DIY Bottom Job - Your Experience

In my area, we don't have a ton of pleasure boats. I'm a member of the local yacht club and we have a lift, but one of the guys that used to do bottom jobs moved away and the other is semi-retired. I wanted to have mine done last year, but couldn't find anyone to do the work, so I'm seriously considering doing it myself this spring. It doesn't sound like a complicated job...lift, pressure wash, sand, tape, paint, paint, paint, splash. I get that it's a dirty job, but I'm not worried about that. I have an orbital sander, will get paint suits, and a respirator. It's a '46 footer, so i'll probably try to hire some labor help. I've sanded/refinished woodwork and repainted stripes above the waterline in the past to give some idea of experience.

I'd love to hear from others that have done this before. I enjoy working on my boat and saving money. Is this a crazy idea? What was your experience? Are there any particularly good instructional videos or books that you're aware of?

Thanks for any input!
Chris

It’s physicaly demanding but other wise very simple. Plan on two days and get two high school kids to help. Use their labor as much as possible so you don’t get tired. Be fresh when you paint, when tired you tend to glob the paint On.

A lot depends on sluffing paints vs modified epoxy paints and if the old paint is sticking to the bottom well.

Assuming you use ablative type bottom paint, there is usually no need to "sand". We used to paint a fresh coat every spring after Winter storage. After "sanding" a couple of times, I came to realize all that is needed is to scrub the bottom with a coarse scrungy abrasive pad (with handle attached). Also, if you decide to use a power sander, be careful you do not damage the barrier layer between the hull and the anti fouling paint. Lastly, the paint dust is toxic to humans and wild life, so all marinas in this area require dust control while sanding using a vacuum attached to the sander, plus wear a mask.

As noted above, the paint dust is toxic. I know that this is totally selfish, but I would rather someone else bears the exposure risk and not me. So I have always had the yard to my bottom jobs.


And I have always used top of the line Interlux or Pettit bottom paint. I get three years between jobs.

David

We painted our 44 last Spring. The previous ablative paint was still serviceable, but getting thin in a few places. Upon winter haulout in September 2016 (Great Lakes) the storage crew left the boat hanging (high) in the travel lift straps for a couple of hours to allow me to power wash. Keeping the nozzle very close to the surface was very effective at creating a clean, slightly etched surface (on ablative paint). Then I scuffed with a coarse Scotchbrite type pad on a dry wall sanding pole. No power tools needed for ablative. Then a final power wash to clean off dust. That process took about 2.5 hours. I wore a rubberized painters coverall (with a hood),rubber gloves, and a respirator. Managed to stay mostly dry while working under the dripping nasties. All supplies were purchased at Home depot or Menards. By the way, the marina required that the boat be positioned over a 3x3x6 ' concrete block as a safety measure in the event of a sling failure. The boat was then blocked inside the storage building and left over the winter (Great Lakes).

Last Spring I wiped and brushed off the cobwebs and accumulated dust and then taped and masked (1/2 day). That afternoon my spouse helped with moving the plastic drop "cloth" and keeping the paint tray full. The first coat of ablative applied over existing scuffed ablative sucked a lot of paint and was fairly slow going. We finished late that afternoon. That paint had a required cure time before recoating...basically over night. The second coat went on much more quickly, took less paint, and went on with much less effort. We were finished by noon the second day. I used Interlux ablative with high solids content....exactly three gallons for our 44. The rollers were 1/4" knap (I believe).

Total time including power wash and scuff was two eight hour days.

I will be pulling a 49' next week and doing all the work myself, as I have done for the past 50 years. Don't forget to check for excessive play in the prop strut bushings and replace all of the anodes. This is also the time to service all the thru hull shut off valves if they are serviceable.

Check with your marina to see what the regulations are about sanding the bottom. Up here in the Northwest they are really,really strict about doing any sanding on the bottom, also have never seen a place that let's you pressure wash the bottom of your own boat. They may even have a special price for doing all the prep work. Just let them pull it, pressure wash it, and move it to the yard and block it up. You take it from there.

Thank you all for your very helpful feedback. In regards to the yard comments, we have a floating lift. As a member, you get a free up and down every year, but pay by the day for it to sit there. They have a pressure washer you can rent or you can bring your own. I'm not sure there are any other regulations. I've attached a pic of my previous boat being painted on the lift I'll be using.

Russell Clifton said:

Check with your marina to see what the regulations are about sanding the bottom. Up here in the Northwest they are really,really strict about doing any sanding on the bottom, also have never seen a place that let's you pressure wash the bottom of your own boat. They may even have a special price for doing all the prep work. Just let them pull it, pressure wash it, and move it to the yard and block it up. You take it from there.

