Bilge paint and painting the bilge?

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David52

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Stupid question - although most of mine seem to be!

I contemplating painting the bilge and wondered if there are any pros and cons I should be aware of. The bilges currently in the saloon etc. are unpainted. Although I try to keep a dry bilge but water inevitably gets in and sits there longer tahn perhaps it should. Is there a good paint to use? I have heard of people drying out and and painting the bilges with expoxy to prevent potential ingress.

Observation sensible or otherwise greatfully received.

Cheers
 
I think you will find "Danbolin" (not sure about spelling) is the one most chandlers sell. I have used it many times and is very good. It will do no harm using epoxy, but I don't think this will prevent ingress of water, you need to find the reason for the ingress and correct it.

Barry
 
Regarding ingress - It's a long debate had with a number of folks about osmosis - I don‘t know tech stuff and. I can't remember the detail but the theory being if epoxy gel coat is not penetrated by water then could loose water in the bilges be taken by capillary action through the resin/glass and thus stop at the gel coat causes blisters - the concept being that is was not osmosis through the gel layer. Just occurred to me that others may have heard of this and have formulated some opinion. The anecdote I last heard on this was about a particular type of one design which was gel "sandwiched" and had seemed not to hold moisture or suffer from osmosis - could be tosh - but that kind of thing sticks in your head when your boat gets to a certain age!
 
yup this stuff does a good job, bit more money than the screwfix stuff but find it works better.

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Worst culprit is fresh water in the bilges ... it has less density than sea-water and can permeate poorly cured laminate. It is common when checking behind fittings, under stiuffeners / braces etc. to find "dry" laminate. This will draw moisture along as sure as eggs is eggs ...

So the above is to answer the "osmosis" part ...

To answer the bilge painting part .....

To be honest - IMHO there are ways to paint bilges that do not entail expensive paints or concoctions. There are conventional epoxy paints that will provide a good coating ... given two coats will seal up as good as any ... But they are not bought at Chandlers. A good paint shop would be able to supply. Epoxy based gloss is my choice as its easy to wipe clean, looks good and is reasonable water barrier.
 
I have also used Danboline for years and wouldn't use anything else.

Make sure it goes on a clean, dry surface - Daz washing powder is one of the best things I have found for cleaning up first.
 
So, the choice of Danboline is either red or grey. I tend to find that grey gives a good background colour to highlight undesirable bits floating round the bilge, but otherwise any good bilge paint well applied will serve.

Make sure you really really clean and dry the bilge first as any greasy or dirty/dusty areas will not hold the paint, usually in the angles between hull and floors, and this is where the trouble starts. Make sure any unprotected wood that may be in the bilge (known it in production boats) is not rotten or if suspect, replaced and sealed. As always, thorough commonsense and the job's a good'un!

Mac /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
The el cheapo scrfewfix stuff has worked fine for me. The fact that is (off) white helps to brighten things up, and highlights any leaks, especially around the engine.
 
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