Paint Roller Question

[shavdog]

I'm getting ready to reapaint the boot stripe on my 22...I need to use a small finish roller in the 2inch range if I can find one...my question is this....whats the best type of roller for the smoothest finish....foam? or other....it seems to me the ones with a knap will leave a more coarse finish....thanks for any help...craig...I aint no paint expert...

[Oswego John]

Hi Craig,

Roll and tip. Roll the paint on with about a 1/4" or so nap. Then tip, or smooth the paint with the ends of the bristles of a dry brush.

Tip lengthway in one direction along the stripe, not across it.

Good luck,
O J

[Steve Laume]

I rarely find occasion to disagree with the wisdom of OJ but in this case I think the roller is a waste of time.

I have painted a few boot stripes, with very good results, using a brush. The advantage of rolling and tipping is that you can get a good bit of paint on a large area, thus maintaining a wet edge. The brush then smooths what the roller leaves behind.

With a boot stripe, keeping a wet edge is not really a problem. I always start right at the stem so overlap is not a problem when I work my way around the boat. A brush does a very nice job of working the paint up against the tape and leaves a nice smooth finish. I suppose if you had two people and wanted to roll and tip it would work very well. As I usually work alone I am sure I would drop or spill either the brush or the roller before I finished while moving around the hull juggling implements. There just isn't enough surface to justify cleaning up or throwing away two sets of painting tools. A medium quality brush will do a very nice job. It helps if you can work while the sun is not directly on the area to be painted.

I suppose you could even use one of those foam brushes, Steve.

[KDreese]

I am thinking of doing the same to my CD25... i have been reading a bunch on how to do this but wondered what prep steps people use and specifically what products the bought. For instance..

Step 1 = tape
Step 2 = sand area to prep - what grit or multiple grits have people used that works nicely?
Step 3 = Primer or undercoat? If so what brand and type?
Step 4 = Paint stripe... what brand and what color? For instance for that tradition CD red stripe what is the appropriate color code and brand?

Any other steps?

[BillyO]

you do not want to over sand the area., just scuff it uo so ot will hold paint. Nothing heavier than a 220 grit, and just a few passes... As for priming, A BONDING primer from Sherwin Williams
will work fine.
I do not suggest a general purpose primer, rather a special bonding primer will do much better at holding the paint.
Lastly, for the boot stripe I would NOT use the expensive marine stuff when a good 100% acrylic gloss exterior paind will suffice at a quarter of the price.
SW "Super Paint" or Ben Moore "Soft Gloss" in a gloss finish.

[Steve Laume]

I use good green tape. Do not use the standard white painters masking tape. You will regret it for one reason or another, sooner or later. You can leave the green tape on for a couple of days to get the right painting conditions and or two coats.

To prep, I wipe the area with solvent to remove all traces of wax. I then wet sand with 220 paper. Do your best to get right up next to the tape without fuzzing up the edge. In general you do not need to sand to much, just break the gloss and give the surface some tooth. If there are any existing imperfections, correct these with additional sanding. Once sanded rinse and dry with clean water and cloths.

I have never primed or chemically prepped the surface prior to painting. I have never had any issues with poor paint adhesion.

I use Pettit, Easy Poxy, one part, topside paint. I am as cheap as the next guy but it is only a quart and that will do a quit a few coats around my waterline. I chose the Pettit for their choice of colors. It was the only company that had a burgundy red to go with Raven's black bottom. I use a marine paint because it lays on extremely well, has a beautiful gloss and was formulated for this particular use. Other paints may work just as well. I do use white, Rustolium for all my locker areas inside the boat.

When removing the tape, I get it off as soon as the final coat has set. Double it back over itself and peel it back away from the fresh paint.

If storing paint long term I fill the air space in the can with the gas from an unlit propane torch. The gas will settle into the can and with the lack of oxygen the paint will not form a scum on top.

Now if I could just get that white line to look so good and stay that way, Steve.

[KDreese]

Thanks for the great info. One follow on question... the prior owner of my CD painted bottom paint over the original boot stripe... how hard would it be to sand it off, prep and get a nice smooth finish at the original stripe location?

