Painting a Narrow Boat DIY

[Rufio197]

Hi All,

 

I am new to the forums and new to the world of Narrowboats,

 

I have recently procured a 62ft narrowboat that needs a lick of paint, I'm quite handy with a paintbrush (and modest too) and have decided to do the lot myself, she is already coated in a red primer so just a few coats to go...

 

My main question is, what is there any difference between Paint for narrow boats and standard Metal Gloss, Or to phrase it another way, whats the most cost effective option?

 

~Any help you can give me would be very welcome.

[stuart]

You'll find that there are people who will recommend either "boat paint" or bog-standard Dulux - and each will sing their praises.

 

If cost is an issue, I'd use Dulux Weathershield - I did on my boat 4 years ago and havent had a problem with it so far.

[ChrisPy]

I found that there are 2 grades of Dulux Weathershield. The paint marked 'Trade' is about 80% more expensive than the basic. A decorator told me that there is a big difference in quality.

[Rufio197]

You'll find that there are people who will recommend either "boat paint" or bog-standard Dulux - and each will sing their praises.

 

If cost is an issue, I'd use Dulux Weathershield - I did on my boat 4 years ago and havent had a problem with it so far.

 

Thanks for the reply,

 

Cost isn't really an issue as I will be saving a fair bit anyway by doing it myself.

[Grace and Favour]

Hi All,

 

I am new to the forums and new to the world of Narrowboats,

 

I have recently procured a 62ft narrowboat that needs a lick of paint, I'm quite handy with a paintbrush (and modest too) and have decided to do the lot myself, she is already coated in a red primer so just a few coats to go...

 

My main question is, what is there any difference between Paint for narrow boats and standard Metal Gloss, Or to phrase it another way, whats the most cost effective option?

 

~Any help you can give me would be very welcome.

 

I gues it depends upon what you mean as 'cost-effective'!

Is that 'lowest outlay'

or 'cheapest over two years'

or 'cheapest irrespective of finish'

or 'best result/finish' over 8 years?

 

and, please heed the principle: The quality of the final coat depends substantially upon the quality of the previous coats

[Lady Muck]

You'll find that there are people who will recommend either "boat paint" or bog-standard Dulux - and each will sing their praises.

 

If cost is an issue, I'd use Dulux Weathershield - I did on my boat 4 years ago and havent had a problem with it so far.

 

All of the boats in my marina have DIY paint jobs. General consensus is that Hammerite isn't great, too brittle and starts to chip off the decks after less than a year. My neighbour used Dulux weathershield and it is still as glossy and bright a year on. My other neighbour uses jcb paint (whatever that is), not shiny but does seem to last.

 

We have used 'boat paint' but it remains to be seen whether it will stay shiny or not.

[stuart]

jcb paint (whatever that is)

 

What about if the OP doesnt want yellow ? :-)

[kitman]

HI welcome to the forum and all that

 

I paint professionally so I've used all the main brands at some point or another. All the brands are very similar in many ways and are equally more or less as good as each other. Cost wise they all hover around £25.00 per litre rrp. As far as I am aware cheaper brands available, although I dont think they are specific to the marine industry.

 

The main brands for narrowboats are: Mason's, Craftmaster, Epifanes, International, Rylard, Blakes and Rapid Narrowboat Paint. All these paints require modifying by the painter to get them to flow better when painting a cabin side, with perhaps the exception of Craftmaster's new formula which requires little or no modifying and can be used straight out of the tin.

 

Getting the paint to work for you can depend on a number of variables such as the flow rate, ambient temperature, weather conditions, humidity, type of brush, preparation etc. There are alot of people who think 'if you piss then you can paint', well I can tell you that this doesnt apply to brush painting boats! Paint problems can include drips, sags, drag marks, dull patches, chalky areas, fish eyes, blooms, elephant skin, flaking, bubbling and others. Some of these problems are cosmetic only, some are more serious because they compromise the efficiency of the protective coating. Most are caused by lack of experience. (or bad luck!)

 

I'm not talking about you specfically Rufio197, but if someone has very little experience of boat painting then it is possible that they may encounter the aforementioned problems and end up with a poor paint job that wont last. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying boat painting is rocket science, but it can be tricky at first.

 

So if this is the first boat you have painted then you may want to use cheaper paint. That way you wont have wasted aload of money on paint if it ends up falling off in 6 months.

[Rufio197]

I gues it depends upon what you mean as 'cost-effective'!

Is that 'lowest outlay'

or 'cheapest over two years'

or 'cheapest irrespective of finish'

or 'best result/finish' over 8 years?

