Deck tent!

MagicalArmchair

MagicalArmchair

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I come out of the water next week and Triolas decks are in desperate need of repainting. The old gel coat is porous, chalky and no amount of washing, scrubbing, compounding will do it any more - she just looks grubby bless her. So, time to paint the decks! A frightening prospect for sure, I bumped into another couple with a Ballad last year up the East coast, they had painted their deck with 1K and, frankly, it looked a mess with bits chipped off and a very poor finish - it actually looked worse than my chalky gelcoat.

I want to use 2k paint, applied by brush/roller, to give it a bit more life, after sealing with an epoxy primer. I have nowhere undercover I can put her (she is coming out at Chatham Marina_), so I need to create a temporary deck tent so I can paint the deck undercover. Any ideas for this? I'm struggling to see how I could stand the tent 'off' from the deck so I could paint it all. Anyone had any luck with this sort of thing?
 
Mark

The only way to cover the boat will be to erect a scafold enclosure. This will cost a bit, but will keep most of the moisture and dust off. Just make sure the yard allows enough space around you to do this.

The only alternative is to stay out the water for longer and wait for dry weather and paint then - provided it is a still day and no one nearby is creating lots of dust sanding.
 
Get a roll of 32mm MDPE (blue) water pipe (about £22 for 25m Toolstation). Cut hoops to whatever height you need. Use strong cable ties to affix alongside the outside of your stanchions. Put one or two 1" x 1" ridge poles joining all the hoops together and preventing them from buckling (cable ties again). Cover with a lightweight tarp well tied down.
 
alahol2 said:
Get a roll of 32mm MDPE (blue) water pipe (about £22 for 25m Toolstation). Cut hoops to whatever height you need. Use strong cable ties to affix alongside the outside of your stanchions. Put one or two 1" x 1" ridge poles joining all the hoops together and preventing them from buckling (cable ties again). Cover with a lightweight tarp well tied down.
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Exactly, use a white or translucent cover to increase the daylight inside. It is what nearly everone round here does, if you secure it reasonably well to stop flapping you can get several years out of cheap covers.
 
Quandary said:
Exactly, use a white or translucent cover to increase the daylight inside. It is what nearly everone round here does, if you secure it reasonably well to stop flapping you can get several years out of cheap covers.
Click to expand...

Thank you Alahol2 and Quandary, what a cracking idea. On FleaBay a tarp of that size (Triola is 9m) will cost circa £70 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tarpaulin...hash=item339031021a:m:mem12p10YJlF2pOCARQUByg), so for under £100 I'll have a full deck enclosure. With the use of velcro self adhesive strips I can make a door somewhere, and a slit and collar to go around the mast, and we'll be away.

I'll try and create a skirt so I can mask and paint the toe rail... any other suggestions for creating a step out?

TnRmz0zl.png
 
Consider Kiwigrip for your non slip areas. Painting decks is the worst job on a boat because of all the small areas and changes in shapes - plus all the bits you have to remove or paint around. Get the PBO booklet on refurbishing their old boat. Has plenty of tips on how to get a good finish on painted decks. Expect to spend many more hours in preparation than in actually applying paint.
 
Thanks Tranona - don't I know it! Thanks for the tip re Kiwigrip. The steps I have sent to Akzonobel (International paints) are:

  • A thorough clean
  • Degrease.
  • Fill all dinks with epoxy,
  • Sand with 180 grit (How do you sand non slip??)
  • Fresh water wash off.
  • Remove what I can and mask up what I can't.
  • 2 coats of Interprotect (to seal the gel coat)
    Question: Do I need to sand after these coats? If so, what grit?
    Question: Does this primer blush? Will it need to be washed off once its gone off?
    Question: Do the two coats go on on the same day?
    Question: How long do I leave it before I put the undercoat on?
  • 2 coats of Perfection undercoat
    Question: Do I need to sand after these coats/between these coats? If so, what grit?
    Question: 24 hours between coats? What is the maximum overcoat time?
  • 3 coats of Perfection
    Question: Do I need to sand after these coats/between these coats? If so, what grit?
    Question: Do the three coats go on the same day? What is the overcoat time?
    Question: Do you have non slip granules for the non slip areas?

A picture of a lovely painted deck Ballad below (he used 1K paint, so it'll not last that well but be easier to patch in).

11921756_10208330756852858_5995356730061731167_o.jpg

And then one that looks a bit like my decks :(

BILD1405.jpg
 
Further to the cover, there is merit in using two overlapping sheets, much easier to handle and you can take one off at times to ventilate or get light in. If they join at the mast location you have the option to use the cover with the mast up.
I think the step out is a complication to be avoided, if you are using two pack paints that go off in hours it should be possible to hitch up the skirt of the covers for long enough on a dry day to prepare or paint there. Drill a hole near the end your hoops to tie them vertically or they will slip down the stanchions, or even worse lift off, a good overlap of the hoop and stanchion will add to stiffness of the frame.
 
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Realise that a deck tent is the way you want to go and also that you like doing things properly. I have no experience of using a deck tent but I know that good dry conditions are what you want for painting, plus an adequate temperature. My concern is that the tent would restrict ventilation and maintain humidity ie better to wait for a good painting day / few days when things warm up a bit....... I've got to paint my deck but hadn't considered a "tent". I'm yet to be persuaded.
 