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The last time the marina power washed our boat (about 8 years ago), the kid operating the power washer destroyed large patches of the ablative paint. I've insisted on doing it myself ever since...and the management is happy to have their staff member back to block boats. By the way, there really isn't any sanding as such...just washing and scuffing. Left coast, I guess. If I want it done right, I do I myself.

Chris, I've been doing my own bottoms for lotsa years. My latest boat is only 27' long so it's a breeze compared to my previous 42' sail and 44' trawler. The marinas here are a lot more tolerant of DIY. Harbortowne Marina here in Vonore recommended I pressure wash my own bottom also. They only require a tarp under the boat during the painting. If I want to sand it, I have to enclose it with plastic, which is cheap, easy and quick. I've always used a good ablative so haven't had to sand it since my first paint about 4 years ago. I no longer have barnacle problems on our inland waters so it's a LOT easier. The advice about a couple of high schoolers is good if you are going to scrub it. I'm 77 now so I do get pretty tired but I can do it all in a day. Ben

Greetings,
Mr. c. Completely stripped down, to essentially bare wood, a 34' wooden boat many years ago-Hellish job. Subsequent vessel (34' Marine Trader) painted in the spring after a fall pressure wash-Purgatory-ish job.

Now, don't much care what the cost. I pay to have everything done. I'd rather rebuild a dozen heads than do it again.

We do almost everything ourselves. HOWEVER: when we did the bottom last year (a first on this boat), we agreed we'd pay someone else to do it next time. We paid about $1000 in paint, PPE, and yard costs (lift, storage, etc). They told us they could do the whole thing for a little north of $2000. Totally worth it! as we had to do this after 8 hours of day-job and while living aboard in the marina. (carrying the dog down a ladder to go for a walk). It ended up taking almost a week. A very, unpleasant, week. Yes, you can do it faster if you take those days off, probably closer to 3 days. still a lot of upside down, nasty, work.

at least an extra boat buck though....

My only comment is that ablative type paints have given me very short life on all u/w bronze and stainless. Tabs, props, shaft, rudders. I move to Trinidad on the metal, ablative on the FG.
Your waters may vary. Are we talking fresh water usage here?

diver dave said:

My only comment is that ablative type paints have given me very short life on all u/w bronze and stainless. Tabs, props, shaft, rudders. I move to Trinidad on the metal, ablative on the FG.
Your waters may vary. Are we talking fresh water usage here?

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Yes, fresh water.

I have painted qiute a few of our boats. From doing epoxy barrier coats to simply adding another coat of ablative bottom paint. It is relatively easy technically and relatively hard physically. It is easier on a hard surface so you can use a creeper to roll around underneath the boat. Our storage yard is crushed gravel and not conducive to using a creeper so the yard brings our boat to our house and puts it on the driveway. I spread a plastic tarp on the drive since I always end up spilling some paint. I second the advise of hireing some young labor but I always watch closely so that the work gets done the way I want it.

Comodave said:

I Our storage yard is crushed gravel and not conducive to using a creeper so the yard brings our boat to our house and puts it on the driveway.

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That would be awesome!

We have painted our boat bottoms a couple of times. We have sanded it only once. (and that was the 35Fter) We'll never do that again. Same for waxing the hull. Tried that once....got about 5 feet on either side of the bow before giving up.

Everyone has different tolerances. There's stuff ya pay for and stuff ya don't.

I'll tackle anything and have done in the past but these days antifouling and asbestos removal are 2 jobs best done by others.

in my opinipn, the best reason to use a self polishing or ablative paint....

pressure wash, let dry and paint.

no toxic experience, and if the yard hangs you high for pressure washing, and you use a long handle with a roller, even old guys can do this simple job.

I’ve done a 32 ‘ sailboat before in my backyard when we lived In Memphis. It went pretty good but I only had a couple of small blisters to deal with . Once you’re through sanding make sure the hull is clean and free of dust before painting .

I usually get 7 hour lift at the YC. I pressure wash the boat first, do the zincs, scrape the barnacles from the running gear and mask the waterline while the hull is drying, by then my helpers have arrived, so I let them start painting as soon as the surface is dry enough. Sometimes this takes us through the lunch hour, so once we have eaten things are usually dry. Using one brush and two rollers, painting doesn't take long, so everything is dry and ready to splash at the appropriate time.
Ablative paint, so no sanding. Only a few times was it hot enough that the paint was flaking off as I rollered the new on over the old. Most of the time none tries to flake, so it is all still there in a year when I do it all again.
This year I couldn't get a weekend time, so I will likely be down a helper or even two. I may take longer, so have more time booked.

clynn said:

It doesn't sound like a complicated job...lift, pressure wash, sand, tape, paint, paint, paint, splash. I get that it's a dirty job, but I'm not worried about that. I have an orbital sander, will get paint suits, and a respirator.

