Painting over mystery paint.

[L124C]

I'm painting my coach top. The paint is chalky and dull, could be house paint for all I know! If it is, and I sand and prime for polyurethane, will it stick? Also, I have a none skid diamond pattern on the deck. When I paint that surface, will I need to use non skid paint.

[39512]

Chalky sounds like gelcoat. If it is, priming and painting will work. What kind of boat and what year was it built?
If it is an unidentifed paint, I would strip it. You might take a paint chip to a pro boat painter though and he may be able to help. Some yards send chips out for identification in order to avoid problems. You might do the same.
Diamond pattern non-skid can be painted with any of the 3 above plus Interdeck. Painting a diamond pattern deck is one pita job.

[mwrohde2]

Originally Posted by 39512

Painting a diamond pattern deck is one pita job.

I've got this on my to do list. Why is this not strait forward?

[sailingdog]

It could be gel coat, it could be a really bad paint... In any case, you really need to know which it is, since the preparation is going to be a bit different depending... if it is a bad paint job, you'll probably be best off removing the previous paint, since the new paint can only adhere well to what it is on top of. If it is gelcoat, you might want to try Maine Sail's polishing techniques first, since if there is enough gelcoat there, you may not need to paint. Once you go the painted route, you have to keep up the maintenance on it.

BTW, I'm a big fan of sanding off any antiskid and then masking off the areas where you want to apply anti-skid and just applying a good anti-skid coating if you're going to be painting the boat anyways. It makes prepping the deck a lot simpler, since properly cleaning and prepping patterned gelcoat is almost impossible.

[L124C]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

It could be gel coat, it could be a really bad paint... In any case, you really need to know which it is, since the preparation is going to be a bit different depending... if it is a bad paint job, you'll probably be best off removing the previous paint, since the new paint can only adhere well to what it is on top of. If it is gelcoat, you might want to try Maine Sail's polishing techniques first, since if there is enough gelcoat there, you may not need to paint. Once you go the painted route, you have to keep up the maintenance on it.

BTW, I'm a big fan of sanding off any antiskid and then masking off the areas where you want to apply anti-skid and just applying a good anti-skid coating if you're going to be painting the boat anyways. It makes prepping the deck a lot simpler, since properly cleaning and prepping patterned gelcoat is almost impossible.

Here is a picture, for whats it worth. The textured deck has definitely been repainted, as it's lighter than the smooth surface. Do you think the smooth surface is just worn gel coat? Also, are you saying that you sand the pattern completely off?

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by L124C

Here is a picture, for whats it worth. The textured deck has definitely been repainted, as it's lighter than the smooth surface. Do you think the smooth surface is just worn gel coat?

can't tell from the photo.

Also, are you saying that you sand the pattern completely off?

yes, if you are planning on re-painting the area.

[boofus]

I have an igloo cooler that looks just like that....

[merc2dogs]

Used to paint cars, and we'd get plenty of cars in with 'unknown' paint.
One test is to soak a rag with the solvent recommended for the paint you plan to use, and lay it on the paint you're going over and let it sit for a while to see if it lifts. If it doesn't lift you are safe with going over the old paint. (after sanding and cleaning of course)

Ken.