More on Marine Paint vs House Paint

[Timbow]

Just had a conversation with Dulux technical and thought I would let you know.

Obviously two pack paints and Polyurethane paints are altogether a different thing but in terms of traditional oil paint for wooden boats it has been suggested that a best quality exterior oil gloss like Dulux Weathershield is as good as or better than a marine branded paint. That may or may not be true but if you are using Dulux for boats this is what they had to say:

Avoid any retail ranges which are non-drip or one-coat. All of them compromise the quality of the paint for ease of application or cleaning. Some of them are not thinnable. Even the Dulux Weathershield you buy in B&Q is not quite the same as the one you get from the Trade Centre and may be slightly inferior in performance. There is no difference in the formulation of the ready mixed Trade Weathershield and the 'pigment added while u wait' Trade Weathershield. You can thin it if you wish but it shouldn't be necessary. Matching Weathershield undercoat should be always used, it is essentially a two part system. If you don't undercoat or use another undercoat you won't get the same strength of film as you should. Coverage is 16m2 per litre.

So there we have it. FYI.

Tim w

 

[Romeo]

Thanks for that. Not sure B&Q will be too happy if they read that advice!

I now use Weathershield on my boat which sits in a tidal harbour and gets bashed about a fair bit. It needs repainted every year anyway, so I don't see anyoint in using paint more expensive than weathershield. However having been involved in building a clinker ply boat recently we spent a fortune on paint. This in my view is money well spent to protect a vulnerable material, in a boat which I sincerely hope will not get bashed about to the same extent, and which looks utterly magnificent compraed to the paint job of my harbour based larch clinker built boat (which itself looks a pretty reasonable workmanlike finish, at least until the middle of the season).

 

[LittleShip]

Just had a conversation with Dulux technical and thought I would let you know.

Obviously two pack paints and Polyurethane paints are altogether a different thing but in terms of traditional oil paint for wooden boats it has been suggested that a best quality exterior oil gloss like Dulux Weathershield is as good as or better than a marine branded paint. That may or may not be true but if you are using Dulux for boats this is what they had to say:

Avoid any retail ranges which are non-drip or one-coat. All of them compromise the quality of the paint for ease of application or cleaning. Some of them are not thinnable. Even the Dulux Weathershield you buy in B&Q is not quite the same as the one you get from the Trade Centre and may be slightly inferior in performance. There is no difference in the formulation of the ready mixed Trade Weathershield and the 'pigment added while u wait' Trade Weathershield. You can thin it if you wish but it shouldn't be necessary. Matching Weathershield undercoat should be always used, it is essentially a two part system. If you don't undercoat or use another undercoat you won't get the same strength of film as you should. Coverage is 16m2 per litre.

So there we have it. FYI.

Tim w

I have mentioned the fact that Weathershield is a 3part system, Primer, Undercoat, and Top coat many times on here. That said the undercoat is difficult to use IMHO due to the difficulty in sanding down and I have used Dulux Trade Undercoat for a few years now.

As for thinning, I have used both Owatrol and White Spirits and the result are both better than nothing.

Personally even though I wont use any other paint on my boat, standard Weathershield is a difficult paint to use in comparison to some of the more expensive marine coats available, that is until you learn how to get the best from it. It is best spread quickly, with a good brush and slightly thinned. Matching in Dulux is easy and that has to be a plus point for this paint.

I often get asked if my boat is GRP.......... that in my mind shows how well this paint can be applied......... or how bad some peoples eyes are.

I find some of the high gloss marine paints too hard for life on a wood boat, although they all have a good finish they tend to crack and allow water under the paint which results in flaking. Weathershield is much more flexible and withstands water intrusion better than other high gloss paints.

Tom.

PS As a side note.......... they never once said that Weathershield wasn't suitable for the marine environment....interesting when its half the price of some "marine" paints.

 

[Black Diamond]

Weathershield

I have just used black Weathershield on Black Diamond, and the critical revue was issued before the reviewer knew I had switched brands. I have used Toplac for the last few years, and Blakes before that. The review was that it was the best finish I have ever achieved.

I paint ever year, and have to patch up the dings during the season, but will definitely stay with Weathershield, IMHO it's better paint, easier to apply.

 

[Bobobolinsky]

Thanks for that. Not sure B&Q will be too happy if they read that advice!

B&Q don't give a short sugar. if you buy paint from them you deserve a viking funeral.
I thought that I would be a little greener and try some of their waterbased paint. It's only suitable for makeover TV and in reality is total rubbish. I took the two cans back, didn't open the gloss. The undercoat I opened, discovered it was not suitable and returned them. They would not give me my money back for the open tin, though how you are supposed to know their paint is rubbish before you open the tin is debateable. B&Q sent the paint to Germany for testing. Result it is undercoat, if you wanted something that protected, you should have bought an oilbased paint. The paint company actually admitted in their letter that the paint was cheap rubbish

 

[alan006]

I have been very pleased with Dulux weathershield when I've used it on wooden boats. The only thing I've noticed is that if the weather conditions are marginal it sometimes seems to bloom, so I try to apply it in good weather rather than neutral weather conditions. I agree that one of its great advantages is the fact that it is so flexable. One old timer showed me that by painting a single coat onto an old canopy it will tidy it right up and be flexible enough to stay on thereby extending the life of the canopy slightly. I don't know of any other paints that will do this.