Advice needed on changing hull from varnish to paint

[gary3029]

Hi
Bought a 24ft clinker hull boat which has a varnished hull. Now it looks nice but close up you can see the flaws in the varnish and I think that in some areas the older coats are not in such good condition. The boat on its present mooring is open to all weathers and I think a varnished hull will be more work than it is worth. Would I be right in thinking that a painted hull will be easier to maintain and more durable? If I am to change the clinker hull from varnish to paint what is involved? Is it easy to strip varnish off? Any advice/ thoughts would be most welcome

 

[alienzdive]

As a general rule of thumb, you can not apply paint over varnish. You will need to strip all the paint back to the bare wood. Some of the varnish may have impregnated the timber if it was put on correctly so it will need a major strip. Best method is with a coarse grit sandpaper on an electrical type device/sander etc. Then sand out scratch marks with finer paper but still leaving a small key for the primers, ie not too fine. Then paint to manufacturers specs for bare timber.

 

[Crunluath]

Hey don't complain, those of us with painted hulls would love to go back to varnish but it is usually far too much work.
Varnish needs no more work than paint. If the hull underneath looks OK then flat it off and ply on as many coats as you can in the time you have available. Especially on clinker hulls there really is no difference in maintenance between paint and varnish. Most times owners switch to paint to hide some blemish or more extensive damage, if you do not have either of these then stick to varnish. Nothing to beat Epifanes in my opinion though I have tried Le Tonkinois and it is almost worth buying for the smell alone!
A final point is that it is no more difficult to strip off varnish than paint. You do not have to achieve absolute perfection, antique dealers drool over "patina" so claim that's what you have!

 

[Lakesailor]

Hot air gun. But would agree that varnish is much nicer. See how many older painted hulls move and spoil the paint finish. Varnish doesn't do (or show) that.

 

[trouville]

Dont take the varnish off!! Just sand it down as was said in a post before and then as the post said apply your paint!

When i have say a wooden hatch that looks great with varnish but the summer sun in the med would make it impractical i first varnish the bear wood with 4/5 coats of thined varnish then two coats of paint (or more in needed)

Then if you want to go back to varnish you heat gun the paint off with ease, once you paint bare wood you will have a lot of work to get all the paint out of the grain

 

[simonbaker]

I have heard many people say that you should not apply paint over varnish but I have never seen an explanation as to why - is varnish too flexible??? I dunno? I have been toying with the idea of going all East Coast Fisherman trendy and painting my mast white above the hounds but see the job of stripping back perfectly good varnish as a waste of effort. Anyone done this without removing the varnish I wonder?

 

[Peterduck]

I wouldn't remove the varnish for the sake of it, but you must sand the surface to give the paint a matt surface to grip on to. You must also ensure that all the varnish remaining is in sound condition and gripping the varnish or wood underneath. The reason for painting the ends of spars white is to avoid having the varnish weather where the spar sticks out of the end of the sail cover. In the case of a mast, it saves you from having to go to the very top of the mast every time you need to recoat the varnish.
Peter.

 

[trouville]

I did my my mast. If you have a varnished mast your varnish must be very well done! That is you will have to sand EACH coat and add varnish promptly otherwise the layers peal off!!
I sanded so or so my varnish and white painted 2 coats and no problem with the sun for several years!! Just take care of hicks and scratcheds as they peal fast!

Ive no idea why varnished masts last so much longer in the north--it is sunny there as well???isent it?

 

[tcm]

message to the boat

You obviously need a new owner, as the current one seems to have bought a wooden boat and is now looking for ways to avoid "a lot of work" which of course indicates he's be better off with a plastic boat, or (even Better) no boat at all.

In any event, we can only pray that he doesn't strip the varnish if he does decide to paint you - then at least the next owner can return to varnish easily as the grain and joints won't be filled with paint.

 

[gary3029]

Re: message to the boat

A little harsh tcm....the boat won't need a new owner and I am hopefully not going to paint her, but I need to explore my options. For the past 16 years coats of varnish have been applied to the hull and in my humble opinion some of it looks tatty. Now what do you do bodge the bad areas in, let it all go to rack and ruin or strip it all down and start again. I am not afraid of hard work and knew what I took on when I bought the boat. This boat has gone from 6 month on the water in a shelterd backwater to 11 months on a trot mooring exposed to everything. I have to balance between the boat, work and the other half.

 

[tcm]

Re: message to the boat

sorry for the harshness. I recognise there's a balance, altho imho hereabouts it generally leans a touch more in favour of the boat than on other forums.

I think the boat should be ashore, get cleaned and have a look when it's dried out a bit.

 

[jprstoney]

Re: message to the boat

As an ex-spray painter, I would dry her out, scrape/sand back any unsound material and re-varnish her. Any blemishes on the boat add to the character (unless you want a Bayliner lookalike).

If you were to paint her, she needs a really good scrape and clean first otherwise you could get chemicals bleeding through the paint which you'll never get out.

Whatever you choose, good luck and enjoy!

 

[gary3029]

Re: message to the boat

I think that will be the plan. Sort out the bad areas and bring them upto soundeness accepting that I will not have a perfect varnished hull of even texture and colour. Anyway I like character that is why I bought her. Thanks for the imput I won't apply any paint!!!!