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Painting Deck & Topside using Spray Machine

4K views 20 replies 15 participants last post by  arf145 
#1 ·
Hi all. I've had my heart set on painting my entire 29' ericson before I drop it in the water this coming month. All winter long I've been doing research on proper techniques and preparation. Research has been fruitless because all the "do it yourself" instructions out there are for painting by hand/rollers.

Fortunately for me (so I think) my father owns a auto body shop and is willing to send his paint guy (along with all his equipment) to paint the boat for me. Now I realize that 90% of the work is preparing for the paint to go on so I'll try to keep my questions in a logical order.

First, I am hesitant to remove too much hardware as most of it has probably been on the deck for decades, attached to 45 year old fiberglass. My thought is that if I start removing cleats or lifeline bars I won't ever be able to get them back on as well as they are now. How much does this matter for my paint job? I'm thinking I would use a brush to paint as close as I can to the hardware, the spray over that?

Second, do I have to sand off the original gelcoat? I remember reading somewhere that other paints hold quite well on gel coats. Would it be enough to power wash the entire deck? Maybe use a fiber glass solvent? Is there a minimum amount of sanding absolutely necessary?

Third, what kind of paint to use? Can't afford Gel Coat. Two-Part polyurethanes seems like a good option but also expensive. One part polyurethane? If it in fact is an option to avoid sanding then should I spring for a more expensive 2-part paint?

Fourth, who do I do about the non-skid areas of the boat? If I spray right over the non-skip what will happen?**Maybe I'm still confused about non-skid. What I have on my boat may be a grated/checkered surface, not just a paint that has been rolled over with a non-skid pattern template. Bare with me, I'm new to this.

Fifth, do I paint the deck first or the hull? The boat is currently all white. I'm keeping the deck white and painting the hull navy. Seems like taping/covering the hull would be far easier than the deck. So paint hull, let it dry, cover it up, then paint deck? Is there a need to cover the deck while I paint hull? If it's just going to get painted soon anyway?

Big thanks in advance to anyone that's able to offer some advice.
 
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#3 ·
Go to the Interlux or AwlGrip web sites, read the instructions firsthand. Especially for prep and wherever you got the crazy idea of removing gelcoat.

If you want a "like new" job you remove EVERYTHING that was bolted down. Every cleat, winch, lifeline stanchion base, the steering pedestal, EVERYTHING. Could take you three days and you'll need a helper because you need to work from both ends of each bolt.

Of course if you want to cheap out, it will only take two days to carefully mask the base of all that stuff either way, double the time to reinstall it all or remove the tape.

Ask you dad if he'd repaint a car without removing any trim or badges, and why. And remember, you may both need moon suits for many paints, and if the boat is in a yard, they may require you to tent it, if they allow spraying at all.

Not rocket science, but a hard job if it is done properly.
 
#4 ·
Painting the hull Navy Blue requires a VERY fair and smooth surface - dark colours 'show' every flaw and ripple. An attractive alternative to white is 'Whisper gray'.. sets the boat apart from the bleach bottle look but is much more forgiving.

We painted the hull first, the deck last in the belief that it would ultimately minimize overspray issues.

We used a HVLP sprayer, but probably didn't get as good a result as Tommays did with his roll & tip (again, prep....) Do not sand off the gelcoat, fill and fair as necessary after a scuff sand. Avoid using a lot of pressure and a power palm sander - you'll end up doing a lot more fairing if you're not careful.

For the deck, we sprayed the vertical and non-nonskid areas first, then masked off the nonskid pattern and sprayed that in one shot.. tricky - you have to plan ahead because you can't go back and touch anything up till it all cures. We used Awlgrip with Griptex.

Remove as much hardware as you easily can.. we did everything but winches and toerail. Good opportunity to rebed everything anyhow, and MUCH less taping and masking.

We used two part.. I don't think the single part poly is really up to resisting fender rub, esp if you spend time with a cross breeze at a dock. OTOH on this boat we have Brightsides on the stripes and it's holding up pretty well.

If you use two part, carefully follow the instructions to the letter - hopefully your sprayer will have some experience with it.

Good luck.. don't forget to make a stencil for your Viking Helmet logo!! Can't lose that!
 
