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Boat Blackening for the first time, tips / brand?


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Hi,

We are going into dry dock for a few days to get some warrenty work done on our new widebeam NB (65x11)

Its only been in the water since November, but thought we may aswell re do the hull (seems as its out of the water anyway)

 

Can anyone reccomend a decent brand of blackening? or are they fairly similar? - and a cheap place to get it.

Also, how much (roughly) would we need?

 

Thanks

 

Toby.

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Having just gone through my first blacking experience, here are some tips:

  • Long handled scrapers like this one are much better for removing old paint than the small stripping knives.
  • We were advised to use a branded paint rather than standard bitumen paint as they have better resistance to pollutants in the canal like deisel spills. We used Rytex and ordered it from BoatPaint.co.uk.
  • Get friends to help with painting, we found with 4 people it only took about an hour to do a coat (60' narrowboat).
  • Bigger brushes are best, although with a 5" brush I needed 2 hands after a while due to the weight of the paint.
  • You can figure out roughly how much you'll need by checking the coverage for the specific product you're using and calculating the surface area of one side:

    Surface area of one side x number of coats x 2 = total area to cover
    total area to cover / coverage per litre = number of litres you'll need
  • It's worth adding a little extra in to the surface area per side so you're confident you'll have enough paint.
  • You'll save a considerable amount of money doing it yourself. The prices i've seen have been from £10-£12.50 per foot + VAT.

If the boat has only been in the water since November then you might find you don't need to bother with blacking for another couple of years but I suppose there is no harm in doing it earlier than necessary.

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Thanks Both,

 

Its a Liverpool / Collingwood, anyone know the brand used? - easier asking on here that actually getting hold of them!

 

Yeah, it doesn't really need doing yet, but as its coming out anyway, thought we could chuck a coat or 2 on, so then it wont have to come out for longer (and cost us for a lift!).

 

Toby.

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Thanks Both,

 

Its a Liverpool / Collingwood, anyone know the brand used? - easier asking on here that actually getting hold of them!

 

Yeah, it doesn't really need doing yet, but as its coming out anyway, thought we could chuck a coat or 2 on, so then it wont have to come out for longer (and cost us for a lift!).

 

Toby.

I'd allow a full day for the first coat to dry, and two, (preferably 3) days for a second coat to dry and cure

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Not sure you'll be able to add "a coat or two" without doing all the usual preparation, including pressure washing.

 

Once you start pressure washing don't expect it to only be the weed growth that comes off - even with recent blacking some patches may quickly be back at bare steel.

 

If that happens you are committed to a minimum of 2 coats.

 

As has been indicated you will need several days (even if under cover), to do this propely - and maybe a lot longer if not under cover.

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We're out of the water (undercover) for 3 days.

 

Mabee its a bit too much, especially as we haven't done it before, and best left til its actually needed in a few years. I thought we could just jet wash it, and chuck an additional coat on whilst we have the chance, so it can stay in the water longer.

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I have a similar boat. Was told to wait about 18months till the hull starts to get slightly rough, so that new blacking has something to grip to. If you paint it too early, it's possible it will come off easily...so something to take into account. Perhaps dont spend a fortune now......I'm planning on waiting a bit till early next year, and then give it an excessive amount of coats.

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We're out of the water (undercover) for 3 days.

 

Mabee its a bit too much, especially as we haven't done it before, and best left til its actually needed in a few years. I thought we could just jet wash it, and chuck an additional coat on whilst we have the chance, so it can stay in the water longer.

A jet washer in my experience is often more than capable of taking of blacking completely that looks fairly sound, and has no visible rust underneath. I have no experience to say what it might do to blacking as new as yours, and it will depend on the original blacking used, how well applied, how powerful the washer and how close you hold it, and for how long.

 

I wouldn't discount the possibilty though that you could end up seeing bare metal, then not have sufficient time to put 2 coats back, with adequate drying time.

 

Leave it alone, I would say!

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I would not hessitate to use Jotun Jotamastic, get a good sand blaster and paint with jotun system, and you don't need to do any thing but small repair where you have scraped it, in 10-20 years, nothing better and cheep in the long run, the ice will not take the paint of

 

I did this on my boat in 19?? oh it is long ago I don't remember the year., still only need a wash of and small repair from lock allergy

 

Jan

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I would not hessitate to use Jotun Jotamastic, get a good sand blaster and paint with jotun system, and you don't need to do any thing but small repair where you have scraped it, in 10-20 years, nothing better and cheep in the long run, the ice will not take the paint of

 

I did this on my boat in 19?? oh it is long ago I don't remember the year., still only need a wash of and small repair from lock allergy

 

Jan

 

Agreed shot blasting and Jotun primers and top coats is the best and most cost effective in the long run , we've applied 6 coats, which has a proven 14 year survival so far on other craft barring scrapes & damage of course.

 

We applied

 

1 x Jotun barrier primer

1 x primer

2 x jotun jotomastic 87

2 x Jotun hard top

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Whilst it is out have a look to see if the bottom plate has been painted . If it hasn't I would definitely give it at least one coat . I realise it will take years to rust through but at some point someone probably not you will appreciate that it was painted . I speak as the owner of a narrowboat almost 30 years old that has the bottom plate painted and was found to have minimum pitting when last surveyed .

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I used Rylards Premium on mine, after scraping & angle grinding the hull then a couple of coats of Fertan rust converter.

 

I was out for a couple of months but the hull took 2/3 weeks as I was letting the coats harden before applying the next.

 

I can also recommend the pressure washer route & the long handled scrapers - made things a LOT easier!

 

James

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