Confused about topsides paint...

Thanks all (especially PhilM). Some food for thought there.
I quite like the idea of leaving the boot top till last... it's really just a 'nice to have' so if I run out of time it's not critical.
For those of you saying you are having to repaint every year, are you marina based? I'm hoping I will get at least a few years out of this as the boat lives on a swing mooring and even when cruising we don't go alongside all that much, so not a lot of fender damage.
 
Common to repaint every year on conventional wooden construction, not least because often the seams move so need filling and fairing then one coat of topcoat. However, unnecessary on a GRP boat or on sheathed ply like mine. Last complete paint on mine after blasting clean(ish) then filling and fairing has been on for 7 years and previous was on for over 10 and really did not need completely re-doing. Only did it because I had the opportunity to get the blasting done.

Know you want to do the best thing, but really you are overthinking this. Preparation is the same whatever you use and you will be delighted - for a long time with the performance of 105 Toplac. Make sure you preserve the waterline if it is good (mistake I made in the complete strip), do topside, then AF and finally boot top.
 
More common to repaint each year if you have a wooden boat AND are rubbish at parking :) a little sanding and paint can cover a multitude of sins!
 
Tranona said:
Maximum £100 of materials, probably 3-4 days prep and 2 days application.
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5l was suggested up thread as appropriate for a 33ft boat. Kelpie does have much higher topsides than other boats of a comparable length/design such as Co32 or Rivals, so it might end up being quite a big area.

5l of Toplac, 2.5l of PreKote, and the smallest tin of Watertite would set me back £215, then I've got brushes, tape, sanding discs, etc etc. It does start to add up.
Maybe the quantity is an overestimate?

I'm looking into Premier Paints and also Dulux Weathershield as cheaper options- the latter seems to be a bit of a minefield with many different products carrying the Weathershield name.
 
Pretty sure 5l is OTT. My 26' takes 750ml of preKote and less than 2*750ml top coat Use the coverage calculator.

Personally think it is a mistake to buy cheap/unknown materials on a labour intensive job. Even if it is £200 that equals £20 a year! and you will enjoy the sight of gleaming topsides every time you see the boat.
 
Tranona said:
Pretty sure 5l is OTT. My 26' takes 750ml of preKote and less than 2*750ml top coat Use the coverage calculator.

Personally think it is a mistake to buy cheap/unknown materials on a labour intensive job. Even if it is £200 that equals £20 a year! and you will enjoy the sight of gleaming topsides every time you see the boat.
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I'll have a look at the coverage calculator- from memory I thought they only did one for antifoul.
I agree about not skimping on materials for a labour intensive job. Just that many people seem to swear by good quality masonry paint and various other alternatives, so it's not a simple question of expensive=good. Also my own experience of Toplac so far is that it was a bit strange to apply and I expect I might do a better job with paint that is more akin to what I'm familiar with.
 
It's a 10m boat. Less than 1m of topsides? Call it 20 sqm. Most gloss paint is about 10sqm per litre. A couple of litres at most.
So your choice of £135 for Perfection down to £30-40 for Dulux.
 
Kelpie said:
.... Also my own experience of Toplac so far is that it was a bit strange to apply and I expect I might do a better job with paint that is more akin to what I'm familiar with.
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What matters is using the paint, tools, technique, temperature that works for you..
 
lw395 said:
It's a 10m boat. Less than 1m of topsides? Call it 20 sqm. Most gloss paint is about 10sqm per litre. A couple of litres at most.
So your choice of £135 for Perfection down to £30-40 for Dulux.
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Was assuming 2 coats!

I get through 2.5l every year for two coats on a 24 footer.
 
I have to say I am veering towards Toplac, despite my misigivings about its ease of application.
Premier Marine Paints sound good and are a bit cheaper- I'd save £75 or so, but some of that would be lost to delivery costs. However with almost no independent reviews of their topcoat paint it could be a bit of a gamble. Any happy users out there?
The other option, Dulux Weathershield, is turning out to be a bit of a minefield. Firstly there is the water based DIY version which sounds unsuitable, but is still called Weathershield. Then when you get into the trade stuff there are several versions- I am guessing that what I want is "Dulux Trade Weathershield All Seasons Masonry Gloss". The undercoats are equally confusing. Price may not work out all that much cheaper than Toplac either- buying online it saves me about £40 for the topcoat, although a big chunk of the cost is the delivery so I might get it cheaper locally via a builders' merchant.

It would be great if one of those satisfied Dulux users could explain which exact paints they used.
 
In a similar position to yourself; but have investigated PrecisionYacht Paint as an option. Seems good quality and not too expensive if as good quality as it appears. Helpful company, sent colour card and leaflets. The price comparison with different makes is sometimes tricky; 750ml vs 1litre cans.
10 years ago I used Wickes version of Weathershield Trade, ie not waterbased. It was cheap and very easy to apply. Reasonable job for a little 17footer, and looked good for years. Limited colour range tho. I would also consider trying Paint Shed, this is "trade" shop that does Johnsons paint, and mixes from good quality bases to the colour match you want. My local branches are very helpful, but obviously its not "marine" paint so they will be wary of any guarantee.
 
I use Jotun paints for CdG. Their Easygloss is pretty good. It requires the same prep as anything else. I apply with glass roller and tip off with a brush. I think pretty much all colours are available, and it is cheaper than Toplac.
 
OK so due to general confusion, lack of the correct colour, etc, I am probably going to go with Toplac- despite my misgivings about ease of application. It's not the cheap choice but the others aren't working out all that much cheaper and I don't want to take shortcuts. Annoyingly it's only available in non-white in 750ml tins, so I hope that International have good colour consistency, unless I want to pour a load of tins into one pot I suppose.

A quick question about undercoat: Pre Kote is only available in white or light grey. My hull is dark blue, and I am refreshing the paint job rather than changing the colour, so adding a layer of white undercoat seems a bit risky. Do I need to find a darker undercoat, or skip the undercoat, or just get on with it and hope that two coats of dark blue Toplac will be OK on top of a white undercoat?
 
Use the light grey - that is the recommended one for dark blue top coat. It will help with your final preparation against your existing dark blue. If you are using 105 then don't worry about consistency. Not only does it hold its colour well when on, but I have touched up with paint bought several years later and could not tell the difference in colour.
 
I used marine enamel from https://www.premiermarinepaints.co.uk/
which was much cheaper than the premier brands. After much filling and rubbing down, I primed with their grey primer and finished with Cambridge Blue. The result was satisfactory but would have been better with more thorough flattening of the primer coats.
Can't comment on the durability because I sold the boat shortly afterwards.
 
I believe the general formula for amount of paint is:

LWL x (D+B) x 0.5

Where: LWL is waterline length, D is draft, B is beam.

This gives you a figure in m2. Divide this by the coverage of your paint o give you a figure in litres required.
 
Seeing as this thread has been resuscitated, I'll mention that in the end I went with Toplac, followed the recommended quantity, and have about half of it left over. Lesson learned, a hundred odd quid needlessly spent. Admittedly I could have done one more coat but I'd finally managed two in a row with minimal flaws and lost the nerve. Painting outdoors in Scotland is not a relaxing activity!
 
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