DIY Hull roll and tipping

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J

Jmk2000

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2019
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Hey y’all,

I’m looking at purchasing a 1985 Chris Craft 251 that’s in great shape and has been very well maintained. Only thing really that needs some love is the Hull is heavily stained and oxidized. If I get it I intend to paint the hull and give her a splash of color! I’m looking hard at Pettit EZ Poxy and Total Boat Wet Edge Topside paint. I’d love to hear y’all’s opinion on these two paints and if you’ve had luck with any other types as well. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experience with me!

Josh
 
EZ Poxy is good for stripes but not adequate for hull and cabins. It has two short of a life. You need to step up to a two part epoxy. It’s really no different other than you need to mix it before you use it.
 
Greetings,
Mr. J. As I'm sure you're aware, a DIY paint job is 95% prep work. The painting is the easy part. I hired out a repaint of our 46' Cheoy Lee LRC. House painters BUT they did good prep work and the final product looked quite good. NOT a spray application. Roll and tip.
We used Alexseal products for everything. Fairing compound (REALLY nice to work with), primer and topcoat. ALL quite user friendly. NOT cheap but was still shiny after 5 years in the FL sun.
Evidently much easier to repair/blend in than Awlgrip.


What you might try first is a wet sand and polishing compound(s). Cheaper and it just might get rid of the majority of your oxide/staining.
 
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Look at Boatworks Today website. He has extensive videos on rolling and (maybe) tipping. If you use Alexseal 2 part poly paint with the tipping additive you can just roll and get the look of a tipped job.
 
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,

What you might try first is a wet sand and polishing compound(s). Cheaper and it just might get rid of the majority of your oxide/staining.
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Most definitely try this option first, if the gelcoat has enough depth left, especially on the cabins and above deck level, this is the quickest and best finish you will achieve, unless spray painted by skilled trades people.
Depending on the oxidising level, 600-800 grit through to 1500 and then compounding etc, lots of good YouTube demo’s to follow with these processes.

Staining is easily removed by the various acid products available, either proper boat products or plain old oxalic, same result.
 
I recently tried Pettit EZ Poxy, I'm not sure that I've use a crappier paint. You need to thin it and even thinning with a brushing reducer like T-10 it flashes off so fast that it doesn't have time to flow. And I'm in the PNW where it isn't hot and I was painting undercover so no UV. Really a terrible paint.
Interlux discontinued Perfection and is supposed to be coming out with something new. Maybe check that out.
 
Alex Seal is great stuff. Today comes with a roll additive so NO tipping. Go to boatworks today and check his videos out. I did my boat (before the roll additive) and only rolled it. Came out better that spray jobs I have seen. My boat even made the show. The green sport fish.

https://youtu.be/QtD0wvNAjD0
 
I think it's the other way around, there was so much competition that there was no place for Perfection. I've also heard that Epifanes is discontinuing their LP, likely for the same reason.

Southern Boater said:
That’s interesting, I thought this was a popular paint?
Perhaps the competition is catching up?
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I vote for AlexSeal also - painted our boat four years ago. Was still looking good and shiny when we sold her this year.
 
FoxtrotCharlie said:
I vote for AlexSeal also - painted our boat four years ago. Was still looking good and shiny when we sold her this year.
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I think that maybe Alexseal is kicking their butts so some other manufacturers are leaving the market. With Alexseal it is probably the easiest 2 part paint to apply.
 
Have a friend in Maine who is a wooden boat fanatic, antique sailboats.
He said he painted his topsides with a Sherwin Williams laxtex gloss house paint and it has held up well.
Had never heard of that am so engrained to buy the expensive "marine" oil-based or poly or epoxy type paints.
His argument was the Sherwin Williams folks have been experimenting and working with the chemistry of weather resistance paints for decades and they know as much or more about that than any of the marine folks.
He said the proof is the paint job has held up for years and other wooden boat "experts" have commented on how great it looks and asked what he is using.
Anyone here ever heard of that or have any experience with that?
 
Everyone has their opinion on how to maintain a boat. I have painted several complete boats. In doing so I find that I want to use the best quality and longest lasting paint since in the overall scheme of painting a boat DIY the paint cost is negligible. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done in prepping the boat for paint. The vast majority of the work is done before you open a paint can. And the cost savings of a DIY paint job makes it reasonable to pay for a quality paint. You will be saving tens of thousands of dollars so why not break out a couple of thousand for paint?
 
My Maine buddy was not trying to save on paint cost.
He is a lifelong Maine boater and has tried and used all the conventional paints, Interlux, Pettit, etc. - it was just his opinion that the Sherwin Williams paint actually held up better.
Had never heard of anyone trying that so curious if anyone else has.
Don't know if being on a wooden hull made any difference.
 
I can't agree enough with the previous comments here to watch Boat works today's videos, and use Alexseal. It is so much better for getting great DIY results than every other paint it's not funny. Don't mess with any other products. Waste of time and money.
 
