how to remove a rubbish paint job from gelcoat

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christhefish

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After owning the boat for 3 years its time to try to get a real bad paint job off and have the hull re gelled is there an easier way than sanding.the paint looks like a single pack good undercoat well adhered top coat is just flaking [probally dulux] does anyone know of a chemical that might remove it?????? without damaging the gelcoat
 
I would expect the gelcoat to be damaged already.
There are 'gelcoat safe' paint strippers e.g 'Dilunett' (sp?), but it will be expensive and you will probably still end up doing nearly as much sanding.
I might be tempted to try the stripper and see how well it works on that particular paint, see how much you are going to use and take a view whether its worth it.
If it's anything like nitromors, you never know how well it will work until you try it.
 
The gelcoat that I have sanded looks to be in good condition {blue gel white paint} im trying to do as much in the water to save on yardtime and costs,,plus im living aboard at the moment
 
Try the paint and varnish remover from Toostation.
It is Gelcoat safe and you can wash your hands in it.

We removed all our anti fouling with it last winter/ spring. No bio-hazard, no NBC suits.
Then you may breed to finish by sanding.

Have yo uchecked out the feasability of re-gelcoating? My understanding is that you will end up sanding forever and then compounding it. May be more practical to get a 2-pack paint finish.
 
If you're having the hull re-gelled, why bother? You may as well just plane the whole lot off, paint and old gelcoat together.
 
I stripped the paint off my decks last summer. The decks had molded in non-slip which had been painted a number of times. I tried several strippers. The one which worked best was Polycell Advanced Paint stripper. Its solvent based and doesn't harm gelcoat. I applied, left for an hour or so then pressure washed off. You may have to repeat. If you leave it too long the paint hardens up again so probably best to do it section by section.I tried the toolstation stuff and it didn't do anything.
You might be able to just polish the gelcoat, it'll come up very clean.

Simon



Chalker said:
Try the paint and varnish remover from Toostation.
It is Gelcoat safe and you can wash your hands in it.

We removed all our anti fouling with it last winter/ spring. No bio-hazard, no NBC suits.
Then you may breed to finish by sanding.

Have yo uchecked out the feasability of re-gelcoating? My understanding is that you will end up sanding forever and then compounding it. May be more practical to get a 2-pack paint finish.
Click to expand...
 
I'd be tempted to experiment on a small area with a hot air gun and scraper. Very gently at first to see if the paint will come away easily without getting the gelcoat too hot.

If the old paint turns out to be a 2-pack this will not work.

However, if it does work, a quick sand and you're ready to refinish.
 
You wont be able to get all the single pack paint off. I had the same problem 30 years ago when I bought a boat which was 9 years old which had a "flat" paint finish which I assumed was faded Gel Coat. Little did I know that 3 years before (because of Osmosis at the waterline) the hull had been completely repainted in single pack paint. (2 pack paint was not out for boats then) Anyway I sanded the single pack paint back to the Gel Coat and hand painted a 9" stripe round the waterline with 2 pack Ford Ambassador Blue.
No messing about with primer, straight on. Left it a week, gave the paintwork a flat with 1000's, left it for 2 days to harden further, then gave it another coat. Job Done.
So this is what I suggest you do with your hull.
 
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