Bottom coat removal

willy

willy

God
Hey as you all may know next week I'm picking up Fillet 1's boat. It's in the water at a marina, Fillet says he took off most of the old bottom paint that was on boat when he bought it, it was very loose and he got it off almost to the gel coat with a power washer. This season he put on a quart/layer of bottom paint himself. It looks pretty tight on it from what I can see in the water. I don't want it on the boat, that boat just spent it's last season sitting in a marina, trailer boat from now on. The marina will power wash any green growth when it comes out next week but I want to remove all of the bottom paint and have never worked with this stuff before. What is the best way for me to get that crap off and do I have to seal the bottom with something afterwards. Any advise appreciated
 
SOME OF THE BOAT YARDS DOWN HERE BLAST IT WITH BAKING SODA - NO HAZARD TO THE ENVIRONMENT - ONLY OTHER WAY I KNOW OF IS TO SAND IT OFF!!! AND THATS A DIRTY HATEFUL JOB!!!
 
Ok Franco, if I get this stuff off one way or another what effect does that paint have on the gel coat under it, will I need to seal it some how? Its had bottom paint I guess most of its life
 
Never been involved in that, Willy, but if the old bottom paint CAN be remover w/out damage to the gel-coat, then it'll only need a good wax-job...if there's gel-coat damage, if you want it RIGHT, it'll need new paint (or gel-coat)...didn't he paint recently from water-line, up?...

Franco's suggestion about bakin' soda blastin' sounds like your best bet...ask the marina if they can do that, too...dig a lil' deeper... ;)...V20's a good size hole in the water... ;D...
 
Well you can have it done like said above.

They also have some stuff called peel a way from West Marine.
There is also some stuff you can get from home depot but I forget the name ::)
And then there is a stripper called sp42 or something like that at most paint stores that is safe for fiberglass.

Paint it on let sit and then you can power wash it off.

After that you will want to sand the bottom to get the discoloration off. And you want to sand the last bit with like 800 grit to bring back that gel coat shine!!
After that good coat of some good wax and you are off to the races!!

Its a ton of work!!!! But there is nothing better then a naked bottom!!!!!!

I have a ton of paint on my boat and I was going to try getting it off but I am not that ambitious!!
And I no want to pay anyone to do it, so I am still stuck with all that paint.
 
MJ I see some people talking about sealing the bottom after removing paint, is that something special
 
And RAP I dont believe he did any painting except the aformentioned bottom paint and touch up to areas he did glass work inside
 
I think the people you see sealing the bottom sanded or blasted to much gelcoat away.

If that happens then you will need to have re-gelcoated or sealed and painted.

But if you can get it off with out harming the gelcoat then some 800 sand paper will shine you right back up.

A good place for answers to this question is the hull truth http://thehulltruth.net/category-view.asp Thay had a real good right up about it last year.
 
THE PAINT REMOVER IS A GOOD IDEA TOO. SOME ARE NOW NON-TOXIC CITRUS BASED. IF YOU HAVE TO FINISH UP WITH SAND PAPER LIKE MJ SAID, I WOULD WET SAND IT. THAT LUBRICATES THE PAPER AND CLEANS THE PAPER AND WILL GIVE A BRILLIANT SHINE. JUST WAX IT BEFORE YOU DROP IT IN THE DRINK!!!
 
He probably won't, but you can bet he's got it on dvd on his wide-screen at home!!... 8)...REplay just one more time... ;D...
 
I'LL WORK ON THE ENLARGEMENT FELLAS
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Now your getting there, and FRanco just a thought but I remember somewhere on this site a picture of a woman on the rocks a vision a joy a wonderous spectacle that would make a great background for the shirt, it was called something rock hopper but I can't find it
 
Most of the time you have to sand the bottom anyway with 80 grit to get it to stick properly. You can sand blast it off with play sand. I've done that and it looks good afterwards then may need sealing depends on what's under the coat originally.
 
Thanks Lord Skools, but I don't want to put anything back on the boat unless I have to to seal it. Just looking for best way to get it off without damaging the gel coating. Thinking about getting a price locally on that baking soda blast, or dry ice blast. Anyone ever have that done?
 
sand blast it and repaint it with that new Clear bottom coat that has Teflon for trailer boats. In the case you leave the boat in the water longer than 6 hours it is activated and fights scum and mussels. Works in both salt and fresh and is EPA Approved.
 
Forget the 'marine' labeled strippers. I started with all that stuff and found a much better product and at a way cheaper price. Go to a Home Depot and get a gallon of 'Bix spray on'. It is the one that says ok for fiberglass (I think the orange can) and I used it on mine, no problem. $14.95 for a gallon and spray bottle. Put it on good and it will turn the paint to butter.
Hate to tell you, but you will be sanding to get it back to white which I'm sure is what you want since the surface will appear stained from the bottom paint. Have fun (do it while your still enthused about it!)
Any questions, let me know. I've spent a bunch of hours on this.

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