Painting Fiberglass Boat Interior help!

[coopec]

I don't have a problem with condensation since my yacht is well ventilated.

I went to one of our Australian hardware stores and spoke to their paint expert. I told him I wanted paint to paint the interior of my fiberglass yacht. He handed me a tin of (White) Rust Guard paint.

When I said it was for a yacht he said"If you want a marine paint you can get the same paint from our marine sections at double the price".

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I don't have a problem with condensation since my yacht is well ventilated.

I went to one of our Australian hardware stores and spoke to their paint expert. I told him I wanted paint to paint the interior of my fiberglass yacht. He handed me a tin of (White) Rust Guard paint.

When I said it was for a yacht he said"If you want a marine paint you can get the same paint from our marine sections at double the price".

On that tin it says " clean, treat, prime, topcoat". Take the hint and don't just slap that gloss paint on, willy nilly. A good clean with sugarsoap, a light sanding, remove the dust, mask up and give it a couple of coats of the compatible primer then follow up with a couple of coats of that gloss. You can get away with applying the second coat of gloss without sanding the first coat if you put it on as soon as the first area you painted has gone 'touch-dry'.

 

[coopec]

On that tin it says " clean, treat, prime, topcoat". Take the hint and don't just slap that gloss paint on, willy nilly. A good clean with sugarsoap, a light sanding, remove the dust, mask up and give it a couple of coats of the compatible primer then follow up with a couple of coats of that gloss. You can get away with applying the second coat of gloss without sanding the first coat if you put it on as soon as the first area you painted has gone 'touch-dry'.

CLEAN Required for metal (remove flaking rust) (Dust off fiberglass)
TREAT Use a "rust converter to "kill" the rust. (Not required on fiberglass).
METAL PRIMER "Rust Guard Metal Primer paint by White Knight is a hard-wearing, durable primer that provides outstanding anti-corrosive rust protection to various kinds of metal surfaces " (Not required on fiberglass)
TOPCOAT Required for both metal and fiberglass

I've painted the bilge and have been walking on it for two years and there is no problem at all

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

CLEAN Required for metal (remove flaking rust) (Dust off fiberglass)
TREAT Use a "rust converter to "kill" the rust. (Not required on fiberglass).
METAL PRIMER "Rust Guard Metal Primer paint by White Knight is a hard-wearing, durable primer that provides outstanding anti-corrosive rust protection to various kinds of metal surfaces " (Not required on fiberglass)
TOPCOAT Required for both metal and fiberglass

I've painted the bilge and have been walking on it for two years and there is no problem at all

I still say that a virgin fibreglass surface before a finishing coat is applied.
There are a lot of people out there who think they can paint, but they obviously haven't had the Readers Digest New DIY Manual on their bookshelves for the last 45-odd years .

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I still say that a virgin fibreglass surface before a finishing coat is applied.
There are a lot of people out there who think they can paint, but they obviously haven't had the Readers Digest New DIY Manual on their bookshelves for the last 45-odd years .

I meant to say " I still think a virgin fibreglass surface should be primed before a finishing coat is applied." Should have proof-read

 

[mbb]

Any report after these two years? How did it go and what did you use?
Same situation here Thanks

Got a 1988 Searay Sundancer 250 that so far I stripped the liner (it needed it, falling apart and mouldy), and ordered some 6mm foam backed headliner to install. However, I still need to clean the old foam, seal the hatches (unsure if the hatches leak or it was condensation) and now thinking to paint it Before installing the headliner. To make it cleaner, neater and maybe will be a damp proofing exercise too?
Please advise on the best paint for the indoor of it. Fiberglass .. Something easy to apply to do the job and any advise on this is welcome...So confused on 2 part epoxy, 1 part epoxy, rustoleum, etc. Picture for shock effect (this is what state is it at now, in UK, Bristol).
Thank you very much in advance.
Regards,
Scared newbie.

 

[amfiska]

Any report after these two years? How did it go and what did you use?
Same situation here Thanks

Hi, I checked this now I remember the state I was in. So in the end I gave it a good scrub off with paint remover and wire brush on the end of a drill. I removed all of the old liner and cleaned the black mould. And then used the spray on glue and installed the liner. We didn’t paint under because didn’t see the point. HOWEVER we realised that the old Searays aren’t build for British weather and if we didn’t have ventilation the problem would reoccur. So to everyone’s horror my husband drilled 2 round holes in the top and we installed solar powered vents. That worked a treat! And we also bought a proper de-humidifier and had it on a timer, together with an oil filled radiator also on a timer in the winter months. So there was no more condensation or mould. here’s some pictures. Also had to refurbish the hatches as you cannot buy them from anywhere and we replaced the panes and seals too.