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It's not complicated. Neither is it pleasant. Shoulders can give out holding heavy disc sander over your head for hours. Depending upon how many layers of paint are already on the bottom, you may want to bring it down to fiberglass and then apply epoxy coat.

It's toxic so buy a good respirator. My boatyard requires drop clothes, shop vacs attached to the sander, etc. Nothing onerous but disk sanders don't have ports for vacs. I finish with orbital sanders and finer grit. Then hull gets acetone bath.

Painting is a lot easier. Roll it on with extensions and most of the hull is easily accessible. Years when I don't sand I just do a once over with orbital and go right to paint.

I wax the hull next, up and down the ladder like a rabbit, with a heavy polisher in hand. Easier but still a chore. It's all part of spring at all NE boatyards.

You guys are faster than me. I took a week to do my 48, but I had not had her out for 6 years. It was ten hour days and a week off from work. Running gear was a disaster, plus propspeed removal. I paid the yard to vacuum sand the paint which in most areas was in decent shape. Nasty job running vacuum sander for two days, completely worth farming that out. My wife rolled it in just over two days. I spent the entire week sanding running gear, epoxy over trim tabs and rudders, then paint. New propspeed on shafts and props. Huge job. Cost me about 3k, saved at least that much diy.

For a 6 year haul cycle that is not at all bad. On my 32’ it was a severe stretch to go 18 months and that is with me diving on it every 2 weeks the last 6 months.
Mine was kept in a hot salt water canal.

I had Seahawk from the era they went to jail. Up until the last year, diver kept saying the hull looked great and we just kept scraping barnacles. Running gear nearly killed me though. Hopefully the epoxy and painted rudders and trim tabs will cut down a lot of that. I’ll haul again in year two, just before we can’t use effective bottom paint anymore.

Just to clarify, sanding will be required on older boats with many layers of ablative paint where layers of paint may have come off in patches. This often occurs at the water line where a thick build up dries out and cracks. You should sand to bevel off the rough edges to minimise drag. It doesn't need to be perfect, but it should be fairly smooth. Losing 0.1 knot doesn't matter, but half a knot does matter for most trawlers.
Use a good quality orbital sander. A small 4" handyman sander is a waste of time. It would be worth renting a larger professional model for a day or two.

or everytime you pressure wash it, hit it hard....

and for above the waterline, I add a little acetone to thin the paint so I get the fresh color and not the buildup.

havent sanded and going on year 8

each year I am down to my wear coat ( different color) so I am pretty sure there is not much of a build up and the thinned paint doest seem to crack and flake.

psneeld said:

or everytime you pressure wash it, hit it hard....

and for above the waterline, I add a little acetone to thin the paint so I get the fresh color and not the buildup.

havent sanded and going on year 8

each year I am down to my wear coat ( different color) so I am pretty sure there is not much of a build up and the thinned paint doest seem to crack and flake.

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And I thought I was the only one who thins their bottom paint!
Yes that keeps the buildup to a minimum.

I paint the bottoms on both my boats every Spring. The 36' sailboat takes longer than the 33' powerboat but is easier on the back because there is less stooping. I use a water based ablative paint so there is little smell. For each boat it takes about 30 minutes to mask. Paint application takes about 2-2.5 hours on the full keel sailboat and about 1.5-2 hours on the powerboat. The reason it takes so long is that I move all the stands so I can paint under them. I use an extension handle on the roller to minimize stooping. Including paint I normally budget about $300 total for the two boats. It isn't a hard job. I am currently in the middle of a two year bottom sanding cycle for the wooden power boat. I did the port side last Spring and will do the starboard side this year. That is about a 4-6 hour job for each side, but I only do it every 10 years. I wear a tyvek suit, dust mask and goggles and work on a tarp with a vacuum attached to my sander.

I may be at fault too... but those who discuss sanding might include the bottom pain type.

I use Interlux Fiberglass Bottomkote NT and NEVER sand....and never a peeling or flaking issue.

I had 2 yards in the Chesapeake use Petit ablative paints that didnt, so I never use Petit paints anymore.

Jay...may be the difference between experience and believing what you read on the internet... and an infaltering methodology of following manufacturer instructions.