Painting Deck and Hull [Master Thread]

[1911tex]

I hope is is paid by the job, not hour !

 

[David Grimm]

Wow. Two weeks every day! He's a professional and the weather is always perfect. It would take months here in New York just to get two weeks of good weather. It looks great. Very tempting.

 

[Christian Williams]

Yes, weather a huge factor. He's had rain delays, too--probably started three weeks ago. That's what makes this particular job so daunting to me. Often here when it's sunny in spring, it's also windy.

 

[supersailor]

The actual spraying or painting doesn't take long. It's the prep to make it a great job that's the killer. One doesn't just slap a coat of paint on. Wind is a huge enemy. You can avoid it generally by painting in the morning but then humidity is the enemy. Patience is highly rewarded even if it cuts into the sailing season.

 

[HerbertFriedman]

Christian, I am curious, which did the painter paint first, the non skid or the smooth part? If he did the non skid first, I see no problem with taping the smooth part but then to paint the smooth part, he would have to tape the non skid, which is rough. So if that was the sequence, I am amazed that the painter got such a sharp outline on the smooth part, I would have guessed that paint from the smooth part would have bled underneath the tape on the rough part. Also do you know how many primer coats he used?

Also, preparing the smooth surface by sanding and then clean up is clear but how did the painter prep the non skid? He certainly did not sand the non skid surface smooth. The "stuff" he sprinkled on the non skid did not fill up the checkered pattern of the non skid. Do you know what and how he used it?

 

[Christian Williams]

He did the gelcoat first, then re-taped for the nonskid. The "stuff" appeared to be granules of small rubber-like material sprinkled onto the paint--possibly on the first coat. I would have liked to hook the painter up to a brain machine and download his experience into my own filing cabinet, but after a while even a reasonably friendly fellow does recoil from my interviewing technique, and after I almost made him spill his paint pots I decided to back off.

Hank Toles, the new owner of the boat, says he is or was a member here. Eventually perhaps he'll fill us all in.

 

[Tin Kicker]

The "stuff" appeared to be granules of small rubber-like material sprinkled onto the paint--possibly on the first coat.

Rubber soft sand and how to use it:

 

[HerbertFriedman]

Thanks for the clarification, that is the way I would have done it also. No need to tape the nonskid when you are painting the smooth (gel coat) part, or if you do tape the non skid and a little paint leaks under the tape, since the non skid is so rough, no problem. That is the way I did my old Bristol 22 many years ago, using an early two part paint, not Alwgrip but I recall one made either by Interlux or Petit, but not Perfection either. Problem I had was that when I went to tape the smooth part (to paint the non skid), some paint came off when I removed the tape, i.e. the adhesion was quote poor. Probably my fault in shoddy preparation.

But that brings on another question, how did the painter prep the non skid, obviously he did not sand the non skid smooth. Any idea what he did on the non skid?

 

[Loren Beach]

I know a boat wright who does LPU painting on hulls and decks. He *always* sands the old frp non skid flat. Then he and the owner layout the non skid *perimeters, and then he paints with an abrasive layer, to the customer's wishes. I believe that, when asked, he has done some KiwiGrip, also.

*Note that this always involves re-bedding with epoxied holes all of the deck hardware. More time, but the coring is permanently protected, and the owners usually do a lot of the labor to save money.

 

[supersailor]

Kiwigrip good stuff but I would really hate to lose that beautiful non-skid that Ericson put on.

 

[HerbertFriedman]

I agree that the Ericson non skid pattern is great but then my question again, is how do you prepare the (checkered) Ericson non skid. Is a (brass) wire brush with solvent sufficient? And from the photo of the boat next to Christian's, not all of the hardware was removed, i.e. at least the stanchions were still in place and taped up? I would love to remove the stanchions and re bed them but that vinyl headliner is in the way and getting to the nuts for the genoa track is also a pain. Those zippers are never where you want them even if they still do work.

 

[1911tex]

He did the gel coat first, then re-taped for the nonskid. The "stuff" appeared to be granules of small rubber-like material sprinkled onto the paint--possibly on the first coat. I would have liked to hook the painter up to a brain machine and download his experience into my own filing cabinet, but after a while even a reasonably friendly fellow does recoil from my interviewing technique, and after I almost made him spill his paint pots I decided to back off.