 

[amfiska]

Any report after these two years? How did it go and what did you use?
Same situation here Thanks

And here’s the new liner. 6mm back foamed I believe it was. From car dealers, it’s essentially the same thing. We discovered whatever is for “boat” or 3 times more expensive than if you say “for a car” lol

 

[mbb]

Hi amfiska! That doens't look like an easy task. Thanks for coming back to us with such a detail report!! interesting also the point about the solar powered vents.

 

[Moodysailor]

Hi, we can sympathise, being into the refit on our project boat. One of our jobs is the replacement of the foam backed vinyl and headliners. We had the same challenge where the old foam vinyl was glued directly to the cabin sides and the hatches/windows screwed over them - luckily they all had to come out, so at least it wasn't an extra job for nothing!

For removing the glued on material, I can recommend a material removal disc (these are the ones we have: Material removal disc). They are messy, but very effective - they will remove GRP if you are too agressive! On an angle grinder they make short work of leftover foam and glue. As mentioned it gets a bit messy, but I resigned myself to it, got a Tyvek suit, a respirator and a good vacuum and got it over with!

For replacement, we are going with a combination of vinyl over foam for the unisulated sections where it needs to be glued on directly (3mm or 7mm insulation) and vinyl covered 6mm ply panels. For the sides by the berth we will not use vinyl, we're not decided what to do there yet. We are templating using strips of 3mm to get the panels exactly to shape, this is transferred to the ply and final trimming done. The old headliner panels were screwed directly to the deck head, we will use heavy duty Velcro or dual-lock to battens as we want space for flush lights and hidden wiring.

It's a ton of work, but all nice when you have it exactly how you want it. Good luck!

 

[mbb]

Hi, we can sympathise, being into the refit on our project boat. One of our jobs is the replacement of the foam backed vinyl and headliners. We had the same challenge where the old foam vinyl was glued directly to the cabin sides and the hatches/windows screwed over them - luckily they all had to come out, so at least it wasn't an extra job for nothing!

For removing the glued on material, I can recommend a material removal disc (these are the ones we have: Material removal disc). They are messy, but very effective - they will remove GRP if you are too agressive! On an angle grinder they make short work of leftover foam and glue. As mentioned it gets a bit messy, but I resigned myself to it, got a Tyvek suit, a respirator and a good vacuum and got it over with!

For replacement, we are going with a combination of vinyl over foam for the unisulated sections where it needs to be glued on directly (3mm or 7mm insulation) and vinyl covered 6mm ply panels. For the sides by the berth we will not use vinyl, we're not decided what to do there yet. We are templating using strips of 3mm to get the panels exactly to shape, this is transferred to the ply and final trimming done. The old headliner panels were screwed directly to the deck head, we will use heavy duty Velcro or dual-lock to battens as we want space for flush lights and hidden wiring.

It's a ton of work, but all nice when you have it exactly how you want it. Good luck!

Yes, material removing disk, angle grinder and Tyvek suit are also in my shopping list!
Do you mind sharing a link of "vinyl over foam" type you're going to use or the only vinyl you'll apply on ply?

 

[Moodysailor]

Hi, we bought an upholstery grade in the pattern and colour we wanted. We found there were differences with the grain depth and pattern so ordered a bunch of samples until we found the right one for us. This also affected our decision making for the foam, the grain pattern we wanted wasn't available in foam backed vinyl. That wasn't a show-stopper as we aren't keen on the soft foam. We bought from a company called Point North, the vinyl is Nautolex Maritime Vinyl Upholstery Fabric - Off White, the foam is their CCF closed cell 4mm. For the 7mm insulation foam, I bought foil faced foam from Amazon (Insulation).

Another advantage of buying the vinyl and foam seperately is that we bought enough to do all the areas we will recover, so the grain & colour will match perfectly even if it is foam backed or directly on the headliner panels as it's all from the same batch and roll.

Yes, material removing disk, angle grinder and Tyvek suit are also in my shopping list!
Do you mind sharing a link of "vinyl over foam" type you're going to use or the only vinyl you'll apply on ply?