Household paint

[saltydingo]

I've got an old wood fishing trawler that's really not worth much. I just want to clean her up a bit and the current paint is really bad. I am looking for the cheapest method to do this. Any problems with using household external flat paint like you would get at home depot for a quick fix?

Comments/suggestions appreciated.

Eric

[Carl Applebaum]

Household latex paint will not last long in a marine environment, even above the waterline. A better alternative, but still cheaper than marine paints, is oil-based enamels from your local paint store. I have had success for some years, using these paints. Gloss will last better than semi-gloss or flat; but less gloss shows defects less. These paints can be tinted to order, just like the latex ones.

[david clack]

I bought my boat from one of the best boat builders in this country who built it for his own use.. He used Dulux household gloss, as I do.
It lasts a season fine and rubs down easily so repainting is no problem and inexpensive.

[Dave Carnell]

Exterior 100% acrylic latex house paint will outlast oil-based paints in marine environment, as evidenced by all the beachside cottages being painted with it these days.

[ssor]

House paint never is as exposed to the weather on a house as it will be on a boat.
I have used industrial machinery enamel for years on wooden and fiber glass work boats and it endures. Alternatively oil based porch and deck enamel is good.
Just for a test, paint some sticks with the paint you think you want to use, let them dry and drop them in a bucket of water for a week or so.

[NormMessinger]

...and make sure the water cannot get to the back side of the paint through your test plank.

[paul oman]

I found latex exterior trim paint held up much better on my fiberglass decks than enamel when I sailed out of Galveston Bay for years.

Also, on dinghies etc. I couldn't find a difference between interior latex and exterior latex...

paul oman
progressive epoxy polymers

[sdowney717]

I painted the side of my boat with Behr acrylic white exterior latex high gloss. I also painted some on some underwater planks. It stayed on the wood which was underwater for 5 years. and it did grow marine growth, but the paint stayed on the wood.
When I puilled the boat, I power washed the sides of the boat and it did not peel and it looked pretty good, cleaned up just fine.

[Levi]

Paul Oman....I would appreciate your take on this question. I will be soon (waiting for decent weather and warmer temps in the barn) laying canvas on decks of my 59 year old sloop that I am restoring.

I know that the tried & true method of laying canvas is bedding it in oil paint after wetting it with hot water, stretching it over the deck, maybe stapling it down, and re-applying oil paint, it will then shrink from the wetting and if done right, a nice deck cover will be the result. I did this once on another boat many years ago and might have forgotten some of the steps, however, my main question is this;

Can the final top coating after all others have dried, be 100% acrylic exterior latex with no problems? Also, could the whole procedure, now that latex is proving much better than oil paint outdoors and elsewhere, be performed with it?
All we had it the old days was oil paint to work with and it seemed to work okay. Best scenerio might be to go ahead and test it with some good acrylic brand first? Canvas decks are to me, much softer to crawl around on than fiberglass and this old lady I am working on had canvas for nearly 60 years that was in pretty decent shape only it had to go because someone had really scratched her pretty good with an anchor & chain.

It would be so easy to put down glass since I have the surface ready but I really want to preserve the "oldness" on this restoration attempt. I value your opinion and thank you for any help you can offer.

LEVI

[Keith Wilson]

Latex porch and floor paint has held up pretty well on a couple of boats I know about (salt water, Northern California climate); certainly as well as ordinary marine enamel. It's a small sample, though. I don't think the paint on the floor of an open porch or deck has a much easier life than on a boat.

[seayou77]

I too use a household paint with good results. I use a dutch paint under the name Shreuder. A distributor out of Vermont carries it. It is a high grade oil based product but easier than say Z-spar which curtains badly on those early spring days when I'm getting the boat ready. I like the build propeties and fill the seams with thickened paint or the gunk at the bottom of the can. Sands out nicely. Latex is plastic, sandpaper gunks up no place for it on a proper wood boat, in my opinion.
If we could get this thread elevated or seperated on the canvas question, I too am interested in whats the way to keep this technique alive with todays materials. Kirby White Lead shaken not stirred... Better check the FAQ.

[NormMessinger]

So, Carl. What do you figure you did differently from this other dudes who have had success with water born house paint?

[TimothyB]

I think that comparing latex to enamel without talking about:

1) Use. How is the boat used? How much is it in the water? How often does it get taken out?

2) Materials. What material is the area being painted? How did you prepare the surface? What did you use for a primer?

3) Brand/Type. Acrylic Latex? Etc..

..is not too useful. I would be willing to bet those who've had success with latex have light use boats, have excellent surface prep, use some particular type, or any combination of these atributes.

Saying 'Latex is better' or 'Oil is better' is like comparing wood to fiberglass without talking about species or layup.

Now we KNOW that oil paints absorb into wood well, and that they do protect wood well, and that they are more forgiving than latex paints. So, in most situations, leaving all other variables in the air, oil paint would be better.

But if the surface were prepped right, was sealed with something (like epoxy resin or just a really good primer) and painted with several thin coats of acrylic latex paint, and was of a species that was good on paint take-up, it will probably last as well, if not better.

[Bob Smalser]

I use California's Kelly Moore paints almost exclusively.

High solids content, lotsa color options, and an old-fashioned hard "industrial porch and deck enamel" that has the look I like along with the longevity.

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3075025/57597751.jpg

As good as Kirby? Dunno...'cept it's 25 bucks a gallon right down the road as opposed to 70 bucks plus huge shipping costs from the East Coast.

Sorry, but latex for me is never an option.

[Cullen T.M. McGough]

I haven't tried this on wood, but I've successfully coated some fiberglass FJ's with Oil-based Polyurethane enamel. (The same hellish stuff they use to coat the floor in cheap prisons and elementary schools.)

It sticks like a bastard and protects like a stack of telephone books, but don't get it on your skin- it ain't coming off.

-Cullen T.M. McGough

p.s. (For the sake of the future, only do this as a last resort on a junker. If the craft ever gets serious restoration attention, someone like me will soundly curse your bones for following my advice.)

[ion barnes]

A very long time ago, we had in town, a Bapco(British American Paint Co)paint plant. Dont think the company even exists anymore, but back when, I was talking to the lab manager one day and he told me that their household porch paint was the same as their marine paint! Just a different lable. I was just a kid with an old GlenL Squirt and very little money, and now, much has changed, but always fall back to the porch paint.

[Stiletto]

I have used a water based enamel on my cabinsides and cockpit area and am well pleased with it after putting some on the transom of my dinghy and seeing how well it had lasted.

Dulux Aquanamel was the brand I used. I think it wears better than oilbased enamels and you can put on a couple of coats or more in one day.

[Jamaica Mike]

Originally posted by seayou77:
[QB]I too use a household paint with good results. I use a dutch paint under the name Shreuder. QB]I have used Schreuder's Hascolac extensively on my house - both interior and exterior. It applies really nice, flows out well, and has a very nice surface. It is the best house paint I have ever found, and it is not cheap. Durability has been quite good, but I have not tried it on a boat.

[ssor]

THe only real complaint that I have had with acrylic house paint on my boat was when I got sunscreen on it and softened the paint. :confused:

[Stiletto]

The sunscreen may have had alcohol in it( the one I use does). Alcohol and acrylic arent compatible as I found out when I refilled an old compass that had an acrylic dome.
A small rub of alcohol is one way of determining whether a paint is acrylic or not.