Thinking of painting

[Guest]

Does anyone know how much a it would cost to have the topsides painted on my prelude 19, I'm thinking of paining them myself but I'm put off by the weather hampering my efforts. I've tried a rubbing compound from 3M which did'nt do the job. I used a drill and a buffing pad but this was no good either.

Can anyone help with ideas or some idea of cost?

 

[claymore]

Hello Dave
The majority of the work here is in the preparation so you could cut the costs considerably by taking off the deck fittings and getting everything prepared for painting. I always think painting is a bit of an extreme, last resort sort of strategy - so does it really need it or could you consider laying something like treadmaster in the heavy traffic areas?

 

[Guest]

Its not the deck that needs painting its the hull,

Its very badly faded.

 

[claymore]

Sorry about that Dave - same applies really - getting the hull ready for painting is a big job so doing it yourself would get the cost down. There have been posts in the past about painting hulls - its probably worth doing a search just to see what has already been said

 

[boatone]

I had the hull and superstructure of my previous boat - a Norman 32 narrow beam cruiser- painted a couple of years back because badly faded and couldnt get it to look clean. The best way is to get a pro job done by one of the International Paints approved contractors or similar that have undercover facilities but cheap it aint! I was quoted around £7 grand. In the end I settled for a pro hand painting job using single pot polyurethane (Toplac) and the end result looked very nice although up close you could see it was a brush job. That cost around £3 grand so quite a saving.
Your Prelude is a lot smaller so should be a lot cheaper but why not ask the people who do this work fror an estimate? Ring International Paints in Southampton and they'll tell you who is able to offer their accredited service. Doing it yourself is not likely to give a very good result as dust, damp, and temperature are all against you.

TonyR
boatone@boatsontheweb.com
www.boatsonthethames.co.uk

 

[lezgar]

If you hull haven't scratches you could try with a pad that you can buy in Homebase that is for cleaning paint from glass.

Wet the hull first and add soap for boats directly to the pad (with the pad wet).

Is a tedious work, but I had good results in my boat (marks with paint from the crane staps and red paint from other boat that rubbed my boat totally disappeared)

 

[Guest]

What does this pad do? does it remove the oxidisation and bring back the colour?

 

[lezgar]

The hull of my boat is white with her original gel coat (never painted).
It will remove the oxidation stains but don't bring back the colour. I have removed stains of oxidation, antifoul and paint from the gelcoat without damage it, but the hull isn't painted.
If the hull of your boat is painted or isn't white I don't know the result.

 

[LadyInBed]

Someone suggested, on a previous thread on this subject, to trail the boat along to your local car respray shop. Sounded like a good idea to me.

 

[dah]

I have a Westerly Centaur (26ft), the hull is dark green. I had the hull painted 5 years ago by a friend of mine (admittedly a painter and decorator (house type). I did all the preparation which mainly consisted of rubbing the hull down with wet/dry sandpaper. Took a little elbow grease but nothing too technical. after I masked up he then brush painted the hull - gave it two coats. I used TOPLAC International - 3 tins at about £14 per tin. It looked magnificent when completed and still looks good 5 years later. The odd scratch etc but that is to be expected. Total cost £50. I would suggest that anyone with a reasonable DIY expertise should be able to make a marked improvement on an older boat - particularly a white hull. However once you paint over the original gelcoat you will have to be prepared to keep touching to maintain the finish.

 

[vyv_cox]

Agree on the Toplac. Fabulous stuff and very long lasting. Gloss just as good as a two-pack system and far easier to use.

I watched two professional painters, not boat specialists, repaint the topsides of an E-boat a few years ago. They used brushes and obviously knew what they were doing. Two coats on in a day and the results were fantastic. Try a quote from a local painting contractor.

 

[dickh]

I also have used Toplac on a Vivacity 20 about 5 tears ago. The hull was faded blue so I repainted with blue - if I remember a grey undercoat is used. The result was excellent and I saw the boat again recently and it still looked good. The secret is in the preparation and painting on a warm calm day.

 

[Guest]

For what it's worth, I've just repainted one of our club boats (Cox 22) Everyone is right, it's the preperation that takes the time. Having cut back all the old paint work and filled the scratches I then sprayed the undercoat ( 3 coats, cutting back with 6oo wet/dry between coats) Then sprayed Toplac Blue 105, dust coat first, then sprayed 2 coats @ 50/50 paint/white sprit. Refilled all the dents that showed up as soon as you put a shine on it. Then sprayed 3 coats @ 90% paint 10% spirit all the final coats were put on in an afternoon, but was in a shed with the temp approx. 15 degs. Result shine on the boat almost like showroom condition. I always use Toplac because it's sprayable and lasts well. One can of paint would give the hull one good coat with some left over.Don't be frightened to try spraying, you will very soon learn how to set the gun up, if you get a run just let it dry then rub it out with wet/dry and try again. I think you will be pleased with the results.

 

[Guest]

I had one side of my 21ft cruiser resprayed with gelcoat following an accident. The finish was far better than new. As it was an insurance job I am not sure what the cost would be just for the painting, but I think I heard a figure of approx £2000 mentioned for a whole boat. They said that "Awlgrip" is a better, tougher finish, but the insurers insisted on gelcoat.

I also once bought a sailing dinghy from a dealer who used a local car refinisher to respray boats. I did ask one that I know if they would do it and they would, but only with a 2 pot motor finish (for fear of contaminating their equipment). I guess that would be tough enough though. The only problem would be finding one with a big enough "oven" to take your boat (maybe a commercial vehicle painter?).

The guys in my club get their X boats repainted to a fantastic finish. I understand that this is done by a professional using a special roller. Alternatively paint pads to a good job too.

 

[Stemar]

Don't be afraid to do it yourself. A professional job may look a bit better from close up, but will cost an arm and a leg. As has already been mentioned, most of the work is preparation, which isn't particularly skilled, just a pain in the .....!

The big advantage of a DIY job is that you'll be less worried about a little scrape, because your paint job only cost you a few pounds, rather than a few thousand!

 

[Stemar]

Don't be afraid to do it yourself. A professional job may look a bit better from close up, but will cost an arm and a leg. As has already been mentioned, most of the work is preparation, which isn't particularly skilled, just a pain in the .....!

The big advantage of a DIY job is that you'll be less worried about a little scrape, because your paint job only cost you a few pounds, rather than a few thousand!