Paint 27' sailboat

[alcodiesel]

Hello all. My boat is as close to 100% mechanically perfect as I can make it. When I sail I know how sound all the systems are in her. I have a great comfort and confidence level with her. I have always focused on safety and reliability maintaining and she is my last boat which I'll pass down to my kids.

Now I am thinking of her looks. I got an estimate from a highly regarded and recommended fella for 20 grand to paint the entire boat. Of course I was thinking maybe 5k. Is this figure absurd or is it in the ballpark?
Thank you.

 

[Loren Beach]

I have always found that reputable shops price it out (for estimates) by the foot.
If you are concerned about budget, they will sometimes ask you for "distance"... like, ten foot, five foot, or ($$$) one foot. That's the offhand way of describing how far back you need to stand to look at it.

One part paint applications will cost less. Two part LPU costs more. The best LPU products cost even more. Adding a clear coat adds to the total.

A current Awlgrip paint system can use two color coats and 2 or 3 clear coats, which is then buffed out. Proprietary primers are required as well. Great system IF you planning on keeping your boat for another 10+ years of enjoyment.
It's kind of a long scale of durability and looks vs cost.... as you probably know.

Just do not go too cheap - I personally know guys that got a semi-shiny looking LPU finish done by an "intinerant truck painter" and in just a few years it turned dull and dingy.

All that said, I have seen a reasonably good paint job done by amateurs using the "roll and tip" technique and they saved a lot of money by DIY. And when you have a boat with gel coat that is worn away by UV in many places, almost any paint will be a major upgrade.

Good Luck!

Edit: I do not regularly disclose the cost of our "high end" paint job. That's because it was rolled into a complete re-fit, rig, deck, and hull. I could wade thru the labor and parts pages and do some tallying, but I have no regrets and the work was within estimates and some increases came after I was informed and then approved of them. ( Dealing with an honest ship wright was one of he best parts of the project. )
And then, revisiting major expenses to boat, home, or sometimes vehicles --- is not always helpful or sane. As one might put it. As Jimmy
Buffet once wrote about surviving a hurricane: "Breathe in, Breathe out, Move on". Yes, I know, not the same sort of thing, but a useful mantra anyway.

Note B: when you got an estimate for painting the whole boat, did that include the deck also? Who strips off all the hardware? Epoxy fills, re-drills, and then reattaches all the hardware? We did almost all the epoxy and hardware work on our boat, for instance, and saved a lot of money.

 

[Christian Williams]

I think it's possible to learn Awlgrip application, roll and tip, with practice, research and personal resolution. Spray application, for me, would have a real learning curve, but also possible if there's a will and a way. Either way, I'd paint a few dinghies first, for practice.

Considerably easier is one-paint such as Interlux Brightside polyurethane. I have used that a lot on dinghies and Ericson hidden spaces such as lazarette lids, interior hull and even bilge. It doesn't last as long as the multipart paints, but is remarkably shiny and professional looking. And you could repaint five years later, if necessary.

I wouldn't do it now, my urban environment is short on DIY space, and I am no longer 30. But I woulda.

My area has freelance boat painters who when not dodging immigration authorities make very low bids for such work, and can be highly skilled (or willing to do it over if necessary). That's a way to go if you have a place to haul that allows outside contractors.

20K doesn't surprise me. You can't paint a Porsche for that, and an airplane, forgetaboutit.

 

[Frank Langer]

I have personally painted the hull on two boats with one part polyurethane Interlux Brightside, for just the cost of paint, rollers and brushes. Both turned out great, still looked good ten years later. A two part polyurethane is more durable, but much harder to apply well, and is more expensive.
Frank

 

[HerbertFriedman]

I wanted to have my 87 E34's deck painted and got an estimate from a individual who has done several such jobs in our marina. Estimate was $8K and I am not sure how much deck hardware he was going to remove, we have a dodger and bimini, lots of cleans, winches, snaps, etc. but no extensive gelcoat repairs.

I decided to try it myself, spent about $1K in Alexseal paint - much easier and more forgiving with respect to temperature and humidity to mix than Awlgip and somewhat repairable, (primer, two color topcoats, rolllers, etc). In order to save labor, I set aside about two weeks so I could apply successive coats within 24 hours and thus eliminate the day long sanding process between coats. I applied two coats of primer on both the smooth and nonskid areas, then two coats of color on the non skid and two coats of color on the smooth, rolling and tipping for the smooth.

My non slid is molded into the gelcoat so I did not have to apply any "sand" there, the thin coats of primer and paint did not appreciable affect the non skid properties. It aint perfect but many others have remarked that it looks great, certainly good'nf for me.

All told,, I spent about 10 days on the project, so $8000/80 hrs = $100/hr

 

[Christian Williams]

Ericson 38 Deck Paint

My new dock neighbor, Hank Toles*, is refinishing his decks with two-part paint. He had some minor gelcoat wear. As usual the effect is new-boat shiny, and a reminder that old boats can gleam again. *Update 2024: Hank Toles died a few years after the job was finished. The boat has...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[alcodiesel]

Here's his estimate.
Comments please.
Thank you.

 

[Vtonian]

Well, "highly regarded and recommended" should be a qualifier, assuming you trust the source, and per others, painting has a very wide range benefits, attributes, application, and associated prep costs, so for me, if you feel like $20k is worthwhile for your boat, it's entirely possible that's an entirely reasonable price.

I also think I'd get several estimates though. Regardless how good a value this might be, you also might find you could be well satisfied for significsntly less.

 

[alcodiesel]

Thank you all for your comments. You guys are the best. This site is such an amazing resource! Thank you Sean.

 

[Slick470]

A friend painted his Catalina 30 outside in the boat yard with Alexseal using the roll and tip method a few years ago. Turned out surprisingly well. He was happy enough with the process and the end product that he did it again on a dinghy and the transom of a larger powerboat. He mentioned several times that their product support people were great to work with for DIYers.

Like most things painting related, most of the effort was surface prep.

 

[alcodiesel]

Attached is a Pic of this painter's last job. A Tartan 30 I believe. I have reserved a space on the hard next July and August.

 

[Loren Beach]

Beautiful photo! Reminds me of looking at Dan's boat ( https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/kunu-gets-new-awlgrip-hull.2339/ ) which greatly motivated us to paint our boat.

 

[alcodiesel]

The drawing of the 27 is always dark. I wonder how it'd look in the dark blue. I went looking for an example. It appears no one has ever done it.