Soda blast or just scrape and paint

BRIELLY

Junior Member
I'm hoping some of you can help me with this decision as Ive received numerous opinions. The boat is a 78 v20 with what looks like numerous coats of bottom paint the has come off in some areas, and is flaking in many other spots. Some of it actually appears to be on pretty good. One yard recomended geting it soda blasted and gave me the number of someone they trust. After speaking with the soda blaster he suggested not soda blasting now because the hull would most likely have high moisture content and new paint would not adhere well to it. He said wait until the fall and let it dry out over the winter. What do you guys think? Is this good advice? I wasn't really looking forward to paying for the soda blasting at the moment anyway. Although scraping/sanding while on the trailer doesn't seem like much fun either.
 
Been there done that!! And you are right its not fun! But scraping will take a lot off. Just be careful not to dig into the gel coat!!

Even after soda blasting your not done, you will need to paint with barrier paint then a top coat, in it stays on trailer there will be no need for anti foul.

He may be right the paint, with water will not clean up that easy, I would scrape what will come off, and wait till spring for the blasting.
 
I did the trailer last year buts its a PITA with the wife and 2 small kids so this year were getting a slip. Would a pressure washer help speed up the process and knock some off the flaking paint off?
 
bri, I'm in manahawkin I soda blasted two seasons ago , and It was the best 500.00 I ever spent. I did the barrier coat then the micron bottom paint and it looked like new.

plus once it was blasted i could see all the imperfections in the hull so I could marine tex all the little spots with professional results.
 
i had mine done last summer .. you will have to put some sort of paint on after blasting .. it did roughen up the gel in a few areas .. some areas are pretty thin and even with soda, you can blast thru easily.

my plan was to paint my hull anway and do not use bottom paint. i did what lumber did and filled the imperfections, primed, sealed, and sprayed it.

cost was around $400.

good luck
 
I found a guy that will pull it off the trailer, scrape it and paint it for around $280. I'll deal with the expense of soda blasting come fall. I just want to get it in the water on the cheap side for now then go with ablative after the soda blasting next season.
 
I found a guy that will pull it off the trailer, scrape it and paint it for around $280. I'll deal with the expense of soda blasting come fall. I just want to get it in the water on the cheap side for now then go with ablative after the soda blasting next season.


That's a GREAT deal IF he knows what he's doin'...see if you can talk to some owners he has done it for in the past...
 
before i would spend that i get some cheapo paint and paint myself, why spend 1/2 the cost of blasting then blast next year??
 
I just went through that last month, same question, lots of thinking. Ended up doing it myself. For advise, I called an old friend who is a fisherman from the local village, he told me that the way they do it ( cheap way ) is to lift the boat on the trailer on one side, paint that side, let dry, then lift the other side and the same. It was a liitle dificult to get around the trailer beams to scrub or paint, but it works. I scraped and sanded where needed. After a good hand scrub with pure Dawn dish soap, let dry for two days, and painted with ABLATIVE.
Results, looks good from a distance, not very smooth, but spend little money. $85.00 for a gallon of paint and one 4" brush which I saved still. Boat has been in the water for a month, and I love it, money saved is on my belly and in the tank. I will not EVER paint with anything but ablative. IT just makes a lot of sense. Maybe there are reasons for using non ablative, but in my case, not.
What is under water does not matter if its so smooth. I don`t know how much drag it can induce, but I never go fast anyways.
 
ablative paint is the way to go! get the bottom clean so u could see any area that may need to be repaired. after proper repairs have been made i use barrier coat then apply a ablative bottom paint their are a couple of brands out. i use the interlux system FOLLOW THE COMPANY INSTRUCTION and u wont go wrong. i got 4 years of service in barnegat bay from inter protect first; followed by three coats of micron. HARD WORK EXPENSIVE but i did not have too deal with it until the fifth year by apply two more coats of just micron with bioux good for another 2/3 years all i did was power washed the bottom after removing the boat from the water every year!
 
ablative paint is the way to go! get the bottom clean so u could see any area that may need to be repaired. after proper repairs have been made i use barrier coat then apply a ablative bottom paint their are a couple of brands out. i use the interlux system FOLLOW THE COMPANY INSTRUCTION and u wont go wrong. i got 4 years of service in barnegat bay from inter protect first; followed by three coats of micron. HARD WORK EXPENSIVE but i did not have too deal with it until the fifth year by apply two more coats of just micron with bioux good for another 2/3 years all i did was power washed the bottom after removing the boat from the water every year!


Here's what I got outta this...moisture's been detected in the hull...no matter what you use or when you use it, an important aspect to this is to allow it to dry before you apply
 
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