What should I expect to pay for hull preparation and Coppercoating?

[J Neeves]

I understood that keying the surface was only needed every few years.

I have very low cost scrubbing facilities close to my mooring complete with pressure washer, power etc. Jetting followed by a rub can be done in one tide, and anodes etc don't take a trice.

Hauling, hardstanding and relaunch is easily £500 each year, plus £100 of antifouling, plus more time scraping flaking paint, priming, then two coats of antifoul.

In strict financial terms it should pay for itself fairly quickly, plus fewer 2.5hr round trips for each of haul, relaunch etc - AND I'll not miss any fine sailing weekends!

I would not AF a dinghy - what size of yacht needs Stg100, and that is 2 coats!! to antifoul it?

Jonathan, very puzzled?

 

[Marsupial]

I have been advised by a couple of yacht surveyors not to apply coppercoat over gelcoat unless the hull moisture readings are almost perfectly dry. Otherwise the epoxy in the Coppercoat is trapping in any moisture and can accelerate potential blistering in future.

QUOTE]

Please just take a few moments to consider the above, given that for all practical purposes the gel-coat layer is impermeable the only way you could trap any moisture is to apply copper-coat to an obviously damp surface and then the moisture is trapped between the coppercoat and that surface - so if its a nice warm dry day and the surface is dry then coat away. House and boat surveyors have had a ball with moisture metres and impending doom - its all snake oil of course. The only way to determine moisture content is to take a sample of the material and have it lab tested - anyway coppercoat is a type of water based compound in its liquid state so starting with a dry surface read the application instructions and off you go.

My 43ft Jen took 2 men 3 hours to prep when it was new, each had an orbital sander with 240 grit discs. Application took 4 people (all of which were armatures had never seen copper coat before) 6 hours, 3 rollering and one mixing. So that's 30 man hours - with each on a zero hour contract that's about £195 plus materials. Bid it up from there.

 

[Scarboroughsloop]

I would not AF a dinghy - what size of yacht needs Stg100, and that is 2 coats!! to antifoul it?

Jonathan, very puzzled?

Bear in mind that you can get antifoul for £35 for 2.5 litres or Cruiser Uno that only needs one coat and it works out fine cost wise.

 

[J Neeves]

Bear in mind that you can get antifoul for £35 for 2.5 litres or Cruiser Uno that only needs one coat and it works out fine cost wise.

Cannot understand why its called the 'Lucky Country' - difficult to get decent house paint here at Stg35/2/5lts and it does not contain copper - unless you want 'Norfolk Green'

Jonathan

I spend an awful lot of time weeping over the prices you complain about

 

[Elessar]

That's good to know. Was speaking to him about a quote yesterday, probably back end of the season though.

He will talk dirtier in the summer. At the end there is always the risk of hitting the bad weather and it having to wait till spring.

 

[Elessar]

Thank you for the info, i understood that a rub down each yr was req & a lifetime of 10 yrs expected

Yeah they said 10 years when they started. Some of the originals are now 19 and are just booking in for a recoat. 15 maybe in the med as it wears out quicker in warm water.

 

[Elessar]

I have also been seriously considering blasting the antifoul back to gelcoat and applying Coppercoat to my 28 foot long keeler based South Coast. However I have been advised by a couple of yacht surveyors not to apply coppercoat over gelcoat unless the hull moisture readings are almost perfectly dry. Otherwise the epoxy in the Coppercoat is trapping in any moisture and can accelerate potential blistering in future.

It seems though that many 'older' boats have successfully had coppercoat applied over original gelcoat and I can't imagine all these hulls were perfectly dry. I have asked coppercoat manufacturers AMC and they have said it is ok if hull moisture readings are 'reasonable' but what is reasonable?!

This always makes me chuckle. The gelcoat is trapping in the moisture, yet (slowly) letting more in. It won,t get any wetter with Coppercoat on.
It doesn't contrary to some surveyors statements, dry out when on the hard with gelcoat on either. To any material extent anyway. So coppercoat isn't doing any trapping in, just keeping out.
If you have evidence of osmotic blistering then you may be wasting your money.

 

[jac]

He will talk dirtier in the summer. At the end there is always the risk of hitting the bad weather and it having to wait till spring.

So in that case one for next spring.

 

[duncan99210]

Year 14 for us. Abraded first time in year 12 and just starting to think about repainting. Make sure you follow the recommendations about the quantity to apply so as to avoid too thin a finish.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

One thing Coppercoat have warned us about ( we plan on coppercoating this year) is that it is better to apply many thin layers than fewer thick ones. I suspect that some cases where the Coppercoat has been slow to activate have been where coats have been applied too thick.

Note that if it still looks copper coloured after immersion for a short period, it isn't working and needs abrasion. Working coppercoat should be greenish in colour.