Painting over fresh pitch

[plimsol]

I am having a little problem with painting over recently pitched bilges. The Z-Spar paint is not curing. The paint stays, well, gooey and seems to be softening the pitch. The pitch was lightly sanded and primed with primer, which dried normally. Both the primer and top coat were thinned with T-10 and Penetrol. The paint dried normally everywhere but on the pitch. As an experiment, the remaining pitch is being red leaded, the real stuff, first, before the top coat. Any thoughts?

[ACB]

This is normal. The bad news is that you will not be able to paint over the pitch for several years.

The good news is that you will not need to do so, save for appearance's sake.

[thechemist]

It's not a disadvantage; it's a feature.

It shows you have a genuine wood boat.

[bugeye]

HI,
You can paint over pitch and roofing tar and some other things like that with aluminum paint. I've found that in the hardware store it's usually near the roofing tar, and it's meant to go over the tar on things like trailer homes and such. I've also read that aluminum paints are an excellent moisture barrier, but I've never tried it for that. Anyway, if you paint the pitch with this, you can then go and topcoat it with whatever color you want after a day or two.

[imported_Spissgatter W-9]

can you elaborate on the "pitching" process? Thanks

[Nicholas Carey]

Originally posted by Geo:
can you elaborate on the "pitching" process?Take real pitch (also sold as Jeffrey's No. 2 Marine Glue, A UK product.) Not pine tar, not roofing tar: pitch. Solid black, looks like anthracite. Rather similar to violin rosin.

Melt it in a pot of sufficient size. Carefully, though -- it will burn and it has a lot of fuel value: flame on!

Pour pitch into the bottom of each frame bay until your bilges fill to the level of the bottom of the limber hole. NOTE: your boat should be level with respect to the waterline fore and aft and athwartships.

The point of the exercise is to make it possible for water to drain down to the lowest spot in the boat (where the bilge pump intake is), eliminate places for water to collect, and make it easier to keep the bilge clean (fewer nooks and crannies).

Without pitched bilges, there are often puddles in each frame bay that don't drain.

For more information, do a forum search for pitch -- we had a conversation about it some months back.

[bugeye]

hi,
Why on earth would you use geoffrey's or zofar to fill bilges, when you can use steeps for less than 1/10th of the cost. I feel that even in paying deck seams the marine glue is a waste of money, but I won't argue about that. But in a boat of any size, you could spend $1000 on pitch just to fill bilges. Steeps stays at least as flexible as geoffrey's when it gets cold. I just payed the whole deck of my boat with it, and I know of many fine old schooners done the same way with fine results. When pouring pitch in bilges, I have found that I get the best results if I do it in two stages. First, pour just a little bit over the entire area that you think will be covered when you're done. Unless the wood is extremely dry, you'll get alot of little bubbles in the pitch, not because the pitch itself is boiling, but because the heat of the pitch is boiling moisture out of the wood. After this cools, come back again and fill it upto the limber holes and and shouldn't bubble this time because the wood is now sealed off.

[ACB]

Ah, well, here's another variation. I have pitched the bays in the ends with Jeffrey's No. 2, and the bays in the middle of the boat are cemented.

[JIM MALONEY]

Bugeye: What on earth is 'steeps'? I am in the process of filling the voids in my Winslow 36 which we are re-building, with pitch. It is expensive.

[bugeye]

Hi Jim,
"Steeps" is an asphalt product that is used by the roofing industry. Call any roofer in your area, and they will be able to either sell it to you or send you to a distributor who can. I bought some this summer for $8.00 for a 50lb block of the stuff. A 50lb block is probably not quite 5 gallons. The consensus is that steep no 3 is the one to use. The number refers to the heat range. When I went to the roofer he said that no 3 is the only one that is commonly available anyway. It is about as black as black can be and The only difference that I can see is that the steeps is alot easier to use in that you don't have to be as careful about overheating the stuff. With zofar or geoffrey's, if you overheat it, you chemically change it and it will be brittle. With steeps, if you boil it in the pot, just turn down the heat and don't pour until it stops bubbling, and it seems to be unaffected by the overheating. Another thing that I like about it is that it's fun to hear people get all riled up saying that only geoffrey's is suitable. :D

[bugeye]

Hi again Jim,
One thing that you may know already, is that if you use pitch, either steeps or the expensive stuff, is that it is quickly attacked by petroleum. This means that you really ought to have a good drip pan under your engine. This is one area where cement is much better than pitch. I just dont ever want to have to remove cement from the bilges of my boat, pitch is easy that way.

[ACB]

If you do need to remove cement (and I have!) use a narrow, long, cold chisel, about a 2lb club hammer and a great deal of patience. Using a bigger chisel and hammer does not work so well.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

just an aside... The first mechanic I ever worked with was a marine mechanic, and Rolls Royce Certified as well. His family were all boat builders up my way.. anyway, I was getting ready to build a drip pan for Mischief, (1932 John Hacker Gidley built launch) and he said "What are you doing" I told him and his eyes got all bugged out and his face got red (he was about 75) and he choked out "If you have something leaking from your engine, you FIX THE LEAK!!" and I said "well hum okay then " and that was it with bilge pans