Painting GRP!

[Zagato]

Having seen the mess which has been made by painting their GRP cabins and decks i.e. peeling, cracking etc I have always been put off by the thought of doing it to mine BUT My past boat was painted and it still looked really good after 7 years although looking a bit thin in places. You had to look close up to see the brush strokes, the guy did a good job.

My new boat is 33 years old (you know what I mean ) and the GRP has worn through to the fibreglass in one 10" square area and the rest just looks tatty with many drilled holes from past fixings - I am really temped to paint it but wondered if anyone had done the same with what results from which product.

Don't they always look better in pictures!

 

[Csail]

Mine came out fine,as good as gelcoat. good prep,then use foam roller and spounge brush. For masking use blue tape.

 

[contessaman]

dont do it man!

my last boat was painted and lived up to all the cracking, peeling etc that you mention. my new (to me; 31 yrs old) boat is in her gelcoat. its generally in excellent shape but has been worn through to laminate in places by ropes etc. I intend to repair with flowcoat in the spring I suggest you do the same.

Paint isnt really the solution if your through to the lamintae you will need gelcoat or an epoxy filler before you paint anyway.

I experimented on my father in laws old thames river motor boat last year and it worked well. the front deck of his boat was very faded 35 year old blue gelcoat worn right through almost everywhere. we ordered some clear flow coat (like gelcoat you can paint on) and some blue and some turquoise pigment. we added some of each for a good colour match, painted it on thick. It then dries as hard as the original gelcoat, although will need some wet 'n dry then compound polish.

I'd think about doing that before painting really. Once you paint theres no going back. 2 pack paint for tired topsides perhaps but it never lasts on the deck of a boat with all the punishment they take.

Every sprinng with my old boat, my marina neighbours would just pressure wash their boats and they'd come up like new. I'd do the same to mine and take half the paint off. never again.

all my humble opinion obviously...

got the flowcoat and pigment here:

http://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/c-661-polyester-flowcoat.aspx

 

[Seajet]

I have had good results with Toplac, easy to apply; but it needs a surprising amount of thinning, even in good weather.

 

[fisherman]

I use flocoat on the inside, where there is no gel coat, and Perfection on the outside. Inside cut back with an angle grinder and polishing disc, outside gel coat with mesh abrasive sheet and orbital, many times better than wet and dry. This is a 35 year old 10 metre fishing boat. Good results, but once you have used it there's no going back.

 

[PCUK]

Two pack doesn't chalk and fade like gelcoat and is far more durable. Get it on properly once and it is there for life. My steel boat has 26 year old Hempel two-pack on the hull and is still shining.

 

[Seajet]

Zagato,

beware of using Perfection 709 ( or whatever the latest version might be called ) 2-pack, I found it very temperature critical, in fact still like pudding when the weather was supposedly warm enough !

So my boat had a season looking like the paint had been applied with a stick, before sanding & applying Toplac...

 

[Lakesailor]

Applying paint is not as easy as people think. There is a lot of skill involved. Car sprayers learn the hard way about what drawbacks there can be.

But preparation is the important thing.

 

[Boathook]

I'm slowly painting the decks of mine. Used international one pot for the cabin top sides mixed with the flattening agent as I wanted it 'matt'. Still looks good after 2 years and only one coat. On the decks I'm using dulux smooth masonary paint. Easy to apply, fairly quick to dry, cheapish, can be mixed to any colour and seems to clean up ok - so far. The texture is also a very good non slip surface.
As others have mentioned, the preparation is the key and I wipe alll surfaces down with anti grease stuff just before painting. So far, so good.

 

[Seajet]

Warning - oxalic acid

I doubt it applies to Zagato's Drascombe, but I'll repeat a serious error I made, as a warning to others...

When degreasing my boats' topsides before 709 2-pack, I used an off-the-shelf cleaner from a chandlery, containing oxalic acid.

This was about 1991, and maybe warning labels weren't as big or thorough as now, and it's been suggested things may not be as strong now, but...

The boat was up high on trestles to allow maintenance of the lift keel, in other words as high as a fin keeler normally will be.

The instructions for this cleaner said ' to neutralise, rinse with water ', so being

A, cynical about anything being effective,

B, an idiot

I took that as meaning the stuff was feeble.

Wrong ! The residue ran down my bare arms as I washed it off, and soon a VERY painful burning started on my arms; the tougher skin on my hands was not so bad.

I ran for the club loos and splashed my arms under the tap, but the pain carried on getting worse, by this time near agony; I actually wondered if it was going to have the flesh off down to the bone !

I was saved by Pat, a club member who had been a hospital Matron who knew what to do; she had me fill a sink and keep my arms immersed for 40 minutes.

What really worries me is I wasn't using any eye protection...

So please don't be as thick as I was, if using this stuff wear goggles & gloves, and treat with respect; also take care if other boats or people passing are near.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

Oxalic

You must have had the worlds most potent cleaner, I have used Oxalic acid in a 10% solution for years and never had that problem, my friend, a beekeper, feeds it at 3% with sugar to his bees to eliminate hive mite !!!

Keep smiling, they will wonder what you are up to ..