Painting West Epoxy

[Forbsie]

I'm sheathing my decks in West and woven cloth. What are the recommendations for coating this?

A mate has suggested SP Hibuild but this costs about £130. Has anyone tried this and if so do you reckon it's worth it?

 

[ccscott49]

Any good epoxy paint will be fine, make sure you de-wax the epoxy underneath first, with a wipe over with meths, then wuff up and paint. I'd have a look at industrial epoxies, for sealing garage floors etc. A bloody sight cheaper! If you want non slip, industrial kiln dried sand mixed in or sprinkled on will do nicely!

 

[claredelune]

Any epoxy based paint will do. Degrease as suggested. For a non slip effect sprinkle sugar on. This will dissolve in contact with the water and leave a non slip pattern behind. I suggest you try both methods.

 

[Sequoiah1]

Hi

When I did this I used an epoxy primer coat by Blakes on top of the epoxy sheathing and then used their deck paint. Hi build is a bit over the top unless you are looking for a filler coat as well.

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Duncan (Forbsie)

Before you sand your new epoxy you need to remove the residue left by the curing action, pretty simple, just run a hose starting at the highest point and rub with a plastic kitchen scourer, the little yellow blocks of foam with a green plastic fibre on side, wash and rub till the water no longer forms beads like rain on a polished surface due to wax; it only takes a few minutes to complete a square metre.

Then when you sand it you only need to remove the high gloss, and avoid spreading the contaminant you just washed off.

You can improve the finish by adding a layer of fine roving glass when laying up, it will not require more resin as it wets out using the resin sitting on the surface, you can drag a squeegee over the top for a fine finish.

Epoxy bonds very well to epoxy; other materials will not bond as good as it has to rely on the keyed surface for a mechanical grip, epoxy on epoxy however has a mechanical and chemical bond and can be up 40% stronger.

High build epoxy primers are used to ensure a smooth finish and used if you plan to apply a polyurethane topcoat, however almost any epoxy based paint will stick like the proverbial, just remember if you plan to other than epoxy paint you would do well to apply an epoxy primer first.

I hope this helps,

Avagoodweekend......

.

 

[Forbsie]

Thanks guys, I spoke with Blakes this afternoon and they suggested their Epoxy Primer Undercoat and Hempathane 5521 because their SP Hibuild is difficult to find a supplier. Luckily Uxbridge Boat Centre are Blakes suppliers and I have a few hundred quid in credit there. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

All points noted about taking the wax off first.