Repainting the inside of a 1980 fiberglass sailboat

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Mar 29, 2013
2
Pearson 28 Bay Area
The white paint on the interior ceiling and sides is flaking off and we see the fiberglass. We plan to lightly wire brush off the flakey paint. What kind of interior coating would you suggest? This is a new to us sailboat project.
 
Mar 2, 2011
489
Compac 14 Charleston, SC
What brand of sailboat? I'm sure someone has a similar boat with the same issues. I had a Venture/Macgregor 22 with paint flaking off inside. We power washed it off and pumped out the wet mess leftover. After a few warm days and a fan blowing to completely dry it out we used a brushed on primer, then a marine grade white hull paint. It looked better and for $100 was good enough to suit our needs.
 
Jun 25, 2012
942
hunter 356 Kemah,the Republic of Texas
Fly_H23 said:
What brand of sailboat? I'm sure someone has a similar boat with the same issues. I had a Venture/Macgregor 22 with paint flaking off inside. We power washed it off and pumped out the wet mess leftover. After a few warm days and a fan blowing to completely dry it out we used a brushed on primer, then a marine grade white hull paint. It looked better and for $100 was good enough to suit our needs.
While rebuilding my 26s after a blacken decker cordless dust buster fire. For the interior I used a water base paint. After spending about 20+ dollars for a small quart of paint from west marine...or maybe it was pint$$$$$$$$$ . Then I discover quite by accident that home depot had the same paint for 19 bucks a gallon. Beyr premium ultra high gloss satin finish with a fungi cyde for painting bath rooms...... Sprayed it low teck with a wagner power sprayer. Of course this was quite a while ago. What ever the case it worked out great and held up very well.
 
Oct 2, 2006
1,517
Jboat J24 commack
Valspar duration exterior at lowes covers well and is NOT fussy to work with




 
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
for the last twenty years, I've used an acrylic latex enamel on the interior of every boat I built for customers, and on both of my own. My current boat I painted in 1998, and except for a few scrapes, it's still in excellent shape.

Acrylic latex is NOT the old latex- it's washable, dries fast, and is water clean up. I used a Sherwin Williams product, but many paint stores have the same product.

Instead of lightly wire brushing, I'd sand it well. The longevity of the paint depends heavily on prepwork,, Don't skimp and then expect it to last. Putting the paint on is the easy part.
 
Mar 29, 2013
2
Pearson 28 Bay Area
Ok that's a relief, did not hear epoxy paint, Really appreciate your input. Sailboat S35
 
Jan 13, 2009
394
J Boat 92 78 Sandusky
Zahoo, the key as others have stated is prep. The paint is flaking off because of poor adhesion. If you can scratch off the the existing paint with a handle end of screwdriver it needs to be sanded off to get a sound surface. Clean with acetone but not any soap or oil based product which can leave a film that could cause paint adhesion problems in the future.

A great bonding primer is what you need to insure that you won't have problems with flaking again. The purpose of a bonding primer is not to cover any imperfections but to chemically bond paint to the fiberglass surface. Go to Sherwin Wiliams and buy a quart of XIM 400W primer. It is the gold standard for bonding primers. It doesn't smell all that good but the smell goes away in a day. Top coat with an exterior grade quality house paint and you are good to go for a long,long time. 400W is also used as a bonding primer on glass, formica etc. It is extremely aggressive and is almost impossible to get off once it sets up.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,553
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I've used exterior grade latex with good results. Ask the person at the paint counter to add the anti-mildew additive. Maybe even a double dose. I've had really good luck with the paint staying mildew free with that stuff added.
 
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
Wednightracer- good points . However, Sherwin Williams doesn't always sell the same stuff nationwide. So it they don't have that particular named primer, ask for the equivalant

I used to use Incredi Coat. They only sold that in Texas and Louisiana, for some reason, and now call the same stuff "Solo"
 
Mar 19, 2013
75
Beneteau First 38 Chicago
just discovered Rust-o-leum makes boat paint while at Menards last year. I used the white top deck an old center board project and it looks amazing and has heldup well. One thing to think about is mold and mildew. Many bathroom paints will have additives to protect against mold. Zinnser makes some top shelf products.
 
Jan 13, 2009
394
J Boat 92 78 Sandusky
Yep, Incredicoat is only sold regionally. XIM 400W is a "planogram" item which means it is supposed to be stocked in all their stores nationwide. You know it must be good since they stock it but buy it from an outside company(XIM). SW makes a lot of primers but obviously none as good as 400W.
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,909
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Yep, Incredicoat is only sold regionally. XIM 400W is a "planogram" item which means it is supposed to be stocked in all their stores nationwide. You know it must be good since they stock it but buy it from an outside company(XIM). SW makes a lot of primers but obviously none as good as 400W.
Sounds like this (400W) might be a good engine room paint if it can be left as is after application; does it really need a top coat? What color is it? Grey would be great!
 
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