do i need bottom paint?

[smallboatlover]

My boat will be in the water a lot more this year. i am planning on anchoring it or using some one else mooring for a week or two at a time. now right now the bottom of the boat only has some paint on it. should i put bottom paint on and is there any cheaper way to do it. cheaper paint? cheaper materials? i plan on doing it my self if i do it. could i just put another coat of paint on and that might help? the boat is painted with house paint all around but has gel coat underneath.

 

[tomynoks]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

I don't know much... but I used house paint on mine once...lol... it got scuffed up pretty bad and looks horrible... what kind of hull is it? Glass? aluminum?? I think the expensive bottom paints are mostly for salt-water where you'd get barnacles and algae growing on your hull.. I would at least strip that house paint and recoat with Rustoleom. They make several paints for boats...but much cheaper than the high-end stuff.. I think even their outdoor paints for metal (if aluminum hull) would be great... Post some pics...

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

i have fiberglass an i'm going to look into the rutoleom just to make the boat look a bit better.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

Waste of money? .02

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: do i need bottom paint?

no point in painting the bottom of a boat for cosmetics.

Anti-fouling paint is neeeded if you leave the boat in salt water for a length of time to prevent marine growth, Yours, since it's small, and you a pulling it out after two weeks, just hose it off--use the pressure washer at the car wash.

Some anti-foulnig paint has to stay in the water; some can dry and still be good. It's all incredibly expensive

 

[DALLEN7]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

I am going to use an automotive paint when I do mine.
I will use a flex additive in the paint itself so it wont crack
as easy when pitching and swaying in the waves.

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

no point in painting the bottom of a boat for cosmetics.

Anti-fouling paint is neeeded if you leave the boat in salt water for a length of time to prevent marine growth, Yours, since it's small, and you a pulling it out after two weeks, just hose it off--use the pressure washer at the car wash.

Some anti-foulnig paint has to stay in the water; some can dry and still be good. It's all incredibly expensive

SBL- x2

 

[shrew]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

I am going to use an automotive paint when I do mine.
I will use a flex additive in the paint itself so it wont crack
as easy when pitching and swaying in the waves.

I would suggest using a product designed for the purpose. I would use a paint or other product designed specifically for fiberglass boats, if I were painting a fiberglass boat. The product you're considering may very well be designed for fiberglass boats, however with a name like 'automotive paint' I'd be skeptical.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: do i need bottom paint?

keep in mind that an unpainted hull will be faster than a painted one. So if you must, be sure your brush strokes run bow to stern and not side to side.

 

[cribber]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

Here is a link to what IBoats has for hull paint if you go that direction. $46 plus shipping per quart and a gallon will lift $182 from your wallet.
http://www.iboats.com/Kolor-trade-B...2679288--**********.899053914--view_id.363454

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

i should only need a quart probably since it only a 14' trihull.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: do i need bottom paint?

small, if you are only keeping it in for one-two weeks you don;t need antifouling paint, which is what is on the link in the previous post.

Also if you use it anyway, be sure to get the right paint for your hull (aluminum v. glass). And if you use it anyway, be sure you buy the right primer; you hate to have that much $$ just wash away.

A quart will be close, especially for the first time. We used to use close to a quart for a 13' whaler, and it was already painted.

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

ok so what kind of primer do i need? would bottom paint help with the boat being beached for some time. might leave it in a lot longer then two weeks come to find out.

 

[shrew]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

ok so what kind of primer do i need? would bottom paint help with the boat being beached for some time. might leave it in a lot longer then two weeks come to find out.

You probably don't want to beach a bottom painted boat. I'm not a fan of beaching fiberglass boats at all, but plenty of people do it. I've seen many many boats that wear the gelcoat on the keel down to fiberglass from beaching.

I'm more curious about what you mean by "Beached for some time". How long is 'some time'? Beaching a boat is not a way to store it for long periods of time. This isn't a canoe.

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

i was only thinking for a day or so when the tides change.

 

[BuzzStPoint]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

I did a 2 tone bottom paint.

Above the side ridge (forgot what thats called) I did white.
Then below that I used a Dark Navy blue.
I used straight Rustolium and paint thinner.

Scuffed up the bottom, Thinned the paint and used the roller and tip method. Looks great. I did this last spring and ran it all season. We'll see how it look after the winter. But I cost me less then 15 bucks to do. Great alternative for those on a budget or don't want to spend money on paint.

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

thanks for that idea buzz the paint on the bottom is scuffed up and not't looking good and i want to do that then that sound cheap and good. whats the roller and tip method? after hearing every one say not to beach it i'm not doing that at all i will probably keep it in a foot of water before i do that then i will watch the tide an keep it off the beach. i though this would be ok because of the 50' catamaran sail boat that beach 100' from were i staying at my grandma's they sayd they had prop problems and fixed it and then anchored in front of my gmas for the night and left in the morning that sailboat was amazing.

 

[shrew]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

I did a 2 tone bottom paint.

Above the side ridge (forgot what thats called) I did white.
Then below that I used a Dark Navy blue.
I used straight Rustolium and paint thinner.

Scuffed up the bottom, Thinned the paint and used the roller and tip method. Looks great. I did this last spring and ran it all season. We'll see how it look after the winter. But I cost me less then 15 bucks to do. Great alternative for those on a budget or don't want to spend money on paint.

I'm not clear what benefit that would be aside from saving money. There is a huge difference between painting a boat bottom and Marine Botom Paint. Marine Bottom paint contains biocides. On a planing boat, the best bottom paint to use is ablative paint which 'self-cleans' as you run on plane, similar to a bar of soap.

There is little to no benefit to painting the bottom with rustoleum and paint thinner. You could use nailpolish but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do or that you shoudl be advising that other's do the same. It would be cheaper to paint a car with interior Latex Paint as well, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: do i need bottom paint?

Shrew, I'm with you, but there is a large number of posters here who want their bottoms painted for cosmetic reasons, I guess so it will look better on the trailer in the driveway. I don't get it. It's like ironing your underwear. But it's not hard to find people who put form over function.

 

[BuzzStPoint]

Re: do i need bottom paint?

Below the topside of my boat you can see even on the water, Especially the bow. With it all scuffed up and red spray paint marks it looks ugly. Plus it looked like someone tried to spay can it. All leopard printed.

I bought my boat for 150 bucks. and redid everything from stingers and up... Total cost is probably less then 600 bucks. If you look in the restore section you will see many people use Rustolium for their boats.

SmallBoatLover.
Roll and tip. Use the cheap foam roller and cheap foam brush. (you can use a better brush if you like)
After you thin your paint a bit. Roller it on in small sections. You'll see a bunch a little bubbles in the paint, Now take your brush and hold it very lightly and just barely skim the brush on the top of the paint.