Epoxy paint or not?

James W

James W

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I've been treating a few blisters on the hull since lockdown and I'm really pleased that everything is now filled and faired.

I want to get it all painted whilst we have a bit of good weather and had always intended not to epoxy the hull for fear that any moisture left in the hull would be trapped in and I'd be back to square one. That said, the readings are all good, apart from a couple of anomalies that are most likely stringers/water tanks/toilets anyway.

The paint supplier's advice was that all paints are waterproof and nothing will breathe, so I might as well go for epoxy. I bought it, but I'm having second thoughts now. Should I have stuck to my guns and just gone for a few coats of primer and then hard antifoul?

Thanks so much, James
 
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My advice is what was given to me by a top surveyor. Do not apply the recommended 5 coats of epoxy, but only 3 coats. In the future you may get further bubbles and they become more difficult to deal with when you have thicker layers of epoxy. I should mention I have small air bubbles in the gel coat due to poor brushing out of the gel mix. Everytime I am lifted there still seems to be a rash on the hull, but a quick sand breaks the bubbles and I scrape some more filler in. Eventually everything will be solved and no more air bubbles will exist. The same will apply to osmosis. Just look upon it as regular maintenance and remember boats do not sink due to osmosis but to poor maintenance.
 
If the boat is new to you I would be inclined to leave the epoxy for another year. Next time you come out you may find a fresh lot of bubbles you need to treat and it makes things easier.
If you know the boat well and are pretty sure that the pimples are isolated and of fairly long standing then, perhaps, epoxy right now?

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James W said:
I've been treating a few blisters on the hull since lockdown and I'm really pleased that everything is now filled and faired.

I want to get it all painted whilst we have a bit of good weather and had always intended not to epoxy the hull for fear that any moisture left in the hull would be trapped in and I'd be back to square one. That said, the readings are all good, apart from a couple of anomalies that are most likely stringers/water tanks/toilets anyway.

The paint supplier's advice was that all paints are waterproof and nothing will breathe, so I might as well go for epoxy. I bought it, but I'm having second thoughts now. Should I have stuck to my guns and just gone for a few coats of primer and then hard antifoul?

Thanks so much, James
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Don't worry about trapping moisture, the polyester resin of the GRP may be waterproof but it is not vapour proof. Any moisture in the GRP will escape to the inside of the hull as water vapour .

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
If yuou only have a few spots, could you not dry them with a Hot Air Gun before you paint with epoxy.
PS I was using 2 pack epoxy in 1982 on boat hulls before International Paints even started marketing it for Boats.
 
Thanks all, there’s some great advice there. The hull is dry and so I guess I may as well just go for it!
 
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