Bottom Paint suggestions for NW-gctid370571

[Guest]

Hi all,

Fairly new to the North West Seattle region, just purchased a 93' 2452, old bottom paint looks pretty rough, whats a good bottom paint for the money up here? should I sand off most of the old paint first its pretty clumpy. Frankly I know almost nothing about bottom paints. Came from CO and never needed it, just in and out of fresh water. I have been doing some reading but could use some advice. Don't want to spend and Arm but don't want to get junk either. Thanks ahead of time for you advice.

PS: the boat will be in a slip in (SALT WATER) probably at least 8 months at a time if not all year.

[Guest]

Surfnturf wrote:
Hi all,

Fairly new to the North West Seattle region, just purchased a 93' 2452, old bottom paint looks pretty rough, whats a good bottom paint for the money up here? should I sand off most of the old paint first its pretty clumpy. Frankly I know almost nothing about bottom paints. Came from CO and never needed it, just in and out of fresh water. I have been doing some reading but could use some advice. Don't want to spend and Arm but don't want to get junk either. Thanks ahead of time for you advice.

PS: the boat will be in a slip in (SALT WATER) probably at least 8 months at a time if not all year.

I just finished this project myself for the first time last week. I too was confused at all the different types of bottom paint. What i ended up doing is asking my marina what they recommend. They had some on the shelf. It cost me $144/ga - I only needed 1 gal. Also learned you can not stir up it up by yourself using a stir stick - it required a machine or drill with stir arm, due to the thickness.

I then sanded my bottom lightly, taped off the ending point and got my paint roller out. It went on easy and a couple hours later my boat looked amazing.

Good luck!

[Guest]

I'd recommend an ablative paint, minimizes the sanding required next year

If you don't have bottom paint now, I'd recommend 1 or 2 coats of one color, followed by one of a different color. That way when the outer coat is wearing off, you can tell ya need more paint.

I've used various brands and don't have a favorite . . .but the $150 gallon range is about the norm for me.

[cosmo777]

Make sure you sand the gelcoat rough, or the bottom paint wont stick.

If you're gonna moor it in the water, you should also use an epoxy undercoat before the bottom paint.

As boatommy said, use a coat of one color, then two coats of your desired color.

[Guest]

How Rough is rough? 100grit? 60? 20?

also epoxy under coat can that be rolled on and then if so does it also then need to be rough sanded?

Thanks again

[Guest]

I use Interlux fiberglass BottomKote -- that is for my area, but it says 80 grit -- hope that helps.