Re-painting roof

[dadune]

As a newbie to both boating and this forum, I would very much appreciate any assistance that might be available for the following problem.

I have an old (thirty-years or so) broads-style cruiser with wooden superstructure. The previous owner painted the roof with a very inflexible gloss which cracked and peeled all over. So I have had to strip it all off, along with the two earlier layers beneath. The substrate is a kind of rubberised canvas, which becomes somewhat sticky when the temperature gets above the high teens. I have some questions about this material :

1) Is a conventional rubber roof sealant appropriate to patch up the small places where the rubber has been scraped away ?

2) What is the best kind of paint to use, and would a primer be necessary ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tillergirl]

The conventional traditional deck covering ditto roof is canvas which is painted. This waterproofs the canvas. Others may know what the rubberised covering is but if the canvas is sound, paint should be sufficient. If the canvas has gone in places, then I suspect you are looking at renewing it all. As to paint either Blakes or International do a deck paint which is applied over one of their undercoats. Blakes undercoat is also a primer. However, I think their current formula of deck paint is tosh and think that International is better. Opinions differ of course. International deck paint will be a matt finish, Blakes is something they call 'non-gloss' I think. Which means it shines a little. Me, I think it shines too much but then I like a matt finish.

 

[alan006]

Some years ago I used a Chlorinated Rubber paint for sealing a wooden cabin roof. It was very effective and can cope with a certain amount of movement. It is also reasonably priced. I suppose it is still available.

 

[tillergirl]

Blakes certainly have changed their formula away from this product.

 

[Caer Urfa]

If your going to do the job once and for all think about 'glassing' (grp) it over, it's a messy job but not rocket science to do.
It will seal you roof once and for all, finish off with a couple of coats of gellshield.
Did mine six years ago and never touched it since, 100% waterproof.

 

[tritonofnor]

If the roof has a rubberised finish then your chances of getting a bond with fibreglass are rather slim. A rather well known yard in the south west uses a brand of swimming pool paint for their decks... seems to have enough flex to cope with any movement in the wood, and is a damn sight cheaper than trad deck paint. Available in a fetching shade of light blue too...

 

[alan006]

As far as I am aware this was not designed as a marine paint. I happened to see other people use it on their wooden boats and tried it myself. It was very good for several reasons. It dries ( touch dry) very quickly, it will cope with much larger gapes than a conventional paint system and grips very well to a wide variety of previous coatings. The problem with fibreglassing old timber is that unless you can be sure of getting the moisture content very low you will create a good risk of trapped moisture causing rot. If you want to use a conventional marine deck paint then you can prepare a small area at a time whilst the chlorinated rubber is protecting the rest and preventing water finding its way through the roof. As tritonofnor has mentioned, chlorinated rubber paint was used for swimming pools. Hope this helps.