Alternatively.....
Bedwells in Walton on the Naze have a covered shed into which they slip you. We painted our boat in there years ago. Trouble was it was the August bank holiday and that was curtains for that boat as every man and his dog was on the water :nonchalance:
There are others who will tractor you into sheds etc. Many yards have an undercover area. Gary Humm in Brightlingsea is worth checking - he will pull you out and put you undercover and launch you.
Painting work is easier and more pleasant in a proper workshop. By the time you have built your own you could have done the job in someone else's better one.
You could wait till everyone is launched and then get in a shed for a week(end) in good weather and get it done.
 
Poecheng said:
Alternatively.....
Bedwells in Walton on the Naze have a covered shed into which they slip you. We painted our boat in there years ago. Trouble was it was the August bank holiday and that was curtains for that boat as every man and his dog was on the water :nonchalance:
There are others who will tractor you into sheds etc. Many yards have an undercover area. Gary Humm in Brightlingsea is worth checking - he will pull you out and put you undercover and launch you.
Painting work is easier and more pleasant in a proper workshop. By the time you have built your own you could have done the job in someone else's better one.
You could wait till everyone is launched and then get in a shed for a week(end) in good weather and get it done.
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Agree a shed would be good, and any summer month better. My point was that a tent keeps the rain off or stops condensation so that you might be able to start a bit earlier in the day, but you still want relatively low humidity and ventilation. I get the impression the OP wants to get cracking but will a tent help at this time of year? If it does I'll get one too, my deck paint is off but I am assuming I can't get much further until mid March at the earliest.
 
I bought a Dancover to go over my boat when I re-furbished her as it was a long term project. I have seen a number of 'deck tents' of the type mentioned above and they work well, just make sure you have the height required and it is well anchored against winds.

We painted our whole deck/coach roof as per post #12 of this thread: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?225776-Painting-the-deck&p=2388437&highlight=#post2388437

The tent worked really well and kept the temp up so much at time that we needed to start early in the morning before it got too warm!

Make sure you have a good face mask for the fumes given off in a closed space.

Finish was achieved with fine foam rollers and no tipping off. Non skid areas were actually painted with Kiwigrip as it hides a multitude of minor nicks and dents and also meant that the old pistol grip non skid areas did not need so much sanding.
Before:
Cabin top.jpg
During:
DSC02104.jpg DSC02128.jpg IMAG0102.jpg
After:
IMAG0350.jpg
 
MagicalArmchair said:
Thank you Alahol2 and Quandary, what a cracking idea. On FleaBay a tarp of that size (Triola is 9m) will cost circa £70 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tarpaulin...hash=item339031021a:m:mem12p10YJlF2pOCARQUByg), so for under £100 I'll have a full deck enclosure. With the use of velcro self adhesive strips I can make a door somewhere, and a slit and collar to go around the mast, and we'll be away.

I'll try and create a skirt so I can mask and paint the toe rail... any other suggestions for creating a step out?

TnRmz0zl.png
Click to expand...
Run a length of piping along the side of the boat, fastened to your pipework stepouts in the diagram. Also for tying down, get hold of some heavy weights and place them around the boat - or a length of gash heavy chain then tie the cover down to them - it will help hold it off the sides of the boat
 
captainboo said:
I bought a Dancover to go over my boat when I re-furbished her as it was a long term project. I have seen a number of 'deck tents' of the type mentioned above and they work well, just make sure you have the height required and it is well anchored against winds.

We painted our whole deck/coach roof as per post #12 of this thread: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?225776-Painting-the-deck&p=2388437&highlight=#post2388437

The tent worked really well and kept the temp up so much at time that we needed to start early in the morning before it got too warm!

Make sure you have a good face mask for the fumes given off in a closed space.

Finish was achieved with fine foam rollers and no tipping off. Non skid areas were actually painted with Kiwigrip as it hides a multitude of minor nicks and dents and also meant that the old pistol grip non skid areas did not need so much sanding.
Before:
View attachment 62399
During:
View attachment 62398 View attachment 62396 View attachment 62397
After:
View attachment 62400
Click to expand...

Thank you all, great advice. I must admit, I am a bit worried about the temperature and the humidity (I might get something to measure these both with before I apply paint and wait for some good days). I've consulted the documentation and they reckon anything above 5 degrees I should be okay with 2k. So I'll start early on, and work on through. I might try and heat the tent up a little too to keep the temperature up. captainboo, you used 1k stuff? Great finish, you must have been pleased. A proper job with the windows out too. I think I'll take most deck fittings off, although I can't rouse myself to take the windows off ... (They'll be sure to leak going back on!)
 
Found this link you might be interested in Mark
http://www.yachtpaint.com/sgp/diy/ask-the-experts/whether-to-paint-depends-on-the-weather.aspx
and even this
http://www.thermometersdirect.co.uk/zeal-whirling-hygrometer-sling-psychrometer-p2528.html
Not sure the article is that useful unless you can actually measure RH but it did say for 2k painting best RH is less than 70. Maybe the greatest advantage of a boat tent is keeping the surface temperature up. At least I have a device that can measure surface temperature ( a point and shoot gun type device with a digital read out).
 
When I painted my 23ft with 2pk perfection it was a warm day in June and had to wait until dew had dried off .Paint went on well but despite a decent vapour mask when I took it off the the smell of vapour was very strong under a tent could be dangerous without full protection.It has done 7 yrs and just needs touch up this last year,only snag the antislip granules did not work very well so put deckpaint over the top on high traffic areas and side and foredeck
 
Try Mariners Farm boatyard for a nearby liftout and storage. Much cheaper than the Marina, and they might still have some covered mast down storage. Very much a DIY boatyard and there'll be boats there in tents like you are thinking of which might give you some useful ideas.

Just a few miles along the Lower Rainham Road from Chatham.
 
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