15%. It's still good and has a 7 year guarantee which covers the paint system, but not wear and tear. tel : 01527 876438. I have no connection with this company, but will

certainly contact them if i still have the boat and it needs re-painting.

 

VAT hasn't been at 15% since the 1990's It then went up to 17.5%, until 2011, when it increased to 20%

 

(There have been various other rates, from 0% upwards for books, children's clothing, and domestic energy alongside the main rate)

[cariad]

 

VAT hasn't been at 15% since the 1990's It then went up to 17.5%, until 2011, when it increased to 20%

 

(There have been various other rates, from 0% upwards for books, children's clothing, and domestic energy alongside the main rate)

Thanks for highlighting that, it showed that i made a mistake by stating 2012 when it should have read 2009. The receipt that i have and is dated 2nd June 2009 clearly states £1375.00 + vat charged at 15%. £206.25 giving a total £1581.25 as previously posted.

[Guest]

I have just had mine shot blasted and zinga it was 3100 squids including 4 new anodes very happy with castleford boatyard and work carried out. Its a hard dirty job and the whole boat has to masked up the zinga is about the same cost as 2 pack but it is designed for marine use which some 2 pack epoxies arnt

 

Peter

[Henhouse]

Thanks for highlighting that, it showed that i made a mistake by stating 2012 when it should have read 2009. The receipt that i have and is dated 2nd June 2009 clearly states £1375.00 + vat charged at 15%. £206.25 giving a total £1581.25 as previously posted.

 

Yes, there was a brief period near the end of the last Labour government when Alastair Darling reduced VAT. Trying to stimulate the economy after Gordon Brown had totally screwed it up.

[CaptAWOL]

I had my hull shot blasted at swanley a few years ago prior to hiring the shed for 2 weeks and applied the 2 pack myself, when I get back from beering will look up the costs.

Applying 2 pack is hard work but i think well worth it, if you pay to have it done it is essential to overlook the job as all the bare steel needs to be covered

[Richard10002]

OP - are you sure it needs blasting and two pack? Surveyors can go over the top with this type of thing, partly to give best advice, and partly to cover their backside.

 

You might be able to scrape off the old blacking, wire brush, or needle hammer, the rust away, then apply blacking or two pack.

 

Or you could Primocon it and put seagoing antifoul on.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Richard10002

[ditchcrawler]

I have just had mine shot blasted and zinga it was 3100 squids including 4 new anodes very happy with castleford boatyard and work carried out. Its a hard dirty job and the whole boat has to masked up the zinga is about the same cost as 2 pack but it is designed for marine use which some 2 pack epoxies arnt

 

Peter

I dont quite see how you can say that for another 10 or so years. I was very happy with my paint job the same year it was done, not today.

[brassedoff]

Sometimes shot blasting anything rather than just dealing with the trouble spots just opens a bigger can of worms.

 

If you can isolate the rust and deal with it properly then its better than removing all your protection.

 

Dont fall for rust treatments in gel forms, they are full of bullshit it eats into the damp rusty pin holes and sits their even when you think its removed and dry its not, people paint over that stuff and wonder why they have blisters 10 months later.

 

Its always best to spot shot blast bad scabs with a shot blast gun and put no gunge on that area. keep it dry keep it clean before paint.

 

No one thing before painting anything is clean and dry and no loose debris and a good keyed surface.

 

 

Bugger its turned into politics on the post below me. darn bedtime.

Edited July 31, 2015 by brassedoff

[dmr]

 

Yes, there was a brief period near the end of the last Labour government when Alastair Darling reduced VAT. Trying to stimulate the economy after Gordon Brown had totally screwed it up.

 

You are entitled to your political allegiances but please don't try to rewrite history. It was various speculative bankers, both in America, and here, who caused the economic crisis. Gordon Brown was just trying to rescue our economy and almost certainly succeeded as despite our banks been involved we did not suffer nearly as badly as many other countries.

 

.............Dave

[AftApeth]

Thanks very much for all the advice and sharing costs. I'll work out what to do when I come out of survey limbo – hopefully the report will come in next week. I don't know much about these things – mainly what I've learnt from reading these forums for the past nine months or so – but I don't think the surveyor is going over the top about shot blasting. The whole hull is like this:

 

Apparently it's coming from under all the layers of blacking applied over the years, but has never been dealt with properly. I think the term 'mill scale' was used at one point, stemming from the original build. It's a 2003 boat, and surveyor deems that the metalwork is all sound underneath this.

[Richard10002]

 

You are entitled to your political allegiances but please don't try to rewrite history. It was various speculative bankers, both in America, and here, who caused the economic crisis. Gordon Brown was just trying to rescue our economy and almost certainly succeeded as despite our banks been involved we did not suffer nearly as badly as many other countries.

 

.............Dave

Thats the party line that helped Labour lose the last election.

 

Gordon Brown did not cause the crisis - you are correct.

 

What he did was spend all the money and much much more, prior to the crisis such that, when it hit, we were dropped into a recession, the like of which we havent seen since the 1930's.

 

I agree that his actions in buying bank shares etc. helped ensure that they did not go bust, but he had to use even more borrowed money to do it.

 

etc. etc. etc.

Thanks very much for all the advice and sharing costs. I'll work out what to do when I come out of survey limbo – hopefully the report will come in next week. I don't know much about these things – mainly what I've learnt from reading these forums for the past nine months or so – but I don't think the surveyor is going over the top about shot blasting. The whole hull is like this:

 

Apparently it's coming from under all the layers of blacking applied over the years, but has never been dealt with properly. I think the term 'mill scale' was used at one point, stemming from the original build. It's a 2003 boat, and surveyor deems that the metalwork is all sound underneath this.

 

That looks just like mine did before I wire brushed and blacked it in May.

[Raz]

This was the condition of my hull (September 2004 57 foot), after grit blasting, epoxy blacking and relaunching! (Then immediately sinking)! In March 2014.

 

The rust coloured pit is full depth of steel and penetrated into the engine bay. The rest of the length of the starboard side - the side moored against steel piling was in similar condition. As can also be seen, there is evidence of bare steel even after blacking by so called professionals. This is also repeated all over the hull.

[AftApeth]

This was the condition of my hull (September 2004 57 foot), after grit blasting, epoxy blacking and relaunching! (Then immediately sinking)! In March 2014.

 

The rust coloured pit is full depth of steel and penetrated into the engine bay. The rest of the length of the starboard side - the side moored against steel piling was in similar condition. As can also be seen, there is evidence of bare steel even after blacking by so called professionals. This is also repeated all over the hull.image.jpg

 

Thanks Raz. Just read your longer post in the 'Narrowboat hulls' thread about your experience. Sounds like a nightmare. You've convinced me of the importance of seeing the work being done for myself. At the moment I'm choosing to believe what the surveyor told me, namely that the corrosion is barely 1mm into the steel in the worst places.