So when is it time to wood before re-painting?

[Jeff Kelety]

Hi all -

It's getting time to repaint folkboat Nais. Question: when is it time to wood her before re-painting? I think she was wooded about seven years ago. Not sure. Apart from a few scuffs from normal wear and tear, the paint is hanging on pretty good (Z-Spar Marine Enamel). There is a small amount of bubbling near the bow on the upper planks. Am told this is due to some moisture in the pitch pine and is cause for wooding. If so, do I have to wood all of her, or just affected planks/sections?

Thanks,
Jeff

[John R Smith]

OK, Jeff, I'll bite. In my experience, you need to take the hull back to the wood when -

* The paint is blistering, flaking, or otherwise detached from the substrate.

* The paint layer is so thick that it will no longer flat down by sanding to an acceptable base layer for re-coating.

Otherwise, if the old paint is well attached and sound, simply flat it down and apply the topcoats of your choice.

John

[Scott Rosen]

What John said.

You should carefully scrape the peeling and blistering sections until you get to a point where the wood is dry and the paint well stuck. If you start scraping and find that the paint comes off easily, in big strips, then it's time to wood the boat. A good paint job could go 10 plus years without wooding. The trick is to sand extremely well before repainting, because a lot of build up will create problems with adhesion. Every year when I paint my topsides, I sand off last year's coats. My boat hasn't been wooded in over 12 years and her finish looks as smooth as glass.

I'm hoping I'll never have to wood the hull, but if I do, I'm going to apply CPES as a first coat.

[J. Dillon]

Scott,

Have you ever posted an image of your boat ?
I would like to see just what she looks like.

JD

[Scott Rosen]

JD,

If you have a scanner, I'll mail you a couple of photos and you can post them.

Let me know off line. Thanks.

[J. Dillon]

Scott,

My E mail messages are returned from your listed address.

JD

[Mirelle]

If you think you ought to do it, do it.

Just done mine. Went 14 years without doing it, rubbing down very hard each year, but she did need it and I wont wait as long next time.

[Jeff Kelety]

Thanks for the commentary, folks.

If I wood just the section that is blistering a bit, what is the methodology for building up just this section? A number of coats of primer then a number of coats of finish to bring it flush with the rest of the finish?

jgk

[Art Read]

Yup. Called "feathering". Just finese it a bit at the transition. If it feels right under your hand with your eyes closed, it IS right.