 

and, please heed the principle: The quality of the final coat depends substantially upon the quality of the previous coats

 

By Cost effective I really meant a combination of all the things you have mentioned,

 

The only reason I ask is 'Boat Paint' retails at £20 -£30 per litre whereas I have seen Standard exterior Paint (Like Dulux weather shield) retail at £12 per litre. It just feels like a bit of a rip off if Dulux will do the job. Actual outlay isn't overly important, the quality\durability of the paint is. If it turns out that 'Boat paint' will last signifcantly longer then that is the route I will go down.

 

I am fully aware that the overall finish will reflect on me as well as the paint so I will not be shirking on preparation and careful application.

[alan_fincher]

............she is already coated in a red primer so just a few coats to go...

 

A word of warning.

 

Not all primers are weatherproof, and with many, if a boat is left in primer for very long at all, it will be penetrated, and rust start to blister through.

 

(The canals are lines with sail-away boats still in the primer put on by their builders, but tinged heavily with rust streaks).

 

If the steel under your primer has been compromised, just adding undercoat and gloss coats on top will probably result in something that starts to go wrong very quickly indeed.

 

Lets hope your red primer is more waterproof ?

[the grinch]

for my boat i've always used international (colours that i wanted!) or blakes both equally as good, for everything else Locks, bridges and houses i've always used Wickes trade paints and again always had good long lasting paint job.

[twbm]

Something else to think about is maybe picking colours that are identified by 'RAL' numbers, so you can repeat them in the future if you wish.

 

And I think everyone you talk to about paint will tell you that reds can be a pain in the arse, often being near translucent and needing extra coats. I expect some of the experts / professionals will have favorite brands that give better cover.

[Christine]

I know b***er all about painting a narrowboat but I was impressed by this video: (it has been posted before)

 

[DHutch]

 

 

My other neighbour uses jcb paint (whatever that is), not shiny but does seem to last...

JCB use various paints around the group, but a lot of the wet-spray used at the moment is a two pack polyurethane, which is what we use on emilyanne.
- Certainly it is softer and maintains a far lower gloss than a more conventional gloss enamel paint, but it adheres well and is very durable indeed.
- We use leighs paints (bolton) as I have mentioned many times in the past, and we are yet to be disappointed for our usage. Comes 5l at a time.


Daniel

[leolady too]

One word of warning with Mason's paint. They no longer do any undercoat. They sell primer which is very high build but from my experience very difficult to use. You can brush it but it's designed for spraying. Also, the thinner/brush cleaner is NOT white spirit (I think it's based on xylene) as I know by the loss of an expensive new Purdy brush. I've used the primer and would definitely not do so again (I've got an unopened 4.75l tin if anyone wants it). The brushing top coat is fine and I've had excellent (for an amateur) results with it.

 

I've changed over to craftmaster for primer, undercoat and topcoat and must say it is easy (well easyish, I don't think painting a boat and getting a good result is easy at all whatever paint you use) to use.

 

As to price and value for money I generally go with the old adage "you get what you pay for". There is such a thing as a bargain but mostly the adage holds true.

 

I have found repainting a very time consuming and difficult job, albeit tremenously satisfying. I was told by a pro that he was taught "you won't improve the surface by painting", in otherwords it's all in the preparation. If you see imperfections before you paint you'll definitely see them afterwards, probably they'll be more noticeable. As you spend so much time getting the surface right, I wouldn't skimp on the last process of putting the paint on.

 

Just my view FWIW

[Lady Muck]

One word of warning with Mason's paint. They no longer do any undercoat. They sell primer which is very high build but from my experience very difficult to use. You can brush it but it's designed for spraying. Also, the thinner/brush cleaner is NOT white spirit (I think it's based on xylene) as I know by the loss of an expensive new Purdy brush. I've used the primer and would definitely not do so again (I've got an unopened 4.75l tin if anyone wants it). The brushing top coat is fine and I've had excellent (for an amateur) results with it.

 

Interesting. We had one tin of Masons primer (bought a couple of years ago) and Uxbridge Boat Centre couldn't get anymore for us, so we did the sides in Craftsmaster undercoat, having used the Masons primer on the roof. We have used rollers for almost all the undercoat and we didn't have any problems with it, it has gone on very flat and smooth. We can't claim to be pros, but this is the seventh boat our friend has helped to paint (we have seen the other boats he has done) and he sometimes helps at the drydock (which my other friend runs). It did take us three whole days to sand the roof and we put four coats of primer on.

 

We have also used rollers for the topcoat (5 coats on the red panels!) , but the signwriter has done the very final brushing of the final coat with his very expensive brush.

 

Our main observations: we used more rollers and trays than you ever imagined possible. Many thin coats are needed. Owatrol is a godsend. Signwriting (well from our man) is not much more expensive than vinyl and looks so much nicer.

