Painting the inside

[Ross]

I can't for the life of me understand what the great mystery is about painting fiberglass. In houses we paint paper covered gypsum wallboard, concrete block basement walls, previously varnished hardwood kitchen cabinets, wooden exterior trim all of which are much poorer substrates than fiberglass. We paint wooden porch decks, railings and ceilings all with great success if we use good preparation methods. Why does painting a boat become such a mix of magic and alchemy?

 

[capejt]

Boy oh Boy! Do I feel like kicking myself in the aft! I spent oodles on Interlux Toplac to redo the interior. Don't get me wrong, it looks absolutely great! But it would have been nice to accomplish the same thing for about half the price. Household paint never even crossed my mind at the time.

 

[Ross]

I have had excellant results with McCormack Interlock paint at about 15 dollars per quart and about 35 dolllars per gallon. http://www.mccormickpaints.com/uploads/42F12-08Int.pdf

 

[Mike M16608]

I used Kilz oil based semi gloss white. I believe this is a finished coat, not a primer (did not use any sort of primer under it). It covered well with one coat, has held up well for 3 seasons so far. I first ripped out all the "monkey fur - mold factory" then scrapped and sanded off as much of the old adhesive as I could, then painted the fiberglass. The effect is not smooth, but the textured look is OK to us. Most importantly, the Admiral believes the Kilz is stopping mold from returning. It did not have a heavy smell when applied - maybe because it wasn't the primer referenced above - or maybe I just wasn't that sensitive to it.

 

[Ross]

I used Kilz oil based semi gloss white. I believe this is a finished coat, not a primer (did not use any sort of primer under it). It covered well with one coat, has held up well for 3 seasons so far. I first ripped out all the "monkey fur - mold factory" then scrapped and sanded off as much of the old adhesive as I could, then painted the fiberglass. The effect is not smooth, but the textured look is OK to us. Most importantly, the Admiral believes the Kilz is stopping mold from returning. It did not have a heavy smell when applied - maybe because it wasn't the primer referenced above - or maybe I just wasn't that sensitive to it.

Kilz packages a mildew resistant semi-gloss bathroom paint which may be what you used. That is an acrylic where the Kilz primer is thinned with naptha although there is also a water borne kilz that isn't quite as effective at stain covering and the solvent type.

 

[salty4568]

from Lin & Larry Pardey, I think: if you paint the insides of a boat white, it'll look a heck of a lot better, and seem a little bit cooler if you pitch a small amount of blue tint into the gallon jar.

We did that, and it really helps. Makes things look cleaner. Also, we use Rustoleum enamel for most painting. My wooden boat buddies around Puget Sound all use it.

 

[Ross]

All of the paint manufacturers have a color card of their standard tinted whites. Pure white is too harsh in most cases but softened with just a small touch of color and you can acheive a warm glow or a soft cool or a lot of other subtle effects.
edit to add link: http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_yourself/paint_colors/index.jsp