Looking for suggestions on proper way to prep and apply bottom paint on a 24' Wellcraft. Boat is one year old - there is black ablative paint on it now. Have been told told to lightly sand (or use pressure washer) and then paint over with two or three coats of new ablative paint.

Also, any thoughts on brands? Have read that you should be careful on which brand you apply over previous paint as you can have problems.

Thanks,

Jim

I use Interlux Micron Extra with Biolux that blocks slime. sells from $140- $170 depending on where you get it.
It does an excellent job!!!
It can be applied over most bottom cotes

Jim,

I sand my bottom with a random orbit sander with nothing finer than 60 or 80 grit. The key is to get the surface of the old paint scuffed and knock the loose stuff off.

I then coat with just 1 good coat of bottom paint. I think I have been using interlux ACT or ACP...it is one of those ablatives.

I think ablatives of any brand can probably go over each other, you can do a test spot.

I just never go too crazy with the whole process. Please don't let people convince you that you gonna slow the boat down if you don't say take it all off etc. This isn't rocket science.

Oh and wear a good dust mask when sanding, a respirator is even better. ONce I just wrapped a t shirt around my face once and blew stuff out my nose for a day for I got lazy and didn't go to the store. Probably took 2 fishing seasons of my life.

Jon

No need to sand with ablative, a pressure wash or scrub with deck brush will do nicely. One trick is to use an undercoat of a different color, so you can see where and when the final coat is beginning to wear through.

My ablative looks bad..when I pressure washed it I had lots of flaking-off. I was able to get away with it last year but it looks bad and I am kind of a picky guy. I plan on removing it all to the bare glass and putting a couple coats of hard paint on there. what do you think...go hard or ablative?

The best ablative paint for this area, according to Power Boat reports is Petit Horizons. They tested it in the CT river for a season with many other paints. You can get it for $90-100/gal.. Some of the more expensive paints rated poor in the CT river while getting a good review in Florida.

How about a hard ablative?I've been told that it all depends on the speed and frequency of use. I chose not to paint my Fountain at all and simply pull it, power wash the bottom, and then fill the gas tank at the car wash across the street from the marina. Saves about $100 for 200 gals of gas.

Originally posted by Team Rock On
How about a hard ablative?I've been told that it all depends on the speed and frequency of use. I chose not to paint my Fountain at all and simply pull it, power wash the bottom, and then fill the gas tank at the car wash across the street from the marina. Saves about $100 for 200 gals of gas.

Interesting idea...How nasty does the bottom get?

I also use Interlux ACT ablative. (ACT ablative copolymer Technology) This paint was under $100/gal. and one gallon did my whole boat (20'), 2 coats.
I sanded with 80 grit and applied 2 coats. That was 2 years ago, and it has not needed any additional paint since, just spots that a line wore off a bit.

I will paint with a different color when its needed so when it thins, I can see the first color coming through.

But the paint looks great for this season too, that will be 3 years (if it makes it)..

All good advice from members here,
Good Luck.

I stay with one coat of hard epoxy, Petit SR every year. Great stuff to work with, no slime, no chips.

How nasty? Depends on how you look at it. The nastier it is the more herring that hang around under it at the slip. It depends on what time of year it is. The warmer the water gets, the faster stuff grows. Barnacles are the biggest problem, but if I leave it out of the water on a nice hot day everything is killed. Then I take it for a nice fast cruise and anything the power washer missed gets polished off. The brown stain is hard to get off, but scubbin bubbles takes it right off if it bothers you. I've left it in for over a month in August, and I lost about 10% off the top end. Actual savings add up. I burn about 1000 gals. a season so that's about a $600-700 savings right there. Add bottom paint @ $500 a season (if hired out) and that's 1200 a season. I got a price of $300 to profesionally clean the bottom to make it look brand new before I sell it so the light brown stain doesn't bother me.

http://diynet.com/diy/bo_enhancements/article/0,2021,DIY_13717_2278297,00.html

diynet.com has a couple articles on the topic. This show really kicks, when I get a chance to watch it. Anyway one rticle above is on applying ablative paint and there is another on coating a new hull. There's also one on applying an epoxy barrier coat, which sounds like a nightmare worth of work.

If you haven't seen the website I suggest you add it to your favorites.

My bottom paint is starting to chip off my trim tabs, but seems to be ok just about everywhere else. I typically haul my boat after every use. It stays in the water overnight probably 6 or 8 weekends out of the year and perhaps a week stright on 1 or 2 occasions. I'm goinf to scrap as much loost stuff off the tabs and respray them. I think I can get at least 1 more year out of the bottom paint.