I'm about to repaint the hull and bottom of my Typhoon. The current paints above and below the waterline are flaking off.
I've gotten a lot of information about the cleaning and painting part of this process, but I'm still shady on how to best get rid of the existing (peeling & flaking) paint.
Has anyone done this for their boats? Would you recommend stripping compound applied on sheets, or wet-sanding? Your input is appreciated.
Jerome
"Io"
Typhoon, hull #977
Jbasma@aol.com
Removing old paint: stripping or sanding?
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Rich
Re: Removing old paint: stripping or sanding?
It's going to depend a lot on the kind of paint(s) that are on there now. If it's flaking, I would try a scraper to start with. I had good luck using a 1-1/2" stiff blade. I would push at a fairly shallow angle and the loose stuff would come off in sheets with fairly low effort and no damage to the hull. Once all the loose stuff is off, you be better able to judge the best method for what's left.
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Bob Luby
Re: Removing old paint: stripping or sanding?
Frankly, the question is: How much paint is on there?
Practical Sailor had a recent article on strippers, and I recall some recent posts on this board.
I've had good results with Peel-Away. But this assumes you want to
strip down to the bare glass, which is what I did.
I took off everything with peel-away about 5 years ago, and paint with an ablative paint, touching up each year. It works for me.
YMMV
Rluby@aol.com
Practical Sailor had a recent article on strippers, and I recall some recent posts on this board.
I've had good results with Peel-Away. But this assumes you want to
strip down to the bare glass, which is what I did.
I took off everything with peel-away about 5 years ago, and paint with an ablative paint, touching up each year. It works for me.
YMMV
Rluby@aol.com
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Larry DeMers
Re: Removing old paint: stripping or sanding?
Jerome,
I am a bit uncertain as to the type of paint on the hull of your boat. Your message sounds like it is an all over stripping that you are going to do, so I need to ask a couple Q's first.
If this is a topside and bottom side stripping, and the bottom side is painted similar to the top side ( as in a polyurethane over all with no bottom paint applied -which is fairly common on trailerable boats dry stored), then there are several ways and techniques that work well..but are far different from the technique used to remove bottom paint.
If the job is to strip bottom anti-fouling paint off and replace it, here is what I have done on our CD30;
Loosen the flaking patches with a stiff 2-3 in. wide putty knife, but slightly round off the two corners of the blade first, or you will scratch the heck out of the gel coat. Remove all loose material. then apply your stripper of choice. The one that uses the paper backing (to prevent evaporation) seems to be the least messy at this, but still..ugh. Once the bottom is cleaned completely, the gel coat has to be prepared for the bottom paint you will use. Read their recommendations for a prep coat, and follow it. Originally, Cape Dory and their dealers used a product called "No Strip", which was supposed to etch the gel coat, allowing the bottompaint to adhere as well as possible. It worked poorly in some cases, resulting in large patches of bottom paint falling off.
The answer is to use a palm sander with 180-220 grit wet or dry in it. Prewipe the hull down with water and soap (removes mold wax, and Amine blush if still there -I am told). Rinse well, and dry. Go over the hull lightly, with the palm sander. remember your job here; to replace the bottom paint. So go easy on the sander, taking off only the gloss top coating, leaving a roughened (but smooth and fair) surface for bottom paint adhesion. Wipe down with alcohol and paper towels ( use plenty of clean towels), then apply the base coat of bottom paint (prep coat if needed) followed by an alternately colored top coating (s). Better to see the bottom coat with as it wears away. Use a similar color, but not too different.
We have always used and liked the ablative paints like Micron CSC.
Cheers!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30
demers@sgi.com
I am a bit uncertain as to the type of paint on the hull of your boat. Your message sounds like it is an all over stripping that you are going to do, so I need to ask a couple Q's first.
If this is a topside and bottom side stripping, and the bottom side is painted similar to the top side ( as in a polyurethane over all with no bottom paint applied -which is fairly common on trailerable boats dry stored), then there are several ways and techniques that work well..but are far different from the technique used to remove bottom paint.
If the job is to strip bottom anti-fouling paint off and replace it, here is what I have done on our CD30;
Loosen the flaking patches with a stiff 2-3 in. wide putty knife, but slightly round off the two corners of the blade first, or you will scratch the heck out of the gel coat. Remove all loose material. then apply your stripper of choice. The one that uses the paper backing (to prevent evaporation) seems to be the least messy at this, but still..ugh. Once the bottom is cleaned completely, the gel coat has to be prepared for the bottom paint you will use. Read their recommendations for a prep coat, and follow it. Originally, Cape Dory and their dealers used a product called "No Strip", which was supposed to etch the gel coat, allowing the bottompaint to adhere as well as possible. It worked poorly in some cases, resulting in large patches of bottom paint falling off.
The answer is to use a palm sander with 180-220 grit wet or dry in it. Prewipe the hull down with water and soap (removes mold wax, and Amine blush if still there -I am told). Rinse well, and dry. Go over the hull lightly, with the palm sander. remember your job here; to replace the bottom paint. So go easy on the sander, taking off only the gloss top coating, leaving a roughened (but smooth and fair) surface for bottom paint adhesion. Wipe down with alcohol and paper towels ( use plenty of clean towels), then apply the base coat of bottom paint (prep coat if needed) followed by an alternately colored top coating (s). Better to see the bottom coat with as it wears away. Use a similar color, but not too different.
We have always used and liked the ablative paints like Micron CSC.
Cheers!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30
Jerome wrote: I'm about to repaint the hull and bottom of my Typhoon. The current paints above and below the waterline are flaking off.
I've gotten a lot of information about the cleaning and painting part of this process, but I'm still shady on how to best get rid of the existing (peeling & flaking) paint.
Has anyone done this for their boats? Would you recommend stripping compound applied on sheets, or wet-sanding? Your input is appreciated.
Jerome
"Io"
Typhoon, hull #977
demers@sgi.com