How much does professional antifouling cost?

Burnham Bob

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Never had it done but if they ban DIY antifoul any ideas how much a Trapper 500 would cost to antifoul? I'm almost tempted to suggest a shell company is set up buy antifoul for forumites......

It's a £100 off the shelf - or used to be - and a printed letterhead 'Professional Antifouling' should do it! Then we could buy in bulk and resell to all forumites who signed a release form saying the product would be installed in line with best practice............

we might get wholesale prices too!
 

LittleSister

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As I understand it, one of the main issues is not so much the application of the paint, but the removal of the old stuff. In particular 'drainage' systems to catch all the old antifoul and any contaminated water it's being washed down with (to avoid it ending up in the river or groundwater), then collected and disposed of as 'hazardous waste'. I imagine it's an expensive installation (not to mention the value of the waterside plot it's built on!).

It's been quite while since I was at Bridgemarsh, but I don't recall it as being the sort of place that placed a particularly high priority on compliance with regulations and official 'best practice'! I think their prices would have probably reflected that.
 
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I had a quote to antifoul my Rival 41C (41' LOA, encapsulated keel, deep forefoot, skeg type of hull) at the end of summer for £365 which included VAT, labour and application materials but not paint. I was hoping to launch late season and was looking for help to get jobs finished, otherwise I would do it my self.
 

Richard10002

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Trade price for anti foul is about half what the chandleries fleece you for it.

I would expect a mark up of 100% on many things we buy, so it doesnt really sound like a real fleecing.

I bought some Calcium tablets for SWMBO in Tescos the other day, and said she had told me they were cheaper than a prescription. The chemist found a tub, checked the till and said, (I was surprised at this), " the trade price is £7.80, and we have to multiply by 1.8 to get the retail price, so its about £13" I said I just wanted the tablets and wasnt worried about the price at the time - turned out it was a tub of 100, whereas the previous tub she had was only 60.

(As an aside, I guess she could have made an appointment with her GP, got a prescription for 100, and got them for about £8 or so..... but she wanted them then, and not in 3 weeks time :( )
 
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.... signed a release form saying the product would be installed in line with best practice............

Surly in accordance with manufacturers instructions, after all what is best practise?
 

William_H

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Around here a proffessional a/f job is not as dear as one might imagine compared tot he effort and pain of DIY. If you consider the cost of haul out cleaning and paint. Generally they can do all that quicker or cheaper. But i still persevere DIY myself.
On the subject of cleaning off a/f. Our club a long time back was forced to stop haul out. We had a cradle ona railway structure witha big winch. The cost to meet EPA requirements for collecting and treating cleaning run off was just too much.
Another club we go to for haul out is in the process of shutting down their rail cradle based haul out in lieu of Travel lift hoisting machines to place boats on hard. I presume there will be a dedicated clean off area with run off treatment. http://www.jolly-harbour-marina.com/en/marinas-antigua-caribbean/travelift.php
This kind of thing. Makes it easier to take the boat away from the water so easier to collect effluent.
Mean while my gras dies every year where I clean the hull of my little boat.
good luck olewill
 

Richard10002

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When I was ill in 2008/9 I engaged the firm at my marina, (Portomaso), in Malta to lift the boat and antifoul it - I wasn't able to be there. Their price seemed expensive so I queried it and was told that they were experts at the job, and it would be so much better than DIY, and anything that anyone else could do... and I was a bit over a barrel, so not much choice.

Anyway - when they had her lifted by the boatyard, they sent me some pics of a bit of rust along the keel/Hull join, and told me there was a major problem with alignment and the keel needed removing and refitting. The keel looked no different to the last time she was lifted but, based on their info, I arranged for John Ross to have a look... nothing wrong with the keel/hull join, (found a few other issues that I subsequently dealt with), so I sacked the guys from my marina, (maybe they sacked me when I presented them with the survey which proved they were ripping me off - I'm not sure). I flew out within a few weeks, and antifouled it myself.. a very good job, even if I say so myself :). Also did a lot of other jobs, and proved to myself that I was as good as over my illness. I also got ripped off by a rigger who got me to buy a new mainsail, when all that was needed was an adjustment to the furling gear.

Whilst out there, I saw a few jobs that were being done by the people employed by my marinas bod, and a worse, wobbly lined, jagged, bunch of antifoulings I have never seen. I was also told, off the record, that they were told to dilute the antifoul.

So a proffessional job may be cheaper or more expensive, but you need to know for sure that you are going to get a good job, and not a rip off.

Having said that, I have said on many occassions that, if you are doing business in Malta, you should count your fingers each time you shake hands - (not that rip offs are limited to Malta! and not everyone I did business with ripped me off!)
 

rogerthebodger

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The word " professional " only means that you pay some one to do the job. It makes no reference to how good the job was done, in fact it is an incentive for the people you pay skimp on the job so they can make more profit as in the comment about diluting the anti fowling paint.
 

dunedin

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In my experience the biggest costs are the boat lift and the paint. The labour was the cheapest element.
Bearing in mind the high cost of berthing in a marina, I reckoned it was better value for money to have done during the week, and use the weekends for sailing
 

FullCircle

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In my experience the biggest costs are the boat lift and the paint. The labour was the cheapest element.
Bearing in mind the high cost of berthing in a marina, I reckoned it was better value for money to have done during the week, and use the weekends for sailing
Me too, especially as I work abroad during the week...
 

Burnham Bob

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I think the threat is not that we can't apply antifoul ourselves, but that the biocides currently in use will be outlawed for sale for DIY antifoul. Anything we can buy to apply ourselves will contain much less effective active ingredients. I think this has already happened with some forumite preferred antifoul (Jotun?) which can now only be bought by professional (read boatyards) application.
 

GrahamM376

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The word " professional " only means that you pay some one to do the job. It makes no reference to how good the job was done, in fact it is an incentive for the people you pay skimp on the job so they can make more profit as in the comment about diluting the anti fowling paint.

But there are more implications if it's implemented - think asbestos and other things declared hazardous where paid for training courses have to be undertaken and possibly annual renewal of certification. Then of course there's the safe disposal of the removed antifoul. All these costs passed on to the customers who are already being ripped off by some yards.
 

BruceDanforth

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I can antifoul for about £60: £45 for the paint, PPE and roller and £15 for the use of the slipway. Down the ladder with the hose pipe, jetwash, extension lead and pan scourer when the water is down to welly depth to clean off. Masking tape on as soon as the waterline is dry, slap the paint on starting from the keels upwards, masking tape off again as soon as the paint has filmed over and everything packed away back onboard with the kettle on for lots of tea whilst I wait for the tide to come in. I even managed to have a pint too last time i did it like that.
 
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