[jbenagh]

If it's a very small area, sanding bottom paint can work. Use a sander with a shop vac and 36-60 grit. It takes a long time and uses a lot of disks. You may need the 3M foam backup pad to adapt to the contour of the hull. It's very easy to get deep into the gelcoat.

If it's more than 2in wide, to get bottom paint off, I would recommend carefully scraping (with a good carbide scraper), then use stripper, then sand. To paraphrase the varnishing guru, Rebeca Whitman, "extensive sanding is punishment". It will also take a lot of sanding disks, making the $20 cost of purchasing a good scraper seem reasonable.

Jeff

[jerryaxler]

The boot stripe color for my CD is an Epifanes enamel color #11 Dado Brown. It is an unusual color, but it matches the original perfectly. I brush it on with a foam brush and it smoothes out to a nice mirror finish. Of course I use green tape and remove it as soon as the paint kicks.

[Kurt]

I used Rustoleum Leather Brown (alkyd enamel) to paint the boot stripe on my last two Cape Dorys. No primer...I just masked off the hull, lightly sanded the original red bootstripe and rolled on the Leather Brown with a foam roller. It's been on there for 7 years and still looks fresh.

[Chris Reinke]

Once you apply the higher quality painters tape, lay the paint onto the stripe area from the tape and not from the stripe area outwards towards the tape. What I mean is to apply the paint by starting your brush or roller on the tape and draw it onto the stripe area at an angle. If you run the brush/roller from the stripe area onto the tape you run the likelihood of pushing the paint under the tape. Similarly, if you run your brush/roller parallel to the tape you usually form a "wave" of paint just along the front of the brush which will find its way under the tape.

After you have applied the paint and gotten the desired coverage you can run a brush along the stripe to smooth out the finish, but not to apply more paint.

[henry hey]

Hi folks.

I (re-)painted the boot stripe on my CD25 last year with Interlux boot stripe paint. The small can was fine and simple masking/brush worked great. As long as you paint in the direction of the stripe you will have no problems and you will achieve a nice smooth finish. Of course if you are overlapping gelcoat or bottom paint, you will need prep and probably a primer.

h

[Ron M.]

I also used Rustoleum to paint the bootstripe on my D25 and was pleasantly impressed with the results. It remained glossy and looked good after 3 years. I taped with 3M blue painters tape and used a 1" dia. foam roller for fine finishes. Prep and 3 coats, no problem with bleed under the tape. It's a good idea to burnish the tape edges slightly with a dull scraper
or similar tool to ensure the tape seam is tight.
Short nap mohair rollers will give a nice finish as well....without brush tipping.
My CD30 has an Awlgrip bootstripe and looks great after 8 years.
________
Vaporizer Wholesale

[ronkberg]

I did my boot stripe but found the toughest problem was making the tape "bend" to follow the hull shape. I tried using 1/2" blue painter's tape and ripped off small pieces to try to make a curve out of the small pieces. That left too many voids and when I removed the tape, the edge was ragged. Previous posting said to use narrow tape used for auto pin striping but I wonder anyone has another suggestion?

Ron

[Steve Laume]

I felt I had ben doing a pretty good job of taping my water line but got some additional advice from the Greek professional fiberglass and paint guy last summer. I am always interested in whatever project they have going on and friendly in general. So last summer during my short haul they were once again reattaching the fin keel of a J boat next to me.

I was painstakingly following the existing curve of my water line with the tape. There was some head shaking and a let me show you moment. He pulled the tape off and unrolled about 4 to 6 feet. this was eye balled along the water line and kept long so that it was sort of self aligning. The idea is that you stretch it out and then just press the tape to the hull as you go along.

The tape will follow curves without cutting it. The only place I seem to need little pieces is right around the stem.

I haven't had any trouble with bleeding under the tape. After I am finished applying my tape I always go all the way around the boat pressing it down really hard. I get really hot fingers from doing this but it leaves a nice clean line. I suppose I could use something other than my hands but they always seem to be available.

I don't get to practice any of this until at least next summer. It is suppose to be almost 80 degrees this Sunday so I believe that dictates a sailing day.

Oh baby, Spring sailing in New England! Gotta love it, Steve.