Painting - The Cheap Way

[asianbandit]

My Budget: $100
My Dilemma: See Below

I have recently purchased a 15 foot fiberglass vessel that is in need of major repairs (transom, stringers, floor, and paint). I know how I am going to replace the majority of the stuff thanks to this site, but painting is where I am stuck on. I do not plan on keeping the boat for more than a couple of years and want to put as little money in it as possible until I am able to afford the boat I want.

I need to paint the whole boat, above the water (ATW) and below the water (BTW). I have looked at different types of canned spray paint and 1-part poly?s (automotive paint) applied with a cheap sprayer from Harbor Freights. The boat will be on a trailer and covered 300 days out of the year and only fished in local lakes for 6-8 hours at a time.

What is the cheapest way to paint the boat (ATW & BTW) and make it look decent (no perfect, just decent) in the water for the next couple of years.

I have read that prep is going to be where my time is mainly spent and I am estimating $30-$40 in supplies (sand paper and other materials to prep) for the prep work.

Your feedback is appreciated?

 

[tommays]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

Common paint is not to happy with below the waterline use


You will really have to check some prices as even the most basic auto paint is gonna cost more than 100 dollars for enough to cover the whole boat buy the time you get all the reducers and other stuff




Tommays

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I did mine with rattle cans and I would NOT recommend it. Too much overspray so I'm not pleased with the finish and it took WAY more cans of paint than I anticipated. Take a look at the link in my signature to see the result. For what I ended up spending on spray cans I probably could have had it sprayed at Maaco or something. People on this forum seem to have gotten excellent results with rolled/brushed products.

 

[asianbandit]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

Thanks for the information...I kinda thought the Rattle-can way was not the best way to go. What do you think two quarts of a 1 part-poly (automotive) would run me? I thought it would just be $10-$15 a can.

 

[lexkyboater]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I've got an aluminum boat I'm going to paint with a brush using Pettit boat paint, as it's designed for aluminum, after using aircraft remover to get the old paint off and then wet sand with probably 600 grit. The guy here http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=209913 used rollers to apply Perfection or Brightsides paint. Stokley's Marine outside Lexington that I use has paint other than Pettit that's used for fiberglass and is called yacht enamel. I think it's still rolled/brushed as well. You might have a hard time getting out of all this for under $100.

 

[thunderroad]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

Automotive acrylic enamel varies in price, sometimes even due to the color. Expect to pay at least $25/qt (maybe more) for good quality stuff. You should be able to do the ATW in most any basic color for $75-100 in materials. (Paint, reducer, hardener). DON'T leave out the hardener. It's WELL worth the extra cost. The BTW might be a little more, but not much. Get the good stuff....do a good job. You'll be much happier and it will be easier to sell later. Should you be thinking of one color for the whole boat, just go ahead and get a gallon. It usually costs almost as much for 2 quarts as it does for a gallon.

The hardener, in addition to what the name implies, helps the paint begin it's curing process quicker. This is important in less than perfect painting conditions like dust, humidity, bugs, etc. It's also makes the paint stickier going on, which helps against runs or sags. Lastly, it helps give the finish a nice glossy shine.....and we all like that.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I had an old 10' row boat years ago that was more or less part of the landscaping at a lake front house. It was an aluminum hull with a wood upper deck and seats. It was badly weathered and came with the property. It still floated with very few leaks so I decided to paint it just so it wouldn't be such an eyesore sitting at the edge of the lake. I use the same epoxy based floor paint that I had done my garage with, I had both some off white and some blue left over from the garage floor, so I used that on the boat, figuring that anything was better than the peeling, flaking red and silver paint that was on it.
I simply wire brushed and sanded off the loose paint and coated it in blue and white. I hadn't ever really intended to use the boat much, it was more for decor. But it came out really nice, far better than I had ever expected. The oars were decent and I did occasionally use it on the lake. I had it for another 9 years, it sat out year round and I occasionally dumped the rain out. That paint held up great. I left the boat for the next owner when I moved, it's still probably being used. The paint was either Rustoleum or what ever the the local Home depot was selling at that time. It was a two part epoxy paint. I plan to repaint a boat I have here and will use the same stuff again, it not only held up well but helped to seal any small leaks around the rivets and seams.

