Other Boat Bottom Painting... looking for advice!

[firemedicmonkey]

Hey guys I know its not directly related to skis... but I figure I would try here first before joining any new forums...

I got a 23ft I/O boat that I got to use for towing skis that break down and doing on the water services, etc... its also a pleasure boat.

Anyways it was previously bottom painted and the paint is in rough shape... I want to sand it down and repaint. However there are some many products out there to use I don't know what you use.

Barrier coats, bottom paints, how far do I have to sand it down? etc Looking for advice from anyone that knows about it or where to go to find information...

Thanks

 

[TB]

i can't remember the name of the stuff we used to use when i was down in florida west marine sell's it and the guys there have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to bottom paint's the stuff we used had a copper infused with the paint that helped greatly to reduce the amount of barnacle growth on the bottom when the boats would sit in salt for periods of time..what ever you do make sure you wear a breathing apparatus and protect your skin as most of the bottom paints out there have very harsh fumes and are infused with resins and other things that do not like to come off the skin

 

[1Scray]

Is the paint flaking off, kind of like a glossy/pearl finish and you can see the spots where the hull fiberglass is showing? That is like a regular "hard" bottom paint. It has stuff in it that retarts marine growth.

If it is a flat finish and looks like it slowly is wearing away thin spots, then its an Alblative paint that just like I said as the water passes over it it slowly wears away nt giving the marine growth a chance to stick.

I will bet you have the hard type bottom paint, take a drywall spackel knifer and scrape as much of the loose stuff off as you can, dont worry if the hull shows, hit the rest with a sanding sponge and when you finish tape off your water line and use a roller to apply the new paint. roller works best and has a nice finish. Dont worry about a barrier coat unless you plan on stripping the entire bottom down to the glass and starting fresh. Barrier coats are for boats that spend a lot of time int he water....like 1 year straight.

If you have an Alblative paint you can just hit the thin spots with a sanding sponge and touch up the areas that need it, if you can get the same color paint.

The bottom paints can get expensive, west marine makes "Bottom Shield" which is cheap and works fine. Also, don't forget to paint your outdrive with the aerosol antifouling paint this is also a rip off but again west marine has a cheaper version that works fine....ps don't paint over your zincs/sacrificial anodes.

 

[firemedicmonkey]

there is none of the original glass showing but the bottom paint is rough and pitted... I am not sure if I need to just sand it smooth and apply the cheap (relative) west marine stuff over top or if I have to get all the old off... i know some bottom paints don't mix and as expensive as this stuff is I don't want to waste it... sand labor is cheaper than paint!

 

[Berky]

Try oven cleaner as a stripper, a 3500-4000 psi P.washer with a turbo tip to blast the flaky stuff and growth, finish with 80 on a DA sander, I like CCP ablative bottom paint some like hard epoxy it depends what you doing battle with and if the boat is out of the water at times (epoxy not an option then).

Tem,

 

[firemedicmonkey]

fresh water only at this point... i would say in and out of the water at this point as well... i have a dock to keep it in the water but i move to other lakes and such...