Priming over epoxy

[seedy]

I'm making a bulwark out of ply and have coated it with Gflex because part of it rests against the hull and the previous one rotted along there. I have some Kilz primer and latex paint to go over it (the previous owner painted the rest of the boat with it).

Will that work? Or is there something special that needs to go over the epoxy, or just go directly to the latex?

[AstoriaDave]

Test it; if the surface is sanded to about 150 grit, it will have enough tooth for any paint. Some paints have driers in them which the unreacted amines in epoxy will deactivate, and the paint will never dry.

[seedy]

Thanks AstoriaDave. I'm assuming that I should still use a primer first?

I like the maritime museum out there, looked into living there at one point. Have climbed the tower as well.

[Thorne]

No need for the primer unless you are relying on the anti-fungal part of Kilz to keep the PAINT mold-free - it ain't gonna have any contact with the wood through the epoxy coating.

The only other primer I'd consider might be a high-build primer if my epoxy needed a bit of additional help to look level...

[seedy]

Great, thank you Thorne. I want to get it done and there's that much less to do that way :^)

[Woxbox]

test, test ,test. Different brands of epoxy behave differently. The Kilz may actually help quite a bit, or maybe not at all.

[AstoriaDave]

No need for the primer unless you are relying on the anti-fungal part of Kilz to keep the PAINT mold-free - it ain't gonna have any contact with the wood through the epoxy coating.

Yup. I should have mentioned that -- epoxy over wood is a great primer, sanded.

test, test ,test. Different brands of epoxy behave differently. The Kilz may actually help quite a bit, or maybe not at all.

Yeah, if the Kilz dries, it will protect the next layer from inhibition of drying.

[wizbang 13]

I'd use interlux 404/414 epoxe primer.

[seedy]

I should mention that I bought the Kilz because I was doing this out of Home Despot and there weren't a lot of marine choices available, none actually. So I had no ideas about the utility of Kilz beyond being a primer. Might make a good option if the latex won't dry, good idea.

Gflex is not the easiest stuff to apply. Right on the edge of being putty knife fodder. I used a couple of crappy foam brushes I wanted rid of anyway, and one broke under the strain. I searched for info before posting this and found that bit about using a cut-up roller, so I'll probably try that next time.

I'll post back when I find out what works. Thanks again for the speedy answers, all.