 

[lexkyboater]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I think I paid around $25 for the can of pettit's for my 14 foot aluminum boat, and the yacht enamel was the same price. And it's designed to stick to the boats and water friction won't take it off. Not sure if the Home Depot paint would do as well or not? Maybe it would be okay, and you might get it for a few bucks cheaper. I know they say that epoxy paint is okay to use on boats, but just not sure how well it sticks under water and with friction when you've got a motor pushing it 20 mph or faster.

For upper decks on a fiberglass boat they recommend polyeurethane paint like Dupont's Imron (per local boat builder) and clear coat over that. That's if you want a metal flake paint. That said, I'd be very nervous about spraying anything besides gel coat on a boat hull. I'd have no problem spraying polyeurethane on the deck however, since it's not under water. Also, I personally would never spray gel coat over existing gel coat, as it's extremely time consuming and I understand difficult to do. You will sand forever. If you have it re-gel coated, it will cost thousands because of mostly the labor to hand sand it all. The best won't use any power tools, and will hand sand the whole thing. It takes weeks. The boat manufacturers spray gel and poly flake into a mold and then use a chopper gun to spray fiberglass which seals out the air and allows the gel to harden. Since you can't really do that with a boat that's not being built, you spray a water-soluable sealer (PVA?) after spraying gel to get it to harden since it won't harden aerobically, it has to be sealed from the air.

After all that rambling, it seems like it would be cheaper and easier to just roll some Yacht Enamel and be done with it. It's a flat paint, but it's cheap and easy. That's after a healthy amount of sanding to get everything level, and go with about 400 grit wet-sanded so the new paint adheres well. For another $30 you could seal that paint with some Nylene, which is a brush-on top coat kind of like clear gel coat that will last 7 years and gives you a nice finish. The Nylene may only be available from Stokley's Marine in Nicholasville, KY, but they ship it all over the country and it's good stuff. They use it on yachts for a finish and it's self-leveling. Maybe thunderroad has done this before, but I'd be curious if that acrylic enamel holds up under the water?

I guess my rule is to use marine products whenever possible. If it's not for sale at the marine shop, you should ask yourself why. Maybe a substitute will hold up, but only if someone has tried it and verifies it - experience from thunderroad and imported_reelfishin is definitely valuable. It still makes me nervous though.

 

[flashback]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I believe, for the money, that a gal. of rustoleum, mohair roller, and a good brush, you will be best off..IMHO

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

Lots of sanding
1 qt of interlux prime coat not pre........35
2. quarts of interlux bright side..........60
3. get these roller's http://www.kpg-industrial.com/products/quick_solutions_premium_minirollers/ 4.00 apeice
5 wanna really go cheap skip the prime and just do the paint, it will be cheap but with prep work it can look amazing
6. use one roller to roll out the paint, after two or 3 mins take a dry roller with no paint and go back and flatten the bubble's ( more commonly called tipping) ..

Opp's little side note try to get on the sanding after 24 hour's, interlux paint's get very hard after a couple of day and they become a b@tch to sand smooth..

 

[sdunt]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

IMHO is you are not building a show boat, a quart of Valspar equipment enamel will work just fine.. I bought a quart of Valspar Enamel Tractor paint at the farm store, painted the above the water line with a brush and it looks good enough for me:

 

[Steve Mahler]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I second the Valspar. I have a 15' boat I bought for 100 bucks (hull only) and at $9/qt plus hardener, the Valspar has done well for me. I did two boats, one with a cheap air gun from Harbor Frieght, the second tip and roll. I personally like painting by hand, less noise and mess, but the spray method leaves a slightly smoother finish. Anyhow, both boats look great from 10 feet or more, and nothing has worn off in the water this summer....

 

[MikDee]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I did mine with rattle cans and I would NOT recommend it. Too much overspray so I'm not pleased with the finish and it took WAY more cans of paint than I anticipated. Take a look at the link in my signature to see the result. For what I ended up spending on spray cans I probably could have had it sprayed at Maaco or something. People on this forum seem to have gotten excellent results with rolled/brushed products.

