Interior painting???

[Scottwb96]

Hello everyone...
I am sure there has GOT TO BE something in here about this, but I can't seem to find any threads...

I am considering painting the interior of my boat. At the very minimum the salon/galley area. But would definitely like to freshen her up throughout.

Curious to hear any thoughts, suggestions, do's/don'ts, etc...

REALLY like to get the boat our of the late 80's "golden/honey wood" color scheme...

 

[GregBrannon]

I see all finished wood. Is that what you're thinking of painting?

Greg.

 

[Scottwb96]

Greg-
Yes, it all is...

 

[caltexflanc]

It's all a matter of personal taste, but every boat (and it's more than a few)I have ever been on that did that was a complete aesthetic disaster, and devalued accordingly. It has to be done perfectly and in extremely good taste. Consider getting a pro, and keeping some of the wood as a framing and trim. But my gosh, there are so many other things to spend money on a boat.

 

[Takoradi]

Greg-
Yes, it all is...

HA! I’m dealing with the same thing (The Janie C is 1984) but I’ve got PINK carpet to deal with. And did I mention PINK vinyl wall papery stuff in the captains cabin that I’m seriously considering covering with bamboo for a more Gilligan’s Island vibe!

Good grief what were we all thinking in the ‘80’s? Oh that’s right. I was thinking about girls, my new job, girls, my new apartment and ummm.., oh yeah girls. Nothing about pink carpet tho.

Tak

 

[Capt.Will]

Scottwb96.
My Wife and I agree ,your wood looks in nice condition.
But leave it be and change the carpets and stair runners,add some colour to brighten
things up a bit,curtains shades etc.just some ideas.
Enjoy and stay safe. Will

 

[Comodave]

We painted the interior of a previous boat, a 46’ trawler. I used Interlux Brightside. We wanted a light gray color. The Seattle gray was too dark so we mixed 1 quart Seattle gray and 3 quarts of white. I first tried roll and tipping but decided that it wasn’t to my liking. So I got an HVLP unit and sprayed the interior. It took a lot of masking and prep work. But it came out beautifully. I did use a forced air respirator due to the solvents involved. As to some comments about devaluing the boat, the first person that looked at the boat bought it. It took 1 day to sell the boat literally. We did have some damage to the wood from some previous leaks. The great thing about painting is that you can repair the wood with epoxy fillers since it won’t show after the paint is applied. So I filled and sanded the surface where there was any damage. Overall it was a lot of work but the finished result was spectacular.

 

[Scottwb96]

Comodave-
Do you happen to have any of the pics from the old boat. Love to see how it turned out. If this actually happens, I would almost certainly be spraying vs. brush/roller...

 

[Comodave]

No I don’t, that was 4 boats ago back in 2010. Sorry, but it really looked nice and it sure brightened up the interior.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Leave it alone.

Have you ever heard anyone compliment a boat by saying "Oh, The paint interior is so beautiful"?
No, Compliments always refer to the wood.

pete

 

[JohnP]

Your wood looks in very good condition. Painting will give some people the inpression you are covering some water damage. As previously mentioned I would change it up with carpets and soft goods, Maybe a different galley counter and or backsplash would give you a new look. You have a nice boat as is.

 

[Scottwb96]

I've already switched out the floors (carpets) in favor of vinyl laminate plank flooring. Redid the stairs, they were OLD/worn and worst of all, VERY narrow. People were constantly slipping or missing the steps going down.

 

[mvweebles]

I painted inside of my Willard 36 20-years ago with Rustoleum. It only turned out okay - better than the old ply that was there, but pretty clearly a DIY job. I had seen Rustoleum used with good results in commercial boats, but didn't work for me. Problem was probably the painter, not the paint.

If you're dead-set on painting, you may want to find a way to transition from paint to wood. Maybe a horizontal trim-piece of teak just below the lowest window frame. Paint below, leave the wood natural above. Otherwise it can be hard to know where to start/stop the paint. I'd leave the base of the settee natural wood, for example, which would look good against the painted walls.

Not sure I'd take my advice on this one - like I said, my paint job didn't turn out too well. I'm having it all re-done in Formica as we speak. Good riddance to a lousy paint job!

Good luck

Peter

 

[Comodave]

I painted the entire walls, top to bottom. I really liked it and I did get a lot of compliments on it. I guess that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. As to people suspecting that the paint is hiding old leaks, how many boats of the 80s vintage have not had some leaks???

 

[Lou_tribal]

I've already switched out the floors (carpets) in favor of vinyl laminate plank flooring. Redid the stairs, they were OLD/worn and worst of all, VERY narrow. People were constantly slipping or missing the steps going down.

Mind my comment but why to have used a corner radius that shows the underlying of the steps? Would have been nicer to have a smaller radius that hide the square of the step.

(Just a comment no bad intend)

L

 

[Scottwb96]

it was an "oops" in measuring... They are getting fixed (again) this fall/winter. The frickin dog (puppy) ATE my bottom stair the first week we had them in...

 

[Lou_tribal]

Personally (meaning personal taste) I would not paint your wood as it looks nice to me.
Maybe some darker accents here and there to "split" color continuity.

L

 

[Frosty]

Since you asked for thoughts:

I agree that a painted interior can look nice IF it's superbly done. Anything else always looks "meh" to me - and I am not a "wood at all costs" person, even though I like wood.

This probably isn't exactly the thought you were hoping to hear, but I might consider changing the sole. Reason I say that is it's just *more* wood, and also a slightly different wood, which to my eye exaggerates both woods. And even though I know you already did the sole, it'd still probably be easier to change that than to paint the "walls."

OTOH, it's your boat and IMO the world doesn't always need to revolve around re-sale. If you want painted walls, then you should have them. My guess is that an amazing job might reduce your pool of buyers, but not to zero. As Comodave found, there are likely other people who would like the more modern look, and if it reduces your pool of buyers from 500 to 150 that's still potentially tolerable. And those 150 would be really motivated to buy your boat, the modern white one.

In sailboats it's called the Herreshoff look. H was a very good sailboat designer and his interiors were often white, but importantly, always had absolutely beautiful, varnished wood trim all around. But not ALL wood. It defintely had the "meant to be this way" look.

caltexflanc makes a good point in that probably 90% of painted (interior) boats (or classic Shasta birch RV's) I've seen are a relatively sloppy job, and oftentimes were painted to hide damage (and was the source corrected?).

So, nothing conclusive but just a bunch of thoughts.