Bottom paint removal question

[Mr. Sandman]

anyone ever use that tape like stuff the is suppose to peel away old bottom paint? Does it work?

[likwid]

Meh, it'd be messy I assume, 10" random orbit sander and an old shop vac would do it in an hour or two.

[BEETLE]

Jim
If you are talking about the Peel Away, don't waste the time or money.
I "was" going to strip off the paint on my boat... started with peel away, and tried two other stronger products.
They all soften the gelcoat to varying degrees, which began to concern me, so I stopped at the test patch.
Seems the sand and vac route is the best advice.
Once the paint, (properly applied) is on there it's there... bottom paint is a very rugged product to remove with chemical, then add to the equation off of fiberglas.

[Mr. Sandman]

ugh, I was afraid of that. I was hoping for a neat invention that made this chore a non-chore. I hate doing bottoms...I will get a quote from the yard.
My problem is that the guy who painted it first never got all the mold release wax off and the paint has never held right. It looks like hell. I need to get to down to bare glass wiped it down with a wax remover and prep it for fresh paint. Actually it should not be that hard to get off but I know some spots will be a pita.

[zacs]

On ship shape tv a week or so ago they had a guy with a tool that went around grinding bottom paint/gel coat off, right down to glass. They main reason was for curing osmotic blisters. It was a really cool tool, i don't remember what it was called. but it just ripped right down to bare glass and had all sorts of depth controls so you got a nice even finish. maybe if you set the tivo to record all episodes of shipshape tv you will find it, because they do a lot of repeats.

[thefishingfreak]

elbow grease!!
and if your not gunna babysit the yard,,,, do it yourself.
this is a busy time of year so if you want it done right do it yourself. you think the guy with 40 boats lined up behind yours really cares what yours looks like in three months? nope.

wetsand it, get one of those wobbly head sheetrock sanding-pole attachments at home depot, with the sanding screens, and go to town on it. while your buddy holds the hose to it.
absolutely NO dust...
forget those chemicals all your left with is a mess and a pile of haz-waste plus neutralizing that stuff to paint over is tough.

elbow grease..

[Tuna Helper]

I spoke to someone last year about soda blasting my 19 footer. I was quoted $500. It sounds like a very reasonable price.
These are the folks I spoke to:
http://www.masssodablast.com/

[Mr. Sandman]

Tuna Helper,

Yeah, those are the guys.
I just sent them an email to see what the cost and logistics would be.


Did you end up using them?

thanks

[macojoe]

Home Depot, sells a stuff called Bix there are two kinds, get the
"BIX" strength sprayable stripper

Helped a friend do his, it worked great!! Spray it on and wait the required time. Scrape off, or perssure wash off.

There alot of guys on THT that have done the same thing with the same stuff!

I have to do mine also, just need to find the time?

Good Luck

[Tuna Helper]

Didn't end up getting it done. I was unemployed at the time and $500 may as well have been $5 million.
I may do it this Spring.

[MakoMike]

I just e-mailed MA sodabasting for a price, I'll let you know what I find out.

[Homerun04]

Keep me in the loop on the soda blasting....Saucy needs some new paint

[InTheHole]

I just got a reply from Mass soda blast:
$45.00/ft + $200.00 (materials)
27ft x 45 = 1215 + 200 = $1415.00, it may be fair for the work being done (?) but too rich for my blood. Now where did I put that sand paper ??

[Mr. Sandman]

I was afraid of that.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by InTheHole

I just got a reply from Mass soda blast:
$45.00/ft + $200.00 (materials)
27ft x 45 = 1215 + 200 = $1415.00, it may be fair for the work being done (?) but too rich for my blood. Now where did I put that sand paper ??

Jeeze I'll do it for $200 and a case of Brooklyn Weisse.

[MakoMike]

Yea I just got the same quote $1550 to do a 30 footer.

["uffah!!"]

Originally Posted by likwid

Jeeze I'll do it for $200 and a case of Brooklyn Weisse.

I will keep you in mind for next year. I'll have you do my 21 footer!!

[macojoe]

for $200 I will have you do it right now!!

[Vectorfisher]

Cmon guys suck it up and get the respirator coveralls and DA out, I did my 24' last spring, I got it all done in a jiffy and had a nice clean bottom.

[MakoMike]

I found a guy in Naragansett that will soda blast for $40 a foot. His name is John Armstrong phone 401-378-7881. If you call it couldn't hurt if you tell him you know me. He'll be doing my boat sometime before the end of the month. I'll let you know how it goes.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by uffah!!

I will keep you in mind for next year. I'll have you do my 21 footer!!

Got my full face 3M mask, porter cable random orbit, and an old shop vac in the basement.

But half the reason they want an arm and a leg is the disposal of the bottom paint post sanding.
THAT is expensive.

[Homerun04]

Hey guys....maybe the soda blasting folks will give us all a volume discount if we can get enough boats together......thoughts.?

[Jon G]

Get under there with a grinder and some 80grit won't take as long as you think I took at least six coats off in two hours right down to the epoxy barrier coat. Finish sand with some 150 and its ready to go!

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by likwid

Jeeze I'll do it for $200 and a case of Brooklyn Weisse.

When do you want to start?

[crash]

I'll give you $200 and a keg of Brooklyn Weisse

[InTheHole]

anyone use the ablative paint instead of hard epoxy ? pros? cons?

[MakoMike]

IMHO ablative is the way to go. You can see when it wears off an know that its time to repint, plus it doesn't build up like regular bottom paints do.

[Tuna Helper]

I'd love to use ablative. But, I heard you can't use it on a "fast" boat. I have a 19 footer that tops out at 40+ mph.

My average speed (considering that a good deal of Boston's Inner Harbor is a no-wake zone) is probably 20-25 mph.

Anyone know if I can use ablative?

[Mr. Sandman]

Ablative is the way to go...I never heard that fast boat theory before.

You should never have to sand...if you do apply it right the first time

It works well from what I have seen. Hard paint is there forever, long after the antifoulant agent has leached out. This is how you get a big buildup of worthless bottom paint. Ablative wears off over time and can last for several seasons.

There was a great test of antifoulant bottom paints that ran a 9 month test both in FLA and in CT. (Powerboat review) The results were basically that some of the $80/gal paints with 40% CU worked better then some of the $130/gal paints with 70% CU. The bottom line was West Marines ablative (about 80 bucks) was one of the top pics. Also they determined that NONE of the slime agents work that well and added a lot of cost to the gallon of paint. They looked at hard and ablative. Most worked pretty well (some better then others)in fact one reviewer said that he would put any of the paints on his boat because most were very effective. I think there is another test planned too.

[InTheHole]

Thanks for the info
I think I will give the ablative a try. If it works as well / better than hard paint and I do not have to remove multiple coats of bottom paint every few years it's an easy decision.