Wrap or paint the hull?

[bshillam]

Looking at a boat that has most of the list. However it's the wrong color. I am wondering what the general consensus is on hull paint vs vinyl to change the hull color? I am looking close to the 30' range and would only need to address the hull color only. Have you wrapped or painted your hull? What was your experience and what was the cost?

 

[Comodave]

Pau Hana wrapped his boat a year or so ago. You might PM him.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I rolled and tipped my Albin. Cost just the cost of the paint.

IMHO it looks great. Especially if you give it 10 feet.

pete

 

[Comodave]

We painted our boat but we sprayed it. Looks great but it was a ton of work. All the work is in the prep.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. bs. I vote for dazzle (wrap) paint. Here's PT 170, for example...

 

[LenBuchanan]

We rolled and tipped our first boat, which was a sailboat. 26ft Balboa. Used a 150 grit sandpaper to sand the hull, ensured it was wiped clean multiple times, then used EasyPoxy by Petit. After the first coat, light sanding, then wiped clean multiple times, then roll and tip the second coat. Labor wasn't horrible and only real cost was the paint and "REALLY" good brushes to tip with. It was by no means an 'Awlgrip' style job, but it looked pretty good.

 

[fgarriso]

We roll and tip our boat. Not as smooth as a spray job, but not as expensive.

 

[Comodave]

Check out Boatworks Today. He does a lot of painting with Alexseal and they have an additive that allows rolling without the tipping. It looks pretty nice. No affiliation.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I forgot to mention that prep is the key. The hull must be really clean. I bought real TSP off of eBay, washed carefully, rinsed with vinegar water.

I used petit easypoxy, one part white. hi gloss

pete

 

[tiltrider1]

Lets assume you are not interested in DIY.

Painting the boat costs more and it lasts longer.

Wrapping the boat gives you more design freedom if you want more than a solid color.

If you plan to keep the boat for less than 10 years then wrapping makes sense. The color is not right for you but it gives you options when you go to sell.

If you plan to keep the boat for more than 10 years you will either need to wrap it twice or spend the extra money up front and paint it once.

I am assuming you are talking about the hull only. I have not seen what it costs to Wrap the upper structure of a boat.

 

[koliver]

I forgot to mention that prep is the key. The hull must be really clean. I bought real TSP off of eBay, washed carefully, rinsed with vinegar water.

I used petit easypoxy, one part white. hi gloss

pete

When I painted mine, last summer, I had that yellow mustache on the bow, so I washed the hull with toilet bowl cleaner. No other washing was required, as that has HCL in it, so takes everything off, then rinse with clean water and when dry, no other cleaning is required.
I also used Petit EasyPoxy, white, which made the job a little more difficult, as it is very white, and the clean but faded gelcoat had faded to exactly the same shade of white. I used a good brush, no rolling, and it turned out better than I expected, good at 6 ft or closer.

 

[Simi 60]

Seen plenty of great wraps done and know several who have by ad it done who also build boats , so know all about the excessive prep, masking off and tenting up, who said they would never paint again given time and cost savings of wraps.

These are on 40+ft vessels

 

[Southern Boater]

Check out Boatworks Today. He does a lot of painting with Alexseal and they have an additive that allows rolling without the tipping. It looks pretty nice. No affiliation.

Although Andy makes it very clear of his association with Alexseal and Total Boat, he doesn’t put down other brands.
I have to admit, initially I didn’t like his presentation style, thought he spoke too much and didn’t get on with it, but I’ve worked out he really is trying to explain the complex stages to get things right, emphasising the prep work extensively. His channel is a real bonus to those wanting to DIY properly.

 

[FF]

If the boat is going cruising, paint is (behind brushed aluminum) the easiest to touch up.

 

[REO]

Do it yourself wrap

We wrapped our Silverton 36 ourselves. It took a few days and was not very difficult. It may not be as long lasting, but the end result looked as good as any paint job from near or far and the cost was a lot less.

 

[motion30]

I have a friend who recently wrapped their sailboat, it is quick and relatively inexpensive. They live on the hook most of the time. It's been about 2 months. Yesterday was their first trip to tie up on the dock.... Guess what? They put a bruise on the wrap. Hopefully it will be easy to repair

 

[Comodave]

It is supposed to be fairly easy to repair a wrap. Just stick a piece over the damage is what I have read.

 

[REO]

wrap repair

We did a bo bo when docking. I just cut a small piece of vinyl wrap and put it over the scratch. If you know where to look you can see it. It can not be seen if you are 5 feet away.

 

[dwhatty]

Oh, my eyes!

Greetings,
Mr. bs. I vote for dazzle (wrap) paint. Here's PT 170, for example...

 

[SIBERNUT]

I'd like to wrap the stern of a 30' trawler. Did a wrap/transom before, not scared. If anyone has done a transom wrap, did you do anything special where it ends on the sides to "seal" it ?

 

[REO]

You can buy edge seal clear "paint". It is intended for places like under a wheel well on a car. I tried it and it seems to be good. It is kind of thick and makes a little bump of plastic sealant. I got mine at Fedders.

 

[SIBERNUT]

Last boat i did had 2" SS bands at the stern sides. Hid it under those. I think that would look out of place.
Tks for the reply/info

 

[SIBERNUT]

Tks for the tip, called & got it added to the order. I finally hpt it from "metro restyling" in michigan.
4ftx12ft for $300, 3M di-noc. Everybody else was.over a thou same stuff. People got big grapes

 

[Greg QS]

I have commercial trucks and trailers. The trailers have wraps. I have gotten wrinkles and the wrap is much more easily damaged than the paint. I think the Dock rash will be greater on the wrap. Paint is simply more durable. With the new teck , alexseal , is roll only and looks better than most spray jobs. Check out Boatworks today. Look for the green boat. My boat came out Awesome. I had multiple people wanted me to paint there boats. 1st one for me. If they only Knew. LOL

 

[OA486AGC]

Bumping this up.....we are thinking about wrapping our boat rather than paint. Anyone have any great hull designs or place to see some? Have googled and seen quite a few but wanted to ping this crowd and see what you all may have to share...

One photo is a hull with navy and red which my wife likes, and the other is a photo of our hull right now in white....48' Ocean Alexander.

 

[Southern Boater]

From my experience with the lower priced wraps, the darker colours will crack and flake after about five years on the side that is exposed to a north-eastern UV/sun, while the light colours are holding up well, egg shell blue to white.
This is a commercial boat, so only wrapped from deck level up, too much contact with pontoon fendering to consider anything lower.

 

[Adopo]

I wonder if you can get the wrap in teak or mahogany to take the place of varnishing? I have seen Flemings product called "Burr Wood" that is synthetic teak or mahogany covering boards in the cockpit and deck cap.

 

[Mako]

How about a custom paint job like this if you want the look of teak, whether it's on your hull or misc parts