Spray or hand paint for a GRP hull?

[Guest]

A friend of mine is in two minds over how to spruce up the hull of his 24ft cruiser/racer.

He would like to know:
How much a professional respray would cost? How would he prepare the hull himself either for a pro paint or a DIY brush paint job? How good a finish could he expect to get by DIY hand painting? What are the best paints to use, bearing in mind the DIY paint job would be undertaken outside as soon as the weather improves?

Any advice would be very welcome

thanks

 

[tony_brighton]

A fine foam roller seems to produce a credible result with the right paint.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Worth searching the forum. I know there were a couple of well subscribed threads a month or so back

 

[Guest]

Sorry..Ken

I only joined the forum a few weeks ago and missed the earlier debate. Will try to track down the thread.

cheers

BR

 

[AndrewB]

Previous thread on top-sides painting.

Try http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/new/forums/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=pbo&Number=178924

 

[Mr Cassandra]

I think I would prefer a hand job , much less overspray! cheers bobt

Bob T

 

[Guest]

Re: Previous thread on top-sides painting.

That's easy for you to say!

 

[Guest]

hi
four years ago i wanted to do the same thing to my shetland 17ft cruiser. i rubbed the complete boat down to the gelcoat with an orbital sander, masked it up and then took it to a motor resprayer
he then sprayed it with two pack cellulose for £150. the result was superb, and now after four years shows no signs of flaking etc.

hope this helps

steve

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: By hand

A hand job can achive some amazing results!

 

[AndrewB]

If you are not familar with jumping ...

... between postings using Internet Explorer, this the quick and easy way:

1. Go back to my posting with the address.
2. Move your mouse to put the cursor just before the start of 'http'.
3. Hold down the left button and move the cursor to just after '17894' so the whole address (but nothing else) is highlighted. Let go the left button.
4. Hold down the Ctrl key and press C, then O, then V. Release Ctrl.
5. Use the mouse to click on 'OK' on the pop-up menu, and you will jump to the address.

 

[Guest]

Re: If you are not familar with jumping ...

You can always roll and tip the paint job with Interlux/Internationals 2 part polyeurethanes or single part polyeurethane paint.
You can achieve quite a good finish with these paints and the roll and tip method. Just needs to be prepped properly and then patiently painted.

 

[Guest]

Re: By hand

Many moons ago - hand-painted an alacrity 19 .... by rubbing back to key the old surface and then applying Two-pack urethane gloss.

I was advised against using the undercoat - not by the seller, but by a professional boat painter - as long as base and final colour are similar of course ! He reckoned and I since found he was correct that the u/c was too thick, when thinned suitably was then not effective and if doen on a warm summers day dried quickly leaving streaks / ridges etc.

So two pack urethane gloss, designed for pad, brush or AIRLESS spray ..... worked fine for me with standard paint brushes !

 

[iainmillett]

This winter, I repainted my boat's sheer line with Toplac.

It was the most frustrating experience - although once in the water it appears to look quite OK.

As a diy job, I'd require complete cover and as warm/dry conditions as poss - using professional help for a 1st class result is recommended also.

Toplac give a superb finish - using 2/3 undercoats first - but is very difficult to apply. I use a brush that didn't drop hairs etc and it seemed OK at the time.

If outside, it is a warmer weather job and must be painted early in the day.

PAintinga complete hull would definitely be a pro job if I could use one.

Good luck!

 

[Stemar]

A quote from an artlcle called "Zen and the Art of Sailboat Maintenance"

'Consider this. Will you have greater trepidation coming alongside with a perfect paint job that cost you four grand, or one that might yield minor flaws to a close inspection, but only cost $300? The knowledge that, in the worst case, you can effect repairs for a few bucks takes a great deal of the stress out of handling an unwieldy sailboat in close quarters. And even if your command of your vessel is flawless, that doesn't keep someone less skillful from banging into you. I like to sail my boat boldly and to leave it unattended without concern. Painting it myself makes that possible.

'Here is another enlightened viewpoint. After a couple of years of exposure, my $300 paint job is going to be indistinguishable from the one costing $4,000. In five years it is going to look far better. Why? Because a $300 price tag means I'll repaint sooner. '

The rest of the article is at:
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/...icleID=caseyd030&coll_cat=Hull&Coll_name=Hull and Deck