Hey man, It looks good, but you're supposed to go over that canned spray paint with white polishing compound (by hand), and it will even out the overspray, & gloss, and leave you with a nice smooth even finish to then wax, or polish.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

IMHO is you are not building a show boat, a quart of Valspar equipment enamel will work just fine.. I bought a quart of Valspar Enamel Tractor paint at the farm store, painted the above the water line with a brush and it looks good enough for me:

Im sorry, what i was trying to communicate is how very simple it is to use brightsides, Using those roller's you can turn out a top quality finish in what 45 min's and a very hard finish at that.........And oh by the way yes you can also take some time and the common guy can turn out a show quality finish too...

Get Err Done can mean many thing's......

 

[thunderroad]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I've never painted the very bottom of a hull with acrylic enamel but I painted this area of my boat with Dupont Nason (their cheapest acry. enam) in March of 04
I run in the Missouri River 90% of the time, so it's subjected to lots of sand and the occasional stick. It's still just as bright and tight as the paint on the deck. He was looking for something easy and cheap that would look good for a few years. This is the 4th season for my driveway paint job and I have no doubt that it will last as long as I own the boat....and I have no plans to get rid of it.
I take the "Marine only" stuff seriously when it concerns safety items and drive components..but I don't buy into all the hype.

 

[asianbandit]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I second the Valspar. I have a 15' boat I bought for 100 bucks (hull only) and at $9/qt plus hardener, the Valspar has done well for me. I did two boats, one with a cheap air gun from Harbor Frieght, the second tip and roll. I personally like painting by hand, less noise and mess, but the spray method leaves a slightly smoother finish. Anyhow, both boats look great from 10 feet or more, and nothing has worn off in the water this summer....

This is great information, thanks SDUNT & Steve. I will research on Valspar and find out where I can get it from. Does it come in many colors?

 

[sdunt]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I actually used Valspar Tractor Enamel. I though as long as tractors sit outside this has got to work on a boat..

Store Locator on this page: http://www.valsparglobal.com/val/resident/valspar_imp.jsp

Colors:
Allis Chalmers Orange
Equipment Yellow
Ford Blue
Ford Gray
Ford Red
Gloss Black
Gloss White
International Harvester Red
International Harvester White
John Deere Green
John Deere Yellow
Kubota Orange
Low Gloss Black
Massey Ferguson Gray
Massey Ferguson Red
New Holland Red
New Holland Yellow
Oliver Green
Transport Yellow

Available in quarts, gallons and sprays.

 

[BigNiner19]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

Paint will not last or look good without the prep work. I understand the money saving outlook you have. Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I purchased a 15 ft center console fishing boat a few months ago. It was really cheap and needs a bunch of cosmetic work. I figured I would clean it up, and use it a little...and then go buy a boat that is a little wider and more of what I want. I spent around $300 on paint supplies. But I got all interlux premium paint. I figured $300 on good paint and paint supplies to do the prep work right is not a far cry to make something look really good.

Those on this forum that saw the pictures of my boat when I was done could not believe how well it came out and that it was so cheap and affordable to do..

Good Luck

Cory

 

[asianbandit]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

actually used Valspar Tractor Enamel. I though as long as tractors sit outside this has got to work on a boat..

Store Locator on this page: http://www.valsparglobal.com/val/res...alspar_imp.jsp

Thanks for the link, I Googled it and found the same link. Just found a tractor Supply Co. up the road from work that has it in stock for $9 a quart and $26 a gallon. they only have 5-6 colors in stock.

Do I need to prime with anything before-hand? They sell a Valspar Oil Metal Primer but I do not think that will work on fiberglass.

Or do i just need to scuff up the gel-coat with sand-paper and then paint?

 

[fishingdan]

Re: Painting - The Cheap Way

I second the vote for Brightsides, Petit easypoxy, epifanes monothane, or any of the marine 1-part paints. They are designed for roll and tip application (they tip out extremely well). The finish is glossy. For your intended use, you can use it ATW and BTW. If it will be in the water more than 2-3 days, then you need an alternative plan for BTW.

Assuming proper prep, you will get a good 3-4 years out of these paints.