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remove paint job...

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frants
1st Mate

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USA
55 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/24/2010 : 21:51:10

I have been e-mailing with Bill Holcomb who has given me good advice. I am posting my projects here since someone else may benefit from the feed-back. the po painted the freeboards, from a taupe-looking color to, white. a lively moorage situation caused the paint to be scraped off in some areas. It was suggested that I remove all the paint...yeah - I can't wait. any suggestions how to? will paint thinner damage the gelcoat? Also; my boat is in fresh water and I have considered removing the anti foul paint. By doing that, will gel-coat be under the paint? and what would be a good way to remove the antifoul paint? and last but not least; who wants to do it?

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 10/25/2010 : 00:08:59

Frants, can't help you a lot with the topside paint, but I can tell you all about removing bottom paint. I soda blasted VC-17 ( and associated barnacles, mussels, and growth) off my hull this year. I did it myself, and I'll never do it again. Something I thought would take a couple of weekends ended up taking months to complete. This was largely due to wide eyed inexperience, insufficient equipment, and lack of common sense. If you're thinking of doing the job yourself, I can give you lots of advice on how to not do it. I think it could be done in a few weekends, but not how I did it. If you search my posts you'll find my experiences relatively well detailed. At least painting the hull was relatively straight forward, and accomplished in a single weekend.

Do you sail on Lake Chelan?

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 10/25/2010 : 06:41:53

I would recommend against blasting it yourself--a pro knows how to do it with minimal gelcoat damage, and accepts the responsibility to protect himself and the environment from the toxic dust (at a cost). On your topsides (freeboard), blasting is likely to pit the gelcoat and make it difficult to get a good finish.

For DIY, I'd start with a "fiberglass-friendly" stripper (available at West Marine and Home Depot)--some are of the peel-away variety, where you apply paper over the goop and let it sit for some number of hours. The bulk of the paint should come off with the paper, and a scraper and finally hand-sanding (very fine grit) finishes off the job. I've been warned not to use these strippers below about 60 degrees--warmer is better, and remember that the hull warms up more slowly than the air.

This thread can be one of our case-studies on why not to paint the exterior of a fiberglass boat--unless the gelcoat has been worn completely through.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 10/25/2010 06:43:57

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 10/25/2010 : 07:19:18

One thing Dave said bears repeating - The kind of paint stripper that you use to strip house paint is too aggressive. It will dissolve the gelcoat. If you decide to use a chemical stripper, use a stripper that is specifically made for fiberglass. Chemical strippers will remove antifouling paint. I don't know whether it will remove whatever paint is on the topsides, but I suspect it will. I suggest you test an inconspicuous area.

The key to using strippers is to keep the surface wet with the chemical. That's the purpose of the peel-away paper stripper. The paper slows the drying of the chemical.

I had many years of old antifouling on my current boat power planed off by a pro. IMHO, it's not for a DIYer. I saw him strip a beautiful Hinkley before I would trust him with my boat, and he controlled the depth of the cut perfectly.

Underneath the antifouling on the hull, you'll find gelcoat. There's no gelcoat on a cast iron keel. I don't know whether there is gelcoat on a lead keel.

Edited by - on

Mark Maxwell
Captain

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USA
329 Posts

Response Posted - 10/25/2010 : 07:32:37

You will not be able to remove the bottom paint so completely that you can just leave it at that. If done properly, the bottom was prept with a coarse sanding to insure a good bond with the paint. You will need to repaint with something. I did this to mine and chose to apply an epoxy barrier paint. I too kept my boat in fresh water with some weekend trips to the coast. I went for about 5 years this way and the paint held up very well.

Now as for your freeboard areas. Do you mean the hull sides and deck? In any case, the PO probably painted it for a reason, maybe the gel coat was damaged or worn through, maybe the boat was damaged and this was part of the repair. My question is why remove it? Again if it was done right, the undersurface had to be prept to bond with the paint and I doubt you would be able to get a uniform finish to the gel coat without some kind of new coating. So if the paint is just scratched, it may be better to repair those areas and re-paint.

Here is a link to photos of the bottom job I did.
http://catalina25.shutterfly.com/pictures/35

This is the product I used. Water Guard 300 and C15 as a primer
http://www.epoxyproducts.com/
Tons of info on the web site

Edited by - Mark Maxwell on 11/03/2010 09:12:05

frants
1st Mate

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USA
55 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2010 : 16:53:11

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 Frants, can't help you a lot with the topside paint, but I can tell you all about removing bottom paint. I soda blasted VC-17 ( and associated barnacles, mussels, and growth) off my hull this year. I did it myself, and I'll never do it again. Something I thought would take a couple of weekends ended up taking months to complete. This was largely due to wide eyed inexperience, insufficient equipment, and lack of common sense. If you're thinking of doing the job yourself, I can give you lots of advice on how to not do it. I think it could be done in a few weekends, but not how I did it. If you search my posts you'll find my experiences relatively well detailed. At least painting the hull was relatively straight forward, and accomplished in a single weekend.

Do you sail on Lake Chelan?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Edited by - on

frants
1st Mate

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USA
55 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2010 : 16:55:41

Thank you for your feed back, that gives me something to consider. Yes I am sailing on Lake Chelan.

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4304 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2010 : 18:37:05

I checked into getting my boat soda blasted this winter and the estimate without looking at the boat was $700.00.

They can take just the paint off or they can can take the paint and the barrier coat off. They can also open any blisters if you want. In talking with the guy it sounded like they can easily control how much they remove.

He said it would take about a 1/2 to 3/4's of a day to do a C25 including setup, removal, and clean-up. They leave no residue behind when they are done.

I'm tempted to go this route. I would let the boat sit all winter then paint the bottom myself in the spring. I think I would come out about the same, dollar wise, as most good bottom jobs do in this area.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2010 : 21:23:20

Gary, that's a good price compared to around here. In CT (don't know about TX) the boat has to be completely tented--quite a project in itself. Then the operator works inside the tent. I don't care what the protective gear is--that's a job I wouldn't take for almost any price.

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4304 Posts

Response Posted - 10/27/2010 : 18:41:21

From what it sounded like to me they tent the boat here also.

Edited by - on

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.