Painting my topsides.

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Fredcrawley463

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I have a GRP sailing boat that has been painted with standard paint, not the recommended marine type.
It is 45 years old and obviously is showing its age.
Should I strip back to gelcoat and use a marine paint ? If so how should I remove the years of B&Q paint?
Or
Should I just stuck to a B&Q bargains?

Thanks in advance
 
Marine paint is more hardy than household paint and retains its shine much longer. A build up of diy store paint will eventually lead to it cracking and flaking.
I would suggest remove all the diy type paint and repaint with 2 pack polyurethene as it really does last a lot longer than single pack paints and retains a beautiful shine.
How to remove though :unsure: paint stripper? Make your own with sodium hydroxide, water and wallpaper paste, cover with clingfilm to reduce evaporation and drying out.
 
It depends what sort of finish you would be happy with,I think too many people paint fibreglass boats when all it needs is a good polish.
 
I would go for a good sanding and filling as required then consult international paints ,maybe a good base primer ,undercoat and topcoat...just like a wooden boat without the wooden boat problems.
 
Fred, welcome. You need to decide what finish you want because if your boat has survived for 45 years the one thing we can be sure of is that it's well-built enough to survive no matter what you put on it. It's only paint, the only question is how it will look.

Spend the money and the time with a marine two-pack and it will look as good or better than when it was brand new, but it will cost you. Otherwise spend less time and money and settle for less of a glossy finish.

Just remember that when you're on the boat, what you're looking at is the view around you, which is all that matters. How much do you want to spend so that those who flash past you and whom you'll never see again think how shiny your boat looks for a second or two?
 
Catalina36 said:
Fred, welcome. You need to decide what finish you want because if your boat has survived for 45 years the one thing we can be sure of is that it's well-built enough to survive no matter what you put on it. It's only paint, the only question is how it will look.

Spend the money and the time with a marine two-pack and it will look as good or better than when it was brand new, but it will cost you. Otherwise spend less time and money and settle for less of a glossy finish.

Just remember that when you're on the boat, what you're looking at is the view around you, which is all that matters. How much do you want to spend so that those who flash past you and whom you'll never see again think how shiny your boat looks for a second or two?
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There is the row awayfactor!
 
Wansworth said:
There is the row awayfactor!
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There is. Putting a price on it is why we're all paupers! He's a new memnber and I was trying to spare him the pain of going there.

Fred. go to your chandlery, give them £500 and spend the next four weeks agonising over the weather. Or go to B&Q, slap it on with a roller and go afloat and watch a curlew. You choose.
 
Speaking of painting top sides, we're painting mine soon. Same colour as the current coat, which was poorly done.
We were told to just paint one coat on, (it's international topcoat)
Is that right?
It will be the last time it gets painted for years, when she finally goes back in the water she stays in for a number of years.
 
steve yates said:
(it's international topcoat)
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Would that be perfection (2 pack) or toplac (single pack) as they are both in the topcoat range.
Any paint really needs the proper undercoat to bring out its true brilliant colour.
I literally slapped perfection with a cheap and nasty paint brush on my boats cabin roof in between the treadmaster( with the proper undercoat ) was in a hurry as it was very cold that day and the finish was mirror like.
Generally its not advisable to put 2 pack over single pack as it reacts
 
Jotun 2 packs from sml coatings. You have a question, they have the answer. Extremely knowlegable with various hull materials.
Plus vat :(
 

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Rappey said:
Would that be perfection (2 pack) or toplac (single pack) as they are both in the topcoat range.
Any paint really needs the proper undercoat to bring out its true brilliant colour.
I literally slapped perfection with a cheap and nasty paint brush on my boats cabin roof in between the treadmaster( with the proper undercoat ) was in a hurry as it was very cold that day and the finish was mirror like.
Generally its not advisable to put 2 pack over single pack as it reacts
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Toplac
 
That would basically be sand,fill defects, sand, undercoat (helps to see the bits of filling you didn't see first time round) lightly sand finished undercoat and gloss.
You can ring international and I'm sure they would be happy to explain how to use their paint system ?
 
I asked the same question a year or two ago on here, and after a lot of deliberation decided to go with the conventional, expensive, option of International Prekote and Toplac. Must have spent about £300 all in, following the coverage advice.
End result... well it looks far better than it did before, but it's not perfect. And I have almost half of my Toplac left over, because after two pretty good coats I was just too terrified to risk a third (I'd already had to sand back in places after the first coat). The coverage guidelines appear to be quite generous, so don't over-buy.

The amount of work involved is incredible. I random-orbital sanded the entire surface, filled a few scratches and chips with Watertite filler, then erected a full staging around the boat using pallets and boards. Two coats of Pre-Kote, the second one mixed 50:50 with Toplac, then a coat of Toplac which dried a little bit orange-peel due to the weather being a bit too hot. Flatted that back, and put on a second and final coat, and called it a day.
SWMBO and I worked together rolling and tipping. Set aside several of last summer's very finest weather to do all of this, including taking days off work at short notice. A couple of times we had to abandon when rain threatened.
We also added a boot-top stripe which everybody on the forum advised against, but tbh was very little extra work in the scheme of things, and makes a huge difference to the appearance of the boat. Likewise the cove line tape.

Next time (who am I kidding, there will be no next time) I would either have the boat in a good shed, or try a cheaper paint system. I'm really not sure that the layers of undercoat were necessary. I understand the theory that it is effectively a very fine filler, and allows you to get the mirror sheen on the glossy top coat. But the finish we were able to achieve on the top-coat wasn't really good enough to justify the doubling of work that the undercoat created.
 
Kelpie said:
Next time (who am I kidding, there will be no next time)
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I can understand that !
It's possible it was a little too hot making the paint thicken quiet quick and harder to use?
I once hit a similar problem because it was too cold.
I was painting a steel ship on a really hot summers day and was having a problem with an oil based paint thickening. Saw this tin of owatrol oil. Had a read and it's paint conditioner and rust preventer.
What have I got to lose. Added some and it transformed the paint.
It gives it a longer use time, keeps a wet edge for longer , smooths out brush marks and makes the paint feel so smooth to apply.
I read about its claim as a rust preventer this evening. Interesting how it's not the usual rust convertor approach.
 
Rappey said:
I can understand that !
It's possible it was a little too hot making the paint thicken quiet quick and harder to use?
I once hit a similar problem because it was too cold.
I was painting a steel ship on a really hot summers day and was having a problem with an oil based paint thickening. Saw this tin of owatrol oil. Had a read and it's paint conditioner and rust preventer.
What have I got to lose. Added some and it transformed the paint.
It gives it a longer use time, keeps a wet edge for longer , smooths out brush marks and makes the paint feel so smooth to apply.
I read about its claim as a rust preventer this evening. Interesting how it's not the usual rust convertor approach.
Click to expand...

I was using Owatrol...
 
For the OP, with a boat of any size, I'd be very cautious about considering 2-pack coating. The work involved in adequately removing the present single-pack will be daunting. Paint stripper is vile stuff to use around a hull, and not very effective IMO. Applying 2-pack is not straightforward for the average diy'er. It doesn't retain a wet-edge, and brush marks and runs are very likely. It needs 2 people who know what they're doing. Application conditions have to be very good if a sharp gloss is to be achieved, slight dampness spoils the finish very readily.
True, it can be done, and provides a tough coating but single-pack such as Toplac is much more forgiving for the non-expert to get a good finish.
 
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