Mac G said:
My Maine buddy was not trying to save on paint cost.
He is a lifelong Maine boater and has tried and used all the conventional paints, Interlux, Pettit, etc. - it was just his opinion that the Sherwin Williams paint actually held up better.
Had never heard of anyone trying that so curious if anyone else has.
Don't know if being on a wooden hull made any difference.
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Have a friend who restores all sorts of high end wooden boats for a living. I watched him use Rust Oleum with near perfect results. Not sure how that would work out on fiberglass?
I re painted a bathroom door with Ben Moore interior latex last week. (Have always used oil in the past) Would be happy to achieve the same results on a boat. Lots of improvements in the paint industry in general.
 
Once you're past the prep stage, paint on a boat is all about how well the paint adheres to the materials you're working with and how long it stays looking good. Doing well in both of those doesn't necessarily require a "marine" paint, especially on materials like wood that are commonly used in other industries. A marine paint is the safe bet, but not necessarily the only correct answer.
 
Cigatoo said:
Have a friend who restores all sorts of high end wooden boats for a living. I watched him use Rust Oleum with near perfect results. Not sure how that would work out on fiberglass?
Lots of improvements in the paint industry in general.
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I have had good results with the Rust Oleum marine paint on vertical sections of cabin topsides. Easy to use/reduce/repair. The lower price point is just a nice benefit.

I agree with Sean9, msg 9. Have used Pettit EZ Poxy on the more exposed sections of the topsides subject to more extreme hot/cold/solar exposure. Looks great, glossy hard finish, but not flexible enough on my boat vs the weather/sun cycles. Significantly more difficult paint to manage application vs the Rust Oleum.

Inclined to go with AlexSeal this year.
 
I have been advised to not use Alexseal over my existing EZPoxy topside paint, that I would have to remove the old 1-part paint to use a 2-part paint. Any of you out there received similar or conflicting advice?

Considering Toplac Plus, its a 1-part compatible with EZPoxy.
 
GoneFarrell said:
I have been advised to not use Alexseal over my existing EZPoxy topside paint, that I would have to remove the old 1-part paint to use a 2-part paint. Any of you out there received similar or conflicting advice?

Considering Toplac Plus, its a 1-part compatible with EZPoxy.
Click to expand...
Generally that is true. You can put 1 part over 2 part usually but not the other way.
 
GoneFarrell said:
I have been advised to not use Alexseal over my existing EZPoxy topside paint, that I would have to remove the old 1-part paint to use a 2-part paint. Any of you out there received similar or conflicting advice?

Considering Toplac Plus, its a 1-part compatible with EZPoxy.
Click to expand...
I painted over gelcoat with Petit Easypoxy in about 1984. The paint may have improved since then, but then it was totally unsatisfactory. It faded and was far too soft, so got damaged easily. I had a 30' sailboat then, and was a few years younger, so the prep and painting was no biggie. After the failure of the Easypoxy, I stepped up to a 2 part from Interlux and followed the then popular wisdom to remove all of the failed Petit. As it was soft, it came off easily, so I had a much better result. I sold that boat 1/2 way through the paint job, so had to complete it before delivery. I didn't see the boat again until that paint job was 30 years old. You could tell it wasn't new any more, but overall it was in far nicer shape than most boats of that age. The 2 part still had shine and had resisted marring to an amazing degree.

Much more recently I repainted my present boat. I considered 2 part again, but all I really wanted to do was to eliminate the yellow mustache, so I thought I would just do those few strakes of fake planking at the bow, using Interlux Brightside white enamel. The marine store I went to didn't have any, but assured me that the Easypoxy white they did have was just as good and I would be happy with it. After applying the white enamel to the yellow at the bow, I couldn't stop, so ended up doing the whole boat. It wasn't difficult to keep a wet edge, though having fake strakes helped a lot. That was during Covid, so 4 years ago. Last weekend, across the dock was a boat newly painted with a beautiful blue Awlgrip. Its owner, sitting on the dock between the boats, complimented me on the white on my boat. I guess it must be good enough.
 
No you can't put a 2 part like Alexseal or
Awlgrip over a one part like EZ-poxy or Brightsides, the solvents in the 2 part will eat the one part that's under it.
 

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My experience with just rolling Perfection is that it works great on big flat surfaces like a hull. But if you follow PT Watercraft's instruction on the amount you thin the paint it's not thinned enough to brush. No problem on a hull, but anywhere where you're dealing with corners or areas that you need to use a brush in combination with the roller it's difficult and finicky to get right.
I'm building a boat now and plan to roll Alexseal, I've not used it before and I'm curious to see how it goes.
 
I just did my hull and wheelhouse with Epiphanes monothane which is a one part. I put it over a two part with just a light sanding. I rolled it with a 4" roller and I am happy with the results.
 
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