Low VOC bilge paint?

[Dougcole]

I need to paint my engine room and bilge. I've used bilgecoat on another boat with good results, but I am concerned about the fumes.



Our boat is six hours away from our home, so when I work on it, I stay aboard. It's a multi coat process, not a one day deal, so I am not sure how I would get this done.


I follow a thread on the hull truth where a guy is rebuilding (and doing a beautiful job) an old Bertram. He swears by Rustoleum Rust Stop, which is low VOC. anybody used it? It looks to me that unlike bilgecoat it can also be tinted, which is good because I would like to match the original color Mainship used.


Anybody tried it or have other suggestions?


Thanks,
Doug

 

[Bmarler]

I need to paint my engine room and bilge. I've used bilgecoat on another boat with good results, but I am concerned about the fumes.



Our boat is six hours away from our home, so when I work on it, I stay aboard. It's a multi coat process, not a one day deal, so I am not sure how I would get this done.


I follow a thread on the hull truth where a guy is rebuilding (and doing a beautiful job) an old Bertram. He swears by Rustoleum Rust Stop, which is low VOC. anybody used it? It looks to me that unlike bilgecoat it can also be tinted, which is good because I would like to match the original color Mainship used.


Anybody tried it or have other suggestions?


Thanks,
Doug

I used it on my steel boat. Really liked it. It still has some fumes though, so take precautions.
When I get around to detailing the bilge on my glass boat I’ll most likely use an epoxy.

 

[sean9c]

Hard to think of a better paint than Interlux BilgeKote. I'd just ventilate and where a respirator.

 

[Comodave]

Hard to think of a better paint than Interlux BilgeKote. I'd just ventilate and where a respirator.

That is what I do. Several fans and open some doors and windows.

 

[Dougcole]

Thanks for the replies, but I need to stay aboard the boat while I work on it. I can’t sleep in a respirator.

 

[Portage_Bay]

I've had to liveaboard while using toxic coatings. I masked off the work area with tape and visqueen. Same for the sleeping area. I set up fan(s) to suck from the work area to the exterior. Suction is key to not push fumes into the inhabited space.. Some creativity with tape, cardboard and visqueen required. I didn't eat meals aboard. It worked out OK in a must-do scenario.

Sent from my SM-A125U using Trawler Forum mobile app

 

[Dougcole]

I've had to liveaboard while using toxic coatings. I masked off the work area with tape and visqueen. Same for the sleeping area. I set up fan(s) to suck from the work area to the exterior. Suction is key to not push fumes into the inhabited space.. Some creativity with tape, cardboard and visqueen required. I didn't eat meals aboard. It worked out OK in a must-do scenario.

Sent from my SM-A125U using Trawler Forum mobile app

Thanks. Those are great ideas. Access to the ER is through a large hatch in the floor of the main salon, it would be easy to tape it off and run the blower. I could also set up a box fan on the outside of the boat next to the ER vent pulling air out.

 

[Comodave]

On a 46’ trawler we used to own I did spray painting with one part polyurethane paint, talk about fumes. I lived aboard during the painting. I just masked off the salon that I was painting and used fans to extract the fumes. I did have to used a forced air respirator when I was spraying.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. D. I have used a water based 2 part epoxy made by Devoe. VERY little noticeable odour and water clean-up. I painted the inside of the anchor locker and various other interiors of cupboards/cabinets/hull about 5 or 6 years ago. Didn't do ER bilges but DID do two sections of forward bilge. Still well stuck when we sold the boat this past spring. Cured hard and shiny.

One of the reasons I used this product was on advice of a Devoe paint rep who said this particular product was used in meat lockers (cool and damp) with success.
Of course, I can't remember the product #'s at all (not surprising given my rapidly diminishing mental capacities).

Only came in a limited number of colours but I think it could be tinted.