Determining type of paint used on Deck

[dm567]

I'm the third owner of a boat and was told that the deck was repainted at one time, possibly with a two part poly finish. How can I determine if this is true so that I can paint accordingly?

[hellosailor]

Probably only by taking a ship off and sending it to a paint company for inspection. If the deck was painted "properly" then everything was removed, rather than being masked. If you can see any signs of masking around the ports or hatch trim, etc., then you know it was painted.

Ask the maker of your new paint (excuse me, they call it "coatings" now) how you can test the existing deck, or if they will examine a chip for you. (Remove a fitting and take the chip from under it.) Or they may say it makes no difference, as long as you can apply a certain solvent to the existing deck without anything lifting from it. That's one of the main concerns, solvent lifting.

[T34C]

It might be worth doing some research on the past owner and even trying to contact them. The adheasion (sp) test that Awlgrip recommends (when you don't know the type of paint used before) if fairly involved. You may be able to save yourself some time and headache by spending some time on the computer and making a couple calls.