#5 ·
You're going to get LOTS of recommendations about preparation, preparation, preparation. They will all be right. Best choice is a controlled atmosphere spray booth, but price goes up for quality. You're in Chicago, do you have enough time/weather to get this work done right before splash schedule?

Our booth was 100', biggest one on the Great Lakes at the time - thanks to C & C Yachts back in 1980. Hulls are easy compared to decks, especially if it molded checker nonskid pattern compared to Griptex or similar. Take LOTS of pictures before removing hardware, and draw numbered schematic to coincide with number on each item you remove. Perfect time to closely inspect all parts for damage or possible replacement. When we taped the deck for painting we usually taped 1/2" smooth area around every fitting. Classy finish. :cool:
 
#6 ·
I'd think that doing the deck first would avoid most overspray problems, since gravity is hard to overcome. I repainted our deck (roll & tip) and masked our hardware in place. Spend a day masking everything - a spray gun will get paint on things a roller can't even reach. The next day go over it again and mask the things you missed the first day. You will be amazed how much there is to cover the second day. Buy three rolls of 1" blue masking tape, and newspaper for the bigger spaces. Prep is HUGE. You will need to sand everything down, then do an acetone wash/wipedown to make sure the surface is entirely clean. Then an undercoater for the 2-part poly. Do not bother with anything else unless you want to paint again soon. Our 2-part poly lasted about 10 years, and now needs touching up. One-part paints we have tried have barely held up for a season without showing scratches and dings, and the prep is essentially the same for both kinds.

Sanding our deck essentially took the nonskid "diamond pattern" off, so we added grit to our topcoats. Don't know how that will work with a sprayer. Some people talk of spreading sand in a "salt-shaker" method, but the 2-part poly is so thin, this may be tricky.

As others have mentioned, temperature, humidity and wind conditions are of prime importance. I waited more than a week for the right weather. Good luck!
 
#7 · (Edited)
Warning Will Robinson, Warning Will Robinson .... many/most boat 'topside' paints should NOT be sprayed - for some serious 'health' reasons.

Most of those paints that have an acrylic co-polymer base and/or are CATALYZED have a percent of isocyanates, etc. in the catalysts etc. If you remember back to the 1980s it was the release of isocyanates into the atmosphere in Bhopal, India that caused several hundred deaths.
Worse, its not 'the vapor' from these compounds which is 'the killer' but the extremely small (~invisible) aerosols (finely divided 'liquid' particles) that are carried into the far deepest part of the lungs (alveoli - the teeny 'air sacs') during respiration.

Simple NIOSH rated vapor/chemical masks do not remove 'aerosols', the aerosols pass 'right through' and are NOT captured by a 'vapor' mask.

The ONLY way to spray a boat with 'catalyzed' or isocyanate catalyzed paints is to use a totally enclosed SCBA ... Self Contained Breathing Apparatus. The lung damage from these 'aerosols' will be permanent, will lead to COPD (Congestive Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) ... once the symptoms of COPD develop, the patient will usually die within 10 years at a minimum, usually sooner ... like instantly, or within days.

If you intended to spray 'boat topside paint', please thoroughly read the full technical manual for the paint ... especially the part where it clearly states: DO NOT SPRAY .... or spray ONLY with the use of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus - SCBA.
 
#8 ·
Sounds like you want an Earl Scheib $199.99 special. Just have your dad's buddy roll up, tape all the hardware give it a light sand and spray it with car primer and automotive paint...
Chances are the car painter will know a lot more about painting then you do. You might just be in the water quicker then you think and nobody will be the wiser.
 
#9 ·
Sounds like you want an Earl Scheib $199.99 special. Just have your dad's buddy roll up, tape all the hardware give it a light sand and spray it with car primer and automotive paint...
Chances are the car painter will know a lot more about painting then you do. You might just be in the water quicker then you think and nobody will be the wiser.
 
#10 ·
I did my topsides with Brightsides a couple years back... I've since sold that boat and bought another one. My one requirement for this boat was NO painting.. as in NEVER again... Brightsides is pretty good, the swinging fenders aren't the issue, it's the abrasives that get ON the fenders. Touch ups are sort-of easy, but still a PITA. Again I'll do my best to avoid painting again. I'm redoing gelcoat now on my present boat, and it's quickly moving up on the list of things I never want to do again as well.

