Taking out botton paint

[fisabel]

Hi,

Recently I purchase a 20' Sceptre hull that have some heavy layers of old botton paint. I will like to try to remove this paint and keep the original color or paint it white.
I will like to receive some advice from fellow members that have experience with this task.

You help will be highly appreciated.

Machetero

[ltdan]

GIVE THIS SITE A LOOK,THEY'LL COME TO YOU I THINK
WWW.JACKSONMARINE.COM I HAVEN'T TRIED THEM , BUT THEY WERE RECOMENDED TO ME.KEEP ME POSTED ON YOUR SUCCESS,,,,, OR LACK OF [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
LT DAN

[Miles Offshore]

One of the worst jobs inn the world. When you say old paint then I have to assume that its the old "hard" type of paint and not the ablative type used a lot these days.

I have attaemted and been fairly succesful at removing :a lot" of paint but not all of it by , scraping, sandinding, using paint remover, etc. Sanding did the best job, but it is nasty. IYou need to wear old clothes, resperator ,painters hood, and safety glasses. Otherwise you will end up with blue bottom paint(or whatever color) up your nose. in your ears eyelids hair, and any other orifice that is not covered. Been there and done that. Take a wide paint scraper fiirst , attach it to a pole like a broomstick using hose clamps and scrape off the fairly loose paint thjat you can. A lot of the outer layer can be removed this way. After that its down and dirty. I am going to haul mine soon and willl do some my self but not a complete job. A lot of layers of paint can accumulate in 20 /25 years also and getting a clean gelcoat is not possible I dont believe.You will probably notice a blister or 2 and this would be a good time to repair it also.

For anyone with an inboard, I have invented a good way to clean your shaft (see pictures)with relative ease of barnacles, slime etc. Snce my shaft is 1 1/4 " diameter, [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] , I take a slightly larger steel punch, hole cutter , 1 3/8"-1 1/2 first and remove a little over hafy of the cutting edge of the punch. It should fit slightly over your shaft to provide the most surface area when scraping. then scrape the outer most area of the shaft using this method. I then attach the punch to a broom stick, section of old outrigger, etc and use this for the remaining 4/5/ft ofthe shaft. very effective and it saves a lot of cuts on the hands. I then go back with sandpaper , fairly coarse, hold it around the shaft , spinning the shaft as nessesary to make it nice and pretty- Im still working on better/easier ways to do the wheel, strt etc. Good luck-craig

[stan glaskin]

I have found the safest and easiest way to strip multi coats of bottom paint is to use a product called peel-away1. Home Depot carries it. you either brush it on or use a hopper gun with an air compressor. a hopper gun is also used to shoot plaster ceilings. A barrier paper is put over the product and in 48 hours you scrape the paper off with all the coats of paint attached to it.its great and environmently safe. good luck, stan

[ScottM]

Two seasons ago I used a product called Stripeez which is meant for stripping paint off of wood, but worked very well on my bottom, which appeared to have all original 18 seasons worth of paint still on it. It is a paste, so you apply it with a paint brush, let it sit for 10 minutes, then scrape with a putty knife and off the paint comes. The only problem with Stripeez is that sunlight reacts with it and will burn the gel coat, so you have to be very careful, especially around the water line. On the bottom it is shaded, so not a big issue. I found that it is better to use in cooler temperatures since it is pretty potent stuff, so for you Florida guys this may not be the way to go. I did mine in March when it was in the high 40's, then applied new paint when it warmed up a bit.

[Jon G]

Scott did you use the marine strip eez? I will be doing mine in the spring(March most likely) The brand that I have been looking at also has some sort of paper cover you put on it, is this the same stuff you used. There's nothing like first hand knowledge.

[Matt1121]

Hey Jon-

I just did the same project on a really old Aquasport at my friend's shop.

Here is how I did it...

1) Put the boat on jack stands and blocks
2) Spread a plastic drop cloth under the boat and work area
3) Put on a tyvek painters suit, a good respirator with full face shield, gloves and a painters hood.
4) Get a good paint scraper
5) Apply Dolphinite's gel bottom-paint remover. be sure to glob it on thick...dont brush it thin like paint. After the bottom is completely covered....wait a couple of hours until paint bubbles. (I ran out of the dolphinite stuff with a little bit left so i went out to the hardware store and bought that strip-eeze stuff. It worked okay in a pinch, but wasnt nearly as thick as the Dolphinite gel and it smelled much worse)
6) Then start scraping

7) After the bottom has been completely scraped and has dried, you'll probably need to hit the bottom with a DA and 80grit paper. Be sure to use a dust collection system because there is still bottom paint on boat.
8)Finally, dispose of drop cloth and paint scrapings in environmentally sensitive manner....don't throw em in the trash cause you'll be drinking that stuff after it seeps into your water supply.

Good luck.

Ed

[ScottM]

Jon G,
I don't think I used the marine version, since I bought the stuff at a paint store. I wish I had known about the Dolphinite, because Matt1121 is right, the Strip-eez stinks! It is thick and works best when globbed on. Definitely a messy job, but easier than scraping the whole bottom with just a paint scraper or sander.

Good luck.
Scott

[FELLOW-SHIP]

I HAD JACKSON MARIN (WEB SITE ABOVE) DO MY 23’ WITH THE SODA BLASTING METHOD. COST ME $600. AND FOR ME WAS WELL WORTH IT. I FIGURED IT WOULD TAKE 2-4 DAYS OF HARD NASTY WORK FOR ME PLUS $200-300 WORTH OF MATERIAL NOT COUNTING ME NOT HAVING A PLACE TO PUT THE BOAT WHILE THE JOB WAS BEING DONE (THIS IS NOT A DRIVEWAY TYPE JOB). A MARINA WOULD PROBABLY COST ME $100 TO 200 TO PUT THE BOAT ON CHOCKS AND THE USE OF THE SPACE FOR THE DAYS OF USE. BOTTOM LINE ON BOTTOM PAINT REMOVAL IS THIS, ON SOME JOBS IT’S WORTH HAVING SOMEONE ELSE DO IT FOR YA.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[Billybob]

I hydroblasted my 23'.It had tons of paint on the bottom, and the blasting worked well. I rented the machine, and did it in the driveway.It takes the paint off, but I really don't think anything will allow you to shine up that old gelcoat.I used sand, and it went real quick you could do the whole thing in a day easy.It does impart a flat, eggshell finish to the gelcoat, but I was going to paint anyway and I had some blister repair to do.All in all, it was quick and pretty cheap and easy to do.From what I've heard the soda is even better, a little less agressive and easier cleanup.
Bill