Boat Painting
Proper Boat Paint
Painting your boat is actually an investment. If a boat is painted properly, it will enhance and protect your boat, make it run smoother and faster.
Boat painting is not easy and can be a nightmare for those who don’t do it properly. Proper boat painting requires good paint. There are many choices of paint for the bottom of the boat and the hull.
The bottom of the boat must be painted using antifouling boat paint. This helps resist algae growth. Since most boats are kept in the water year round, algae will grow onto the bottom of the boat if it is not protected. However, bottom paint has a lifespan of a few years. So once you paint the bottom of your boat, you have quite some time before you need to buy more paint.
It is vert important to choose the correct boat paint which depends on the following factors: intended use of boat, water conditions and paint that was originally used on the boat. All boats need different type of paint. Strip off old paint if you are not planning on using the same paint as the original boat paint.
There are many steps to preparing a boat for painting. Once you have prepared the boat for painting by stripping extra paint off or sanding the boat, the last step is to apply a barrier coat and antifouling paint.
To make your boat safer for use and for future cleaning ease, paint the deck using boat deck paint. Painting a boat deck will only be needed every few years if done properly.
Not all boats need anti-fouling bottom boat paint. If you dock your boat in water for very short times, you will not need anti-foul bottom paint. However, if your boat is docked in the water for longer periods of time, the type of bottom paint needed depends on your intended uses of your boat and the water conditions. In some waters, hull fouling happens even when boats are left in the water for only a couple of days.
Determining Correct Amount of Boat Paint
The amount of paint needed to paint a boat varies for everyone. This depends on boat size. First determine what type of paint is appropriate for your boat. Then you can estimate the amount of paint required for a proper paint job.
Since bottom paint is costly and left-over paint is toxic and poses a disposal problem, do not buy more paint that your boat requires. To determine the square footage when of paint your boat requires, multiply the length of your boat by the beam. Follow manufacturer’s estimates for the amount of bottom paint that is needed per square footage of boat.