I did a decent job with roll and tip, but again I'd rather never do it again.

 
#11 ·
A few thoughts:

Go with a 2-part paint. Well worth the additional cost, especially considering all the prep work involved.

Reconsider the dark hull color. With the white gelcoat underneath, any gouges will show dramatically and be difficult to touchup. If you don't want white, consider a cream color. Classy and won't show gouges and like a dark color.

Consider just doing the topsides this year. Much less prep as you don't have to remove or tape off lots of hardware. With that experience, you and consider taking on the deck next year.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Do reconsider a 'dark color' if the original gelcoat was 'white'.
The reason is thermal cycling of the hull.

In the 70s through 90s and before vinyl ester based polyester, 'dark' boats usually were laid up with an extra thick matting layer between the gelcoat and the structural roving layer. This extra thick matting layer provided a 'cushion' against thermally cycling and extra heat absorption by the 'dark' hull. This thermal cycling 'further' cures the polyester (polyester takes infinite time to fully cure). Without this extra thick matting layer a 'dark' hulled boat would/will eventually 'print through' the woven roving to the surface of the gelcoat - one can easily see the pattern (small elevated teeny little 'bumps') of the roving ON the gelcoat after long periods of being in the sun. Such doesnt matter if the hull is re-gelcoated to a dark color of if the boat was originally 'white' and then painted 'dark', if the hull is old style polyester you risk 'print through' if you change to a 'dark' color.

I sprayed a 1970s boat with Interlux series 9000 mega-yacht paint (oxford blue) ... and this was a tinted clear schedule (about 6 coats) that did result in a 'candy apple' dark blue ... looked like the paint was one inch thick. The boat was originally white, the 'print through' occurred after 3 years .... and the hull looked like it had developed 'yaws', a serious skin disease ... all because the matting layer was normal/thin (as for a white boat), and the thermal cycling due to the added heat further cured the polyester and caused the low pimples of 'print through'.
So, if you want to change to a 'dark color', Id advise you to survey more than a few boat yards looking for the same age and same boat manufacturer that has been painted 'dark' .... you will inevitably find that such boats that have been painted dark usually always later develop severe 'print through' - damn ugly. That's probably what your laborious paint job will look like in a few years, when it accelerates its 'print through' because the matting layer is for a white boat and too thin for a dark boat.

Further if the boat you intend to paint 'dark' has a cored hull, you WILL risk delamination of the top sides ... and will still get the print through. The old Niagara Boat line probably was also 'helped' into bankruptcy because their dark blue cored hulls simply pushed themselves apart due to the thermal cycling - many warranty claims.

;-)
 
#13 ·
I painted everything above the rub rail on my Morgan 33 Out Island last year. I did not remove anything and it took three days to mask the hardware and handrails. I used Kiwi-Grip for the non-skid and highly recommend this paint. It's easy to work with if you follow the instructions and provides the best non-skid surface available. For the slick parts I used Interlux two part paint, and it took three coats to get good results. I used the roll and tip method.

Good luck,

Gary :cool:
 
#14 ·
You really need to take the hardware off. Dewaxing and sanding right up to the edges of the hardware is more work than its worth, and you'll still have an edge in the paint that water can work it's way under, and lift the paint. With the hardware off you'll get better surface prep and an unbroken paint film.
The safety warnings are probably moot in this case. If your pro paint guy works with Imron, which is virtually the same as Awlgrip, in a booth, and he's still alive, he has the proper safety gear. Just don't try to do it yourself.
 
#15 ·
The OP wants to get it done in a month..doesn't want to do the hard yards of pulling all the hardware..boat is 29 footer...mates rate from dad's good buddy, should he really spend 10K on paint job?....Really, just get on with it, and go sailing, good advice from posters, but more mountains out of molehills me think.....

I saw a guy roll and tip a 44 foot boat in the marina last week, looked good from the 10 meter MKII eyeball...
 
#16 ·
I think you will do fine as far as temperature. However, in the spring it can be a bit breezy. This will mess up your finish. You will want to find still mornings. I painted my deck one year and my topsides the next. I launched two MONTHS late after painting the deck, and a month late after painting the topsides. A guy next to me painted his boat last spring in two weekends... looks better than it did b/f... but still looks like cr@p. Don't get too stuck on using the sprayer. You will probably be able to get each coat of paint on in 3-4 hours of actual painting. Again, there is lots of prep b/f that, and some prep b/f each coat. If you have your heart set on blue, go for it. I changed from white to flag blue, and don't regret the errors that I can see. If you lived in the tropics, I wouldn't, but you live at about the same latitude as Tierra del Fuego.
 
