Bottom job on a shoe string budget

[BobM]

Re Sanding

Personally I would never sand a hull down to the gelcoat unless I intended to barrier coat it. Sanding has the potential to expose fibers at the hull surface and from what I understand that is a recipe for creating future hull blistering.

 

[Tim R.]

Hi, Tim. What kind of epoxy did you use to fill in ? Would MARINETEX be a good thing to use for filling in small blisters and scratches?

I got my boat late in the fall, so the outside temps were in the 40-s. Peelaway worked ok only in higher temp ranges, but once it got cold - peelaway didn't do a darn thing. I only managed to do a rudder and 1/2 of the bottom on my E27. Have to wait until spring comes... What barrier coat did you use, how many coats?
Thanks,
Mac

Hi Mac, I used West System Epoxy thickened with filler. I forget the number but it is the brown filler. Buy the West system with the measured pumps. You will have many more uses for epoxy during your rehab.

I used Interlux 2000 for barrier and applied 4 coats. It is more important to get the proper thickness than how many coats. My boat had no blisters when stripped to the bare gelcoat in 2006. It is still blister free after 3 seasons.

I used a commercial sand blaster and walnut shells to strip the bottom. It took half a day to do my 35ft. boat.

Good luck and let me know if there is anything else I can assist with.

 

[jibes138]

Maine Sail, do you have a picture of your razor blade scraper? I just can't visualize it from your description. I have done the hand scraper routine on a 25 before and it was a lot of work. My 35 is probably twice the surface area, although I stripped my keel to bare lead one year followed by WEST system epoxy, barrier coat (as a base for the paint) then paint. That seems to be holding up very well. Once the lead oxidizes it is very hard to get paint to stick to it, thus the epoxy treatment.

 

[Maine Sail]

Maine Sail, do you have a picture of your razor blade scraper? I just can't visualize it from your description. I have done the hand scraper routine on a 25 before and it was a lot of work. My 35 is probably twice the surface area, although I stripped my keel to bare lead one year followed by WEST system epoxy, barrier coat (as a base for the paint) then paint. That seems to be holding up very well. Once the lead oxidizes it is very hard to get paint to stick to it, thus the epoxy treatment.

When I get home tomorrow I will take a picture of it..

Mine is a little different but this is the basic concept....

Image courtesy of: http://www.sealey.co.uk

This was about an hour and a half into the job w/ two guys working..

 

[jibes138]

looks like a magnificent tool, thanks. I will see if Harbor Freight has one just like it but made out of tin foil. I have a harbor freight about two miles from the house, also a Home Depot, Lowes and Sears in the same vicinity. One of these jokers must have something like this. I am on the hard getting ready to do a bottom job (just a paint job) but this might be a good tool in case I need to do a lot of scraping. Thanks again.
Dave

 

[jibes138]

Sure enough

here's the harbor freight version of Maine Sails tool $1.99.

 

[luvitt]

the cheapest way, if your bottom aint in terrible shape, is to buy a $100 gallon of paint and do it yourself. scuff the existing paint, tape up the water line and roll on as many coats as a gallon will cover.

i always do my own. never paid for it. i actually do other peoples boats for side money. just got a 27' job this morning!

if the bottom is in bad shape, scrape, sand, scrape, sand, til you have a reasonably clean/smooth bottom, then roll on the paint.

Im charging $22/ft for this 27' cobia walkaround + paint & supplies. im giving him a deal on the paint at my cost for seahawk cukote($100/gallon). it retails for around $200/gallon. so you can see it isnt cheap to have someone else do it. It will take me 2 half days to do the job, as his bottom isnt even dirty (sounds kinky!).

its really not that hard, just dirty. make sure you have the proper place to do it. you may get into trouble if you start sanding and painting in the boatyard. i have a small shop i give them a % to let me do the job. the yard is out of sight, and no one bothers us, plus i sand w a vacuum.

good luck.

 

[Ron20324]

brobins, you rascal- you're back!!! What happened to your trip beyond the jetty???

 

[jcastle]

I put the sea hawk cukote last year, and it has been working great for me. I bought it online for under $100 a gallon.