Once Painted, Always Painted?

[birdman123]

I purchased a boat that has antifouling bottom paint. I have no intentions on keeping it in the water for extended periods of time (will be trailered for use and stored on trailer when not in use). Can the paint be removed all together and NOT reapplied. I'd rather not deal with the maintanence if I don't have to.

 

[tommays]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

The bottom will never get back to gelcoat look as the bottom paint prep is generaly pretty hard on it


It can be repainted with a below the water line marine paint but would be a big job


Tommays

 

[wewefirex2x]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

Interlux says you can use topside on hulls (below the waterline)as long as don't keep in water for more the 72 hours. It would be alot of work but I am in the same perdicement. I have bottom paint and it looks like crap, but why remove it to make more work for myself.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

I use Interlux Bottomcoat which is a "hard" paint on my tailored boat. Don't use the Ablative paints as they will constanly need attention

A "hard" paint will last about 3-4 year before it starts to look bad again. If it’s not too bad you can “wet wash” it with a Scotchbrite pad and water to renew the color. If it’s too bad then thin out the paint pretty good to make a "wash coat" and reapply using a roller.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

Does the current coat of anti-fouling paint look bad?​

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

if applied correctly, they sanded the hell out of the hull. if you get the paint off, your bottom will look even worse. i'd get as much off as possible and go with a hard bottom paint as others suggested.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

It is possible to remove the bottom paint and buff the gel coat and get it back to the original look, you need to be careful to not sand through the gel coat though. Start with some 220 grit and see how much sanding it takes to remove it, if it's thick you may need to use coarser paper, if it's thin and comes off easily then use a finer paper, the finer the grit the easier it is to buff.

 

[Scout Sport Fish]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

Try a small spot and see how some Acetone/Laquer Thinner and some rags work.

 

[birdman123]

Re: Once Painted, Always Painted?

Thank you everyone for your feedback. It sounds that it will be some work up front either way and I might get lucky and save the gel coat.

New question...do they make a clear or color-matched bottom paint so I wouldn't have a "bold" colored bottom?