#17 ·
Invaluable advice. Thanks for the responses. Sounds like 1 month w/ only saturdays and sundays to work is a bit ambitious to get this job done. Barquito - I think I'll just paint the deck this year and worry about my topside the next. I never realized that dark/navy paint would complicate things so much. Perhaps I can pay someone to buff the topside and maybe get some shine back? I'm not sure if you can access my pictures but my boat currently has a navy stripe where the topside and deck meet, and at the water line. Anything I need to consider if I want to add another coat of paint to the stripes?

(RichH - there's already a lot of the 'print through' bumps you were referring to near the water line. How can I get rid of these? I can see from these bumps that the boat was once painted a light sky blue color.)

Barquito - You mentioned to not get stuck on using the sprayer. Turns out my dad's employee who was going to do the painting left to Poland today for a month to tend to his dying father. What can you tell me about the tip and roll method? Will I get anywhere close to the gloss and smoothness I expected with the spray paint job I expected from this professional? That's why spraying was so appealing (along with saving me time). Anyone out there think I should wait for him to return?

Hardware. I'm going to remove as much of it as I feel comfortable with. Some things I really don't think I'll be able to re-secure to the deck or even be able to remove myself. Lifeline support bars seem simple enough to remove, but I imagine will be tough to reattach. Should I remove the rails/tracks that several pulleys are attached to? Cleats? Is there anything I should be especially wary of removing? Methods for removing?

I have a few buddies that are willing to help but I'm hesitant to really trust anyone else to do anything right without me standing right there watching/instructing. What's the easiest thing in the deck painting process that can be done by a couple of goons that are putting in hours to earn some time out on the water this summer?
 
#19 · (Edited)
(RichH - there's already a lot of the 'print through' bumps you were referring to near the water line. How can I get rid of these? I can see from these bumps that the boat was once painted a light sky blue color.)
Not much can be done, except to flat sand them down .... and expect them to 'rise again' if you select a dark color. The 'bumps' of print-through are especially vulnerable to re-arise at the margins of any tabbed-in bulkhead or chainplate knees.

Its always better us respray with gelcoat, the prep is less, the gelcoating is MORE permanent. All you need is a specific GelCoat spray gun, etc. and be able to 'work quick' ... so the gel doesnt kick inside your spray gun. Good Gelcoat spray guns are designed to be quickly cleaned out in case .... your too damn slow.
 
#18 ·
"Third, what kind of paint to use? Can't afford Gel Coat. Two-Part polyurethanes seems like a good option but also expensive. One part polyurethane? If it in fact is an option to avoid sanding then should I spring for a more expensive 2-part paint?"

Can't afford gel-coat last when I checked 2 part cost $1250 for 2coatsfinish and the necessary primers and fillers.
A fellow in my marina needed 4 finish coats sanding between each.

It cost me $218 to buy the gel coat and rollers to do my 30 pearson and probably a little more sanding than the 2 part paint. Plus I have to buff when I'm done sanding but I'm retired so the time is more available than the cash.
With gel coat you save over $1000 plus it is repairable unlike the paint, and if done properly is a tougher finish.
 
#20 ·
In all likelihood I'm going with a Two-Part polyurethane Interlux paint. The link below has been quite helpful. I need to figure out what kind of primer to use. The article recommends using Interlux Pre-Kote Primer but I'm not clear on whether this is compatible with a 2-part paint. Can anyone recommend a primer? The interlux website has this 'fiberglass no sand primer'. Can that me used over a gelcoat?

Topside Painting - Rolling and Tipping

How can I make sure that what I have on my deck is gelcoat? That's what the previous owner told me but he had never painted the boat himself.
 
#21 ·
Just one more suggestion to definitely remove all your hardware. If not for the paint job, then for the fact that contrary to your feeling that you won't be able to get the stuff down as good as before, you can bed it way better than before. Decades are not kind to the seal most hardware has to your deck. You will now have the chance to head off water incursion or stop what might already be happening.
 
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