Painting Yout Trawler the Inexpensive Way

and......it doesn't matter if you spray or roll. The little pecker gnats still fly by and stick in the wet paint.

FF wrote:

Do you really care if the top of the pilot house shines like a new car , or simply looks uniform?

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Depends on how anal the boat is.* I know some who would not tolerate a single blemish or bump on a new paint job.* If there was one, that's all they would see.

and......it doesn't matter if you spray or roll. The little pecker gnats still fly by and stick in the wet paint.

In our neck of the woods in FLA , as soon as varnish is filtered or a paint can is opened someone up wind sets a few cane fields in fire .

Nice big black chunks for an hour or three!

Works every time.

Anode wrote:

and......it doesn't matter if you spray or roll. The little pecker gnats still fly by and stick in the wet paint.

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True but when the paint dries and you brush them off, all is left is their little feet and you hardly notice that.

This thread is SO helpful! Thank you all so much! We are closing on a 1983 36' trawler that needs some topside painting. I was contemplating having the yard do it but I am almost tempted to do this myself. I am, afterall, very good at painting all the rooms in our house as my wife changes her color choices.

How about doing non-skid areas? What do you all use for that? How is prep different for nonskid areas vs. shiny gelcoat areas?

Thanks!!

I've painted my last two boats and will be painting my third probably sometime next year.
If you want a workboat finish go with the single part paint. if you want a yacht type finish go with the two part paint. I've used Sterling as availability here in Seattle is excellent.

Painting your boat is NOT the same as painting your house! House paint is think. Two part marine paint when properly thinned is like water. It must be layed down in a thin, even coat. First timers usually get it one too thick resulting in runs and sags especially on vertical surfaces. It takes alittle practice to properly thin the paint, lay it down with an even coat and not over tip it. Practice on an old dingy, large peice of fiberglass or as I did on the transom until you get it right. Follow the manufactures instructions and make sure you understand it.

I did my shinny gelcoat areas the same as the non skid areas.

The light colors ... white or off white... are much easier to apply then the darker colors such as navy blue.

I used a good large badger hair brush* to tip*the paint.

Alot of work but when done while others are buffing and waxing their boat you will be out boating.

Dave


-- Edited by wingspar on Tuesday 27th of July 2010 09:21:31 AM

-- Edited by wingspar on Tuesday 27th of July 2010 09:22:13 AM

Woodsong wrote:

This thread is SO helpful! Thank you all so much! We are closing on a 1983 36' trawler that needs some topside painting. I was contemplating having the yard do it but I am almost tempted to do this myself. I am, afterall, very good at painting all the rooms in our house as my wife changes her color choices.

How about doing non-skid areas? What do you all use for that? How is prep different for nonskid areas vs. shiny gelcoat areas?

Thanks!!

Click to expand...

Here is what we have done with our non skid areas and has worked great,
[url]http://tinyurl.com/ygvq84m[/url]

*

Woodsong, another option would be to not paint the non- skid areas. Our topside has been painted before but the NS areas were taped off and left unpainted. I assume this was done so as not to fill in the pattern with paint. The contrast doesn't look bad either. I guess it depends on the condition of your NS.

I would never paint over a gel-coat patterned non-skid with out sanding it smooth first.
Just me.

On he paint jobs I have seen The ones done with roll and tip were shiner then those that were sprayed Done correctly there are no brush marks at all especially with white paint

"I would never paint over a gel-coat patterned non-skid with out sanding it smooth first."

Surface prep, getting it ready to accept paint , can be done with hot water ,TSP and scrubbing .

If you live in a PC occupied Zone and cant find TSP, its in most automatic dish washing powder.

"I would never paint over a gel-coat patterned non-skid with out sanding it smooth first."

Because it looks like ****!.

I have tried, really tried, I have prepped and prepped, sourced out the best brushes, rollers, all to no avail. Some people just can't paint. Well not very well anyway. Guilty as charged.