Suggestions to re coat topsides.

[steveeasy]

Hi,
Found a new boat that needs its topsides sorting. they have been painted, (not Good should walk away) Any ideas what can be done to redo the gelcoat, and prices for professional Job. Im no expert in this field and it needs a good finish. its 31ft.

Thanks

Steveeasy

 

[pmagowan]

What is wrong with paint?

 

[Tranona]

Number of choices. Simplest and cheapest is to just rub down and repaint. You can get a really good finish with Toplac if you do a good job with preparation. The finish is fairly durable- anything up to 10 years without fading and easy to touch up. Next up is 2 pot polyurethane. Longer lasting and arguably better finish, but requires more skill to apply and is not so tolerant of less than ideal conditions. However it cannot be applied over conventional paint so you have to be sure of what the existing finish is and if necessary remove it all first. Professional spray finish is better long term but inevitably expensive and best done under cover in controlled conditions. This, of course makes it very expensive and cost is often out of proportion to the value of an older boat of that size. Stripping gel coat and regelling is also possible but like spraying is expensive.

Plenty of useful information on coatings on the websites of the major paint manufacturers such as International, Hempels and Epifanes.

 

[sailorman]

If a respray use Awlgrip G Line its better than the gelcoat.I have had 2 boats sprayed with it, present boat 16 yrs ago

 

[richardsn9]

Wrapping seems to be gaining in popularity, especially on the south coast. More expensive than the DIY options, but a lot cheaper than having it sprayed. Try a google on 'wrapping for boats'.

 

[doug748]

2 to 3 grand for a spray paint or re gelcoat. Not worth it unless you intend to keep the boat long term or it is a Rassy or some such. Mind you common sense never stopped anyone spending money on a boat.

Of the two, re gelcoating gets my vote, all fancy paints go on thin and are easily damaged. White is the sensible colour.

DIY painting is all in the preparation, skimp and it tends to look a bit of a pig's ear but it can be done well, with a lot of effort.

 

[pvb]

Walk away is the answer. There are squillions of used boats on the market, you'll easily find one that doesn't need so much work.

 

[steveeasy]

Walk away is the answer. There are squillions of used boats on the market, you'll easily find one that doesn't need so much work.

Walk away, how can you say such a thing. Oh yeh your right, Forgot im supposed to use my head, not my heart. Thank you all for the advice.

Steveeasy


Great useful tips

 

[wklein]

Just repainted our boat in hempel brilliant gloss with roller and tipping off with a brush. Very pleased with the results (neither of us is particularly good at painting) followed all the prep advice and products. Never going to fool anyone it's sprayed but from a few feet it looks a million dollars.

 

[lw395]

I did my first yacht with Dulux polyurethane and a foam brush.
It still looked good about 8 years later, then I think the new owner scratched it in a fairly major way and re-did it.
Cost about £50 and lots of hours filling and sanding.
I did it with a stripe to avoid having to do the whole side in one go.

I'd prefer a boat with immaculate new gelcoat, but us 'value shoppers' need to weigh up the whole package, all individual boats have pros and cons.
Actually I'd quite like a radical metallic finish instead of refrigerator-white gel coat......
Not everyone wants to blend in with the Mondeos....

 

[Robert Wilson]

I did my first yacht with Dulux polyurethane and a foam brush.
It still looked good about 8 years later, then I think the new owner scratched it in a fairly major way and re-did it.
Cost about £50 and lots of hours filling and sanding.
I did it with a stripe to avoid having to do the whole side in one go.

I'd prefer a boat with immaculate new gelcoat, but us 'value shoppers' need to weigh up the whole package, all individual boats have pros and cons.
Actually I'd quite like a radical metallic finish instead of refrigerator-white gel coat......
Not everyone wants to blend in with the Mondeos....

A previous owner did Khamsin in metallic - may have looked good at first but now looks dreadful with stains, discoulouring and fading.
I shall have to repaint her this winter or next (depending on available pennies) as she is now badly scratched and looking very poor so I'm following this thread with particular interest.
Being a lousy painter and somewhat lazy, I wonder what the wise-ones think about vinyl covering - is it as good and cost effective as it sounds? Would I have to transport the boat to n operator on the south coast, or do they travel to client?

 

[ghostlymoron]

I did Cobblers with paint from Premier marinepaints. Much cheaper than international/hempel etc. I used the roll and tip method which worked well but I should have paid more attention to surface preparation.

 

[Boo2]

Walk away is the answer. There are squillions of used boats on the market, you'll easily find one that doesn't need so much work.

+1. There is absolutely no shortage of 31' yachts at reasonable prices, buy one which is in good nick and minimise your problems from the get-go.

Boo2

 

[lw395]

A previous owner did Khamsin in metallic - may have looked good at first but now looks dreadful with stains, discoulouring and fading.
I shall have to repaint her this winter or next (depending on available pennies) as she is now badly scratched and looking very poor so I'm following this thread with particular interest.
Being a lousy painter and somewhat lazy, I wonder what the wise-ones think about vinyl covering - is it as good and cost effective as it sounds? Would I have to transport the boat to n operator on the south coast, or do they travel to client?

I don't know about boats, but it seems to have worked well on vehicles I've seen.

 

[sailaboutvic]

I don't know about boats, but it seems to have worked well on vehicles I've seen.

Steve
It depend what your paying for the boat and how much you really want it , if it's cheap enough , then I don't see any reason why not to buy it and have it re gel coat .
You end up with an nice looking boat for the price that you would pay for another boat that has an old and maybe damage Gel coat for the same price .althoughtif ijust other run of the mill boat over priced,that's the time to walk away .

 

[contessaman]

For what its worth, my father in law bought a little 27 foot motor cruiser on the thames. the hull was painted blue and flaking it looked awful. I stripped the paint off with safestrip, then wet and dried the original gelcoat. it wasn't too bad. a few dings and botched repairs. I showed him how to grind out and repair the gelcoat damage and we did the major repairs together. encouraged we machine polished the hull and it came up well. he's has the boat quite a few years now and by doing a little here and there every year she's now in very respectable condition for a boat built in the 1960s.

So, dont rule out the gelcoat underneath. especially if its white. darker colours fade and this becomes a problem. but a lot of people have painted over white gelcoat for a change of colour or to hide a few scrapes that they didn't know how to repair.

within reason, im pretty sure I could get any white gelcoat hull looking reasonable using nothing more than DIY skills and there's no reason you couldn't too. even with slightly mismatched shades of white in the gelcoat and a flattened off finish with wet'n'dry it will still look better than a rollered paint job and will need far less maintenance.