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I am painting the deck of my 35 year old boat. Currently, the white portion looks terrible, you can see brush marks from 40 feet! I know, everyone says spend $3000, get it done professionally...well, I paid $500 for the boat, no way I am going to toss that kind of dough on a paint job. I am just going to use an Alkyd enamel. (Hey, at this point anything is an improvement.!) It is possible to enjoy sailing a boat that does not look like it belongs in a show somewhere.
On to my question...once I finish sanding down the current paint, and fair out any little nicks, should I prime the entire deck or can I just prime the faired areas? The areas where I have sanded the old paint are feeling very smooth to the touch, so I was wondering if a primer is need in these locations. My question just pertains to the area where there is no anti-skid; I will be addressing that with Kiwi Grip.
Definitely prime the whole area, but not until you prep it well. I am in the process of doing the whole deck myself and I'm ready to prime. The primer will cover a multitude of sins (consider 2 coats). Then whatever paint you are using. You may have to sand your non-skid down a bit to smoothly accept the Kiwi grip. Good luck and keep us posted.
I'd like to use a sprayer, but my boat is packed tight in a yard and I have no way of preventing any over spray from floating around. Plus, I've never used a power sprayer, so I think this may not be the time to start.
I guess priming the whole thing is the option, otherwise I may need too many layers of paint to get the color even.
Consider going to a one-part polyurethane (like Pettit Easypoxy) rather than alkyd enamel. Not much more expensive, just as easy to use, and much harder and durable.
one thing which no one mentioned thus far - if taking it down completely, you'd be well-advised to put two coats of primer on, especially if you don't use a good 2-part paint and spraying it all. If you are concerned about adjacent boats, simply cover them. Doing it by hand will never look as good and since you are alrready going to the effort to do it at all, why not do it right?
I will not have to take the old paint right down. It is on there very thick, but the surface coat looks terrible. Where I have sanded it down, it is very smooth. I will start with a single layer of primer, light sand, and see what I have. More than likely will have to go to a second coat of primer. As for the spraying.....well I have never done it, so I am wary of trying to learn how to spray on my boat after I spent significant hours on prep work.
Spraying is an art so you are correct that making the decision to do it isnt an easy one, however, even a bad spray job can look better than doing it by hand. One thing which can make that decision easier is recognizing spraying with the proper paint necessitates the right gun, nozzle and clean high pressure air not to mention a good hand. Most of these are not cheap.
you ALWAYS prime the whole deck, then dont sand a thing till you can sand the whole thing in a 24 hour period,, then within 24 hours of sanding it needs to be painted.and you dont need to use a sprayer at all if you roll and tip,,,(cant help ya there) theres alot of threads around that have alot of praise and, tips, on roll and tipping. this thread is about orange but hits roll and tipping,, and you can message the guy on there that does alot of it http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19835&page=3
I got good results with interlux primer and topkote paint with non-skid added. I applied with a roller.
Also, did the engine cover with walnut shells, which was very time consuming but is killer non-skid. Almost a year now and no chips.
After a 3 year rebuild, I painted my boat last winter. I used interlux perfection on the topsides and deck. The topsides were done using the roll and tip method with excellent results. I decided that the deck was going to be way too much work to roll and tip, so I sprayed. I couldn't be happier with the results. I didn't want a shine on the deck, so I used flattening agent in the paint. It turned out to have a pearl like glow to it. I also didn't sand between coats. On the non skid areas I mixed interlux intergrip into the paint, then sprayed. Really good traction on that stuff. Every time I step on a boat with the factory diamond pattern non skid I feel like I'm going to slip off.
I used an hvlp spray gun from cummins tools. You have to thin the paint more than the can says to get the pattern right, but it's not hard especially if you're not going for a good shine. The guns are only 30 bucks. I bought 2 guns, one for prime and one for paint. I didn't clean the guns when I finished, I just tossed them in the trash. The high dollar thinner from interlux cost almost as much as the gun.
The paint turned out to be hard as rocks. One season of using the boat every weekend has given us just 2 chips. Those chips also came with gel coat attached so I can hardly fault the paint.
Be VERY VERY careful what you choose to spray!!
Atomized 2 part poly will give off cyanide gas and KILL! You ned positive pressure breathing gear and need to do it in a proper location.
No kidding! - At the very lest, pick up a copy of Don Casey's buck on friberglass repair/refinishing. It has lots of great info.
T
I intend to roll and tip the smooth areas, and roll the non-skid areas with beads added. Because the vast majority of the deck is non-skid, I don't think it will take that long once I get her taped up.
It depends on the addative you use. If you're using sand, I would say follow Casey's advice. If using the intergrip, follow interlux's instructions which is to mix it in the paint, let it set for 20 minutes or so, stir and paint. I wouldn't want a coat of paint over the finish I got. It turned out perfect.
I also agree with the need for proper respirators when spraying 2 part paints. I didn't have pressurized breathing air available when I sprayed my deck, but I did use a high quality respirator for automotive painting with good cartridges. I shot the paint (took about 30 minutes per coat) then left the building. I also used an hvlp gun which put much less paint in the air than a standard sprayer. Those 2 part paints are awesome, but they will kill you.
with awl-grip i put on 1 coat of color, then add the non-skid to the next 2 coats, by mixing in with paint then letting it sit ferawhile then stir and paint.
andwhat everyone has said about health is right, awl-grip says you need a pos. press. helmet. i only use a resperator, but then again im not the sharpest tool in the box. and i ALWAYS tell others to use the helmet.
One problem I've heard of with the anti-skid additive is that if its color is very different from the paint, it will start to show through fairly soon. Use a color close to the paint color if you can.
I saw on another forum where a guy used Benjamin Moore M22 to paint his boat and claimed the results were pretty good, even rolling & Tipping. So, I contacted Benjamin Moore to ask what kind of primer they would recommend for a sailboat and they said they would advise me to paint without a primer! They claim this paint will adhere extremely well to old sanded paint or to sanded fiberglass, so a primer is not required. They did mention using one of their specific cleaners prior to painting. No surprise about painting right on top of the old paint, but even on the areas where I have sanded it all away? That is a bit surprising.
Will Durabak seal mt Trawler deck for good. Dirty moisture coming out of cracks in paint. Water must be getting in there and coming out on hot days. Archie BRICKER
I never primed anything on the boat, and the slick areas were merely rolled and tipped, and other than a few runs, the finish, after two coats, came out mirror smooth and remain that way after two years.
I used Kiwi Grip for the no skid, and highly recommend it. It looks great, wears like iron, I scrub it a couple times a season with bathroom cleanser and it cleans up beautifully. When I have problem stains, I use LA Totally Awesome Cleaner, which I purchase from Dollar General for #1 a spray bottle, and that stuff will clean just about anything, including the nasty stains from spider poop.
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