Cream Roof or not to Cream Roof

[ChrisPy]

the perfect black body (a theoretical matt black object) absorbs 100% of radiant energy and radiates 100% of the energy it generates. or something along those lines.

 

the furthest you can get away from that concept is gloss white - cool in summer, warm in winter. I'll wear my polaroids and suffer the glare, thankyou.

[blackrose]

Light colours reflect more UV (which is a form of radiation) and that may be the main problem.

 

Light colours can't reflect any more UV than that proportion in the original incident light. If you're worried about UV slap on some high factor sunscreen (thickly).

Edited July 4, 2007 by blackrose

[KG1]

Tanzanites roof is cream also and we never have any problem with glare.

[Shaggy]

Thanks guys, very useful stuff as usual ! Although depsite listening to everyone saying cream is the best I have decided to take a chance with blue - suppose i can always cook eggs on it and save on gas:)

 

Shaggy

[whammy]

Milly has a cream roof and the glare can be quite hard on the eyes, but I would have sunglasses on anyway if the sun were that bad.

 

 

SUN ?????????? Please explain, I have a vague memory of what it is but a very dm and distance memory ??????

[Lesd]

Your right wammy,more chance of having your eyes damaged by a ricocheting hail stones than sun damage !

[Eddimonton]

We lived for a year with a black roof and it was torture especially with a new baby. So the following May we painted it white along with the decks which were grey. Made a huge difference and not too much in the way of glare - wear sunglasses! It does show up the dirt though however I can still see the dirt of the rest of the boat which is black. FOr us the most important thing was reducing the temperature which is really important to us as we live on permanantly.

 

Good Luck

 

Ed

[nbtafelberg]

I have phil speights cream and its PERFECT, not too bright and keeps the boat cooler.

[Canalwatcher]

Light coloured paint definitely reflects most of the sun's heat, whilst dark colours seem to absorb it. If I place my hand on the dark green areas on my slide it is roasting hot, whereas the white sections are almost cold.

 

As as your roof is concerned, may I suggest that rather than cream, you try light grey, it will reflect most of the heat, but does not seem to reflect sunlight glare in the same way that cream does. The roof on my boat is light grey matt finish (apart from the increasing number of rust patches!!) and I do not have a light reflection problem.

I agree with David - our roof is a light grey antislip and it definitely reflects the heat but doesn't glare

 

Mick

Edited June 24, 2008 by zodiak

[NBMike]

I can't imagine moving onto a boat then voluntarily installing a yard that I'd have to mow.

Easily solved. Just tether a goat on the roof. You could milk it too!

[DHutch]

We're dark green, but with 2inches of polystyrine behind, and a steam engine inside.

- The roof does get mad hot in summer, too hot for bare skin, but i would say the heat inside isnt a issue really as we just open the side hatches (diagonaly, on each side, left up front, right just infront of engineroom, engineroom door shut to cabin!).

 

However the coach roof is then white (read cream) which is just infront of our eyes. Worst of both worlds? We do ok. My mums also a red-head with fairly poor eye pigment!

 

 

Daniel

[paulcatchpole]

Can I just point out that if you're going to cream the roof, you're going to be beating it for a fair while...?

 

PC

[churchward]

Try putting your hand on a boat roof painted in a dark colour and then find one with a light one like cream on a hot sunny day you will feel a big difference in temperature.

 

However, cream is not my personal choice as it is a bit light for me in terms of glare. This can be reduced though by having a silk or near matt finish to the paint. This doesn't affect the heat reflecting qualities. My own preference is a light grey again as a silk or near matt finish. It looks very smart to me eyes.

[Edders]

Our previous boat had a dark blue roof which made the interior unbearably hot on a sunny day, so for our current boat we decided on matt grey colour. It did indeed make a huge difference to the internal heat, although more difficult to keep looking clean (ish). Glare is not a problem.

 

Edders.

[Troll]

Well I prefer cream its cooler (when) the sun shines.

 

On this subject I was told most (or maybe only scrupulous) boat builders save a lot of money on paint on the roof by using Magnolia as cream (or other colours) in ordinary house gloss, since the coach enamel is 5 times the price.

 

Do you think this is true or a myth?

[blackrose]

On this subject I was told most (or maybe only scrupulous) boat builders save a lot of money on paint on the roof by using Magnolia as cream (or other colours) in ordinary house gloss, since the coach enamel is 5 times the price.

 

Do you think this is true or a myth?

 

Some people use ordinary exterior gloss on boats instead of marine paint but you won't want a gloss paint on the roof, decks or gunwhales unless you incorporate sand or some other additive into it, otherwise you'll slip off in the wet!

Edited July 18, 2008 by blackrose

[Ally]

Hi

 

Just ordered a new boat and thinking whether to do the roof in cream, I will be living aboard all year. At the moment the plans are to make it dark blue but with houdini hatch in galley. Does a cream roof work well in reducing heat or is there not much in it?

 

Many thanks

 

Shaggy

Go with the cream, it makes it a load cooler when hot. Make sure it is broken up with anti-slip, and cross stripes of non-antislip. say, in line with the mushrooms, firstly it allows water to run off better, but aldso reduces an overalll glare effect, and helps with length judgement. It does show the dirt mopre, especially if having a solid fuel stove, but that's a small price to pay in the long run.

Ours is cream, during the hot summer a couple of years ago, we registered 74 degrees inside, against 108 in a green topped boat!!!! Make sure your builder is getting a really good insulation depth on though, so it contains your heat in the winter as well............it's not all about sunny days after all.

Enjoy your build, and get involved!!

[Ally]

Thanks guys, very useful stuff as usual ! Although depsite listening to everyone saying cream is the best I have decided to take a chance with blue - suppose i can always cook eggs on it and save on gas:)

 

Shaggy

Don't do it!!!

[blackrose]

Go with the cream, it makes it a load cooler when hot. Make sure it is broken up with anti-slip, and cross stripes of non-antislip. say, in line with the mushrooms, firstly it allows water to run off better, but aldso reduces an overalll glare effect, and helps with length judgement.

 

I've got non-antislip stripes (or should we do away with the double negative and just say "slip" stripes ?) going across my roof in line with the mushroom vents and bloody dangerous they are too. They serve no useful purpose at all and will be covered with non-slip paint as soon as I get the chance. Why would anyone want water to run off one in one area better than another? Water runs off non-slip paint just fine.

 

I don't know where this thing about glare on a creme coachroof comes from? I have 40' x 11' of creme roof in front of me and there is no glare - only gloss paint produces glare.

Edited July 19, 2008 by blackrose