Hank Toles, the new owner of the boat, says he is or was a member here. Eventually perhaps he'll fill us all in.

SIDEBAR:
CHRISTIAN, SIDEBAR: Just viewed "Last day for the Duration".....
Full sympathy for all of us.....Salud! Until the next time.......

 

[supersailor]

Herb, What I did was use a circular electric polisher with a soft pad and rubbing compound. You need to keep the speed of the pad low or you will have a total mess. It worked for me, though. The painting was done in 2011 and it still looks new (except for the dirt on the deck at the moment). The wife did think my clothes were yukky at the end of the day.

 

[LeifThor]

I agree that the Ericson non skid pattern is great but then my question again, is how do you prepare the (checkered) Ericson non skid. Is a (brass) wire brush with solvent sufficient? And from the photo of the boat next to Christian's, not all of the hardware was removed, i.e. at least the stanchions were still in place and taped up? I would love to remove the stanchions and re bed them but that vinyl headliner is in the way and getting to the nuts for the genoa track is also a pain. Those zippers are never where you want them even if they still do work.

What was your solution for sanding the checkered non-skid grooves prior to painting?? Thanks!

 

[HerbertFriedman]

Christian, I am curious about a comment you made, "paint the non skid first". I can see that you can tape the smooth areas really well to get a sharp line for the non skid but not sure how the second step works out? If you try to tape the non skid, I can see that paint will seep underneath the tape due to the roughness of the non skid surface. I am sure you could "over" paint the non skid, i.e. include say a 1/4" smooth section surrounding all the non skid patches so that once that over painted non skid cures, you could then successfully tape the non skid areas. Of course if you paint the non skid with the same color as the smooth, the problem goes away.

 

[Christian Williams]

It's not my boat, I've just been a close observer of the job.

If you look at the photo in Message #14, it shows that he painted the decks first, and then taped for the nonskid.

The finished job really looks good. But it reminds me of an aquaintance who had all the hardwood floors in his house redone, to spectacular result. "Yeah but it makes the rest of the house look like crap," he said.

 

[HerbertFriedman]

Thanks for the clarification, that is what I expected. Turns out on my E34, the non skid is painted a shade to the tan versus the smooth area which is essentially pure white. But there is a few non skid patches under the dodger that are painted the same white as the smooth areas leading me to believe that some PO painted the non skid. Also evidence is that those non skid areas have the paint extend just a bit (~1/4") into the smooth areas to make taping easier.

I am looking at several painters who do boats in my marina but they all seem to do just Awlgrip, R&T even though according to Awlgrip, only spraying is advised. Another problem with Awlgrip is that is it not easily repaired whereas Alexseal supposedly is.

 

[racushman]

FWIW, Dan Spur's book This Old Boat has a fabulous chapter covering how to refinish topsides and decks. His recommendation is Awlgrip and the roll and tip method. The key to getting the right finish and flow is all in the thinning. He has a really cool system where he uses an old piece of glass to test each batch until it's right. This book has become my definitive guide to restoring my O34. I can't recommend it enough. Available on Amazon.

 

[Rhett_m]

This is an old thread, but it’s spring time and I’m back to boat projects. Last summer I painted my cockpit using awlgrip roll and tip method. It’s really not that complicated, you have to pick your application windows and take your time. I would start early on the morning and sand the prior coat with 220, then wipe down( not using any solvents,) tack cloth it, and apply another coat. It helps having two people, but I’ve done a fair amount by myself. I’m now prepping to paint the topside with awlgrip. I’ll post some pictures of the process.

 

[southofvictor]

This is an old thread, but it’s spring time and I’m back to boat projects. Last summer I painted my cockpit using awlgrip roll and tip method. It’s really not that complicated, you have to pick your application windows and take your time. I would start early on the morning and sand the prior coat with 220, then wipe down( not using any solvents,) tack cloth it, and apply another coat. It helps having two people, but I’ve done a fair amount by myself. I’m now prepping to paint the topside with awlgrip. I’ll post some pictures of the process.

Looks great, nice action shot!