Hello everyone. My boat's previous owner in my opinion applies the bottom paint a little sloppy. See pic. I'd like to tape it off and remove it if possible. Any ideas what to use?
Sloppy antifouling paint. Help!
- Thread starter Capri
- Start date
I've seen much worse. Are you in a boat yard? Many of them have restrictions on this kind of work DIY. If not, a Red Devil scraper followed by a DA sander and 60 grit will take it off but it's a nasty job. Don't breathe the dust. Chemical paint strippers might also work depending on the type of paint but this is very messy. Easiest (and most expensive) is media blasting. If your yard won't allow DIY this may be what you'll end up doing.
That doesn't need anything more that a couple coats of new bottom paint. I don't see any flaking due to poor adhesion. What I see is ablative paint that has sloughed off down to the base coat. Get the algae off, tape the waterline/boot stripe and follow the paint manufacturers application instructions. It'll look great!
That isn't "sloppy", but as others have pointed out, it is just worn away. But, it does appear that the previous owner painted the waterline up higher than original, covering part of the molded in boot-top, it also appears that the hull was not properly prepared before doing so..... the paint covering part of the boot-top has flaked off due to the area not having been dewaxed and sanded enough. I have had small spots like that on my boat due to my habit of waxing the topsides before painting the bottom and any bare spots along the waterline naturally get wax on them. You might be able to carefully scrape the paint on the boot-top to remove, then compound it back to shiny and paint just up to the original line. Or, just tape off the raised line carefully and after cleaning the area that is flaking (use a recommended solvent), sand it and apply paint.
When my yard media blasts a bottom to remove the bottom paint, they stay an inch from the edge of the bottom paint line. I asked and they told me to just scrap it off carefully with a flat chisel. I had to put down a tarp to catch the chips but it cleaned up well. You might want to try that before sanding or chemicals.
I use 2" blue painters tape to protect the topside gel coat and to get a good line when I prep for bottom paint. After the bottom paint is dry I put the tape on the bottom paint to protect it from buffing and waxing the topsides.
I use 2" blue painters tape to protect the topside gel coat and to get a good line when I prep for bottom paint. After the bottom paint is dry I put the tape on the bottom paint to protect it from buffing and waxing the topsides.
If you plan to follow Maine's hull cleaning steps, you'll want to do the acid wash before you paint the bottom.