 

I found that there are 2 grades of Dulux Weathershield. The paint marked 'Trade' is about 80% more expensive than the basic. A decorator told me that there is a big difference in quality.

 

That's interesting, I suspect my neighbour used the trade version, as he paid someone to do it. I have to say, it looks wonderful.

Edited July 23, 2010 by Lady Muck

[Derek R.]

No-one has mentioned Tekaloid. With added Owatrol I've used and found it top notch.

Some good tips HERE.

 

Derek

[WotEver]

I painted a Mini in Tekaloid once... and very nice it looked too

 

If a picture paints a thousand words,

Then why can't I paint you?

I've bought some Crown Plus 2,

I want to paint you blue...

 

Tony

[kienik]

im just in the process of re-painting my Nb, i used Dulux Weathershield grey for the undercoat and i am currently using Dulux Trade Gloss, bit of Owatrol and i have a near perfect finish, i have never painted a boat before so was a bit nervous of the finish i would achieve, i spent four weekends just sanding back the previous paintwork with 120 grip sanding discs bought from a car body shop,

 

after this i applied three to four coats of dulux weathershield undercoat and primer, sanded that back with 400 grip sanding discs then cleaned of with thinners, i applied the dulux trade top coat of green with a foam roller (went through eight paint trays and well over fifteen foam rollers!!!), once paint was applied with roller i feathered it off with a long haired brush and i was amazed with the finish i achieved, their are some slight imperfections in the steel work and this screamed out at me when i put the top coat on but my boat is a little Springer built in 1991 so i was never going to get a 100% pristine finish.

 

would i buy boat paints................ not on your bllomin nelly, just spend loads of time preparing the steel and invest in some decent brushes oh and the much loved Owatrol.

 

Nik

[PhilR]

im just in the process of re-painting my Nb, i used Dulux Weathershield grey for the undercoat and i am currently using Dulux Trade Gloss, bit of Owatrol and i have a near perfect finish, i have never painted a boat before so was a bit nervous of the finish i would achieve, i spent four weekends just sanding back the previous paintwork with 120 grip sanding discs bought from a car body shop,

 

after this i applied three to four coats of dulux weathershield undercoat and primer, sanded that back with 400 grip sanding discs then cleaned of with thinners, i applied the dulux trade top coat of green with a foam roller (went through eight paint trays and well over fifteen foam rollers!!!), once paint was applied with roller i feathered it off with a long haired brush and i was amazed with the finish i achieved, their are some slight imperfections in the steel work and this screamed out at me when i put the top coat on but my boat is a little Springer built in 1991 so i was never going to get a 100% pristine finish.

 

would i buy boat paints................ not on your bllomin nelly, just spend loads of time preparing the steel and invest in some decent brushes oh and the much loved Owatrol.

 

Nik

 

It sounds like you have put a lot of hard work into the job and achieved a really good result

 

I know exactly what you mean by slight imperfections screaming out, but you will probably notice them more than anyone else?

 

Has anyone used filler to hide imperfections, scratches, dents etc? If so what type of filler is recommended and at what stage of the paint job is it best applied?

 

Phil

[ChrisPy]

I used car body filler thinned with cellulose thinners and spread like a skim coat of plaster with a wide plastic wiper. I put on 2 coats of Bonda Primer, each followed by filler and thorough sanding, then 1 coat of Dulux undercoat, followed by filler and sanding, before I was happy to put on a second undercaot followed by 2 coats of gloss.

 

it was very hot and I had to use the filler quickly before it gelled. the thinners helped me to spread it quickly.

[WotEver]

I used car body filler thinned with cellulose thinners...

I didn't know you could do that... great tip, Chris. Thanks

 

Tony

[paulcatchpole]

I didn't know you could do that... great tip, Chris. Thanks

 

Tony

 

'S a good trick that, ain't it?

 

I'm sure I've read, somewhere, that car-type polyester fillers are a rather more hygroscopic than epoxy-based fillers, and to use the latter for boaty-stuff.

 

Not that I'm taking my own advice, as I've a tub of 2k stopper here, which is of the car-type, for use on the project boat...

 

PC

[WotEver]

When I prepped a car many years ago (and I mean a good prep - once it was sprayed it looked stunning) my favourite 'thing' was aerosol cans of primer/filler from Halfords (this was before the days of 'tinternet). It went on basically as a very thick primer coat but it was soft enough to get an amazingly silky finish with wet and dry, leaving no pinholes whatsoever - just a perfect base for 'proper' primer.

 

Be an expensive way to prep a boat though

 

Tony

[PhilR]

Thanks for some good tips.