Repainting a boat

[wannagofast]

Question for you boat builders or painters out there. I'm sanding and repainting a boat and have a technical question for ya. I'm sanding off all the old paint and varnish to bring back to 99% bare wood, before I start repainting, do I need to put some kind of sealer down before 1st coat of primer??? Or will an automotive lacquer based acrylic enamel suffice for sealing the wood?? Thanks in advance!!!

[Shane_B]

I'm sure there are folks with many different methods but I would put down a coat of epoxy, West System or System 3, to seal the wood first. Warming the wood up with a hair dryer prior to applying epoxy will help prevent bubbles forming in the epoxy as it cures (West Systems has application techniques on their website). Using the West System 207 hardner (much more expensive than 205 or 206) with 105 resin eliminates the need to scrub off waxy film (blush) 205 and 206 creates during curing process. System 3 has similar products. Let's hear from the professional builders out there...

[ZUL8TR]

What kind of wood are you finishing over and what is the condition?

Do you what a clear finish?

Regardless of top coat you plan, I apply epoxy as a base sealer, 2 coats, and if done at the right time can apply 2nd coat over first and without sanding and get chemical bond. I use amine blush free epoxy. Prepare to sand epoxy before top coats. There are several techniques to get a smooth level the epoxy to reduce the sanding effort.

Are $$ an issue with the products used? West is great epoxy but high $$. There are other good brands for less $$.

What is a lacquer based acrylic enamel? It would either be one or the other. I would not use lacquer on a wood boat, to brittle after cure.

[johnsonm50]

I agree about epoxy 1st, then you can use the acrylic enamel per instructions & it will look good. I used polyurethane paint instead tho.


This before/after is done with West, 205 hardener [clear is only needed for a varnish finish] & automotive polyurethane 2 part single stage paint [no clear coat].

[wannagofast]

Thank you all for your input, a guy in our club has some of the West epoxy he's going to sell me, and I think I'm gonna try the automotive Acrylic Enamel(single stage)

[pops67g]

While it will increase the cost of the job a bit it is well worth it to add hardener to the acrylic enamel. The main reason for this is that it makes enamel much more fuel resistant. It's pretty disappointing to see your nice paint all messed up when fuel starts dissolving it. Another cost, time and weight saver it to shoot the enamel straight on the sanded epoxy. You will have to thoroughly sand the epoxy for primer to get a grip anyway but you don't really need the primer unless you plan on spending the hours block sanding it out to get a show quality finish. I like a nice paint job as much as anybody, but I have found out the hard way that the prettier you make it the worse you feel when it gets dinged, or worse, wrecked!!

[wannagofast]

Good call, Thanks Mike!!