Painting over gelcoat - any one have regrets?

[zachduckworth]

Hi all,
I have a 1984 Islander Bahama 30 that has the original gel coat. Looking down the road a year or two I'd like to get the gel coat redone or else have it painted. I was wondering if there are any serious drawbacks of going to paint, as I sort of prefer the look and I can get my topside repainted fairly cheap in the water. I was wondering if anyone has any regrets from painting or if there are any serious considerations to be aware of (other the the $2500 for the painting...).

[Snowgoose35]

Provided you prepare the surface correctly and use a good quality paint there is no down side. A two pack paint will be as hard as gelcoat and can be polish the same. Single pack isn't quite as tough but is easy to repair if scuffed and both should last a decade happily.

[Benz]

Gelcoat has an incredible ability to be buffed back to a nice shine even if decades old. Try compounding and buffing a little bit of it and see if you like it.

If you do have to re-coat, I'd use paint, since re-gelcoating is a huge and uncertain process. I've never seen a re-gel job that didn't consume countless hours in wet sanding and buffing.

[thomm225]

My boat, a 1974 Bristol 27, already had paint over gelcoat when I bought it.

It had sat on the hard unattended for 6 years when I found it in 2011 and that paint was all peeling off.

I sailed it like that for a while not knowing if I would even keep the boat since I only paid $2,000 for it and it needed quite a bit of attention.

I finally sanded the old paint down to the original beige gelcoat in 2015.

Then painted the boats topside hull with one Part Pettit EZ Poxy which is about $100/gallon. (with the roll and tip method)

With this paint though you have to repaint every few years.. Photos from 2015 and 2018

Bottom is Micron CSC

[gonesail]

compounding and wax can rescue a gel coat but be aware of the thickness of the gel coat when compounding .. if it is too thin then you need to paint it.

[rslifkin]

Unless you're going to go all-in on a really good paint job with serious disassembly, etc. and spend the big money, I'd always try to restore the gelcoat first. If it's wearing through or you can't get it back to looking good, then it's time for paint. But as long as there's enough thickness left, it's amazing how much gelcoat can be brought back to life.

[ThereAndBack]

I'm in the same boat, so to speak. My gelcoat is looking old, worn down in places, porous, and has 20 years worth of spider cracks and collisions. If I'm going to go through the trouble to repair all the cracks and chips and etc, which will involve pulling all hardware and whatnot, I guess I'm resigned to a full repaint.

One other option has cross my mind though. I've seen other boats use wraps for the hulls and faux teak over the non-skid and deck areas. While I realize these products must be replaced regularly, they're MUCH cheaper to do and they look really good.

[Quadrille in JB]

I would be cautious if you're considering wrapping your boat. We had our 41' wrapped in Tallin, Estonia about 10 years ago by a marina tech that we had used for years. Within 400 miles of 6 kt cruising, the wrap was peeling off around the bow waterline and really took a beating when climbing up from the dingy. I've seen a lot of good looking wraps so check around and get references before getting your boat wrapped.

[ThereAndBack]

Originally Posted by Quadrille in JB

I would be cautious if you're considering wrapping your boat. We had our 41' wrapped in Tallin, Estonia about 10 years ago by a marina tech that we had used for years. Within 400 miles of 6 kt cruising, the wrap was peeling off around the bow waterline and really took a beating when climbing up from the dingy. I've seen a lot of good looking wraps so check around and get references before getting your boat wrapped.

I've heard horror stories as well as success stories as well. Seems it is the case with all options. Have heard horror stories about paint jobs too. Always have to do your due diligence and even then sometimes you'll get burned.

[cr180]

Current sailboat spray painted with Awlcraft in 2004. Still looks good. Wearing in a few spots. Requires at least annual waxing. Chalks up just like gelcoat. Have had other boats over the years with gelcoat. And a small boat with stress cracking that I repaired and rolled and tipped myself with Perfection. Agree a freshly painted hull if done properly can look stunning.

As others have said though, if gelcoat is in decent shape, only fault chalky and dull, and can be compound back to shine that would be preferred. It is labor intensive and expensive to machine compound and wax, but should be way cheaper than a paint job. Paint has a finite life, depending on product. And the marketing that it never needs waxed is not to be believed. $2500 sounds like a bargain. Lotta work to do it right. Gelcoat requires sanding, then primer coat, more sanding, then second primer coat, more sanding, then first coat top coat, then second top coat. Assume roll and tip in water which can imagine may be challenging.

Stress cracks are another story. Not difficult, but tedious to grind out, repair, and fair. Suppose you could then re-gelcoat, but think at that point would paint.

[Jim Cate]

One caveat about painting: don't make a big color change, for if you do, every little scratch stands out shouting "look at me!". If you stick to the original color they don't show up much.

Jim

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Benz

Gelcoat has an incredible ability to be buffed back to a nice shine even if decades old. Try compounding and buffing a little bit of it and see if you like it.

If you do have to re-coat, I'd use paint, since re-gelcoating is a huge and uncertain process. I've never seen a re-gel job that didn't consume countless hours in wet sanding and buffing.

If you let it go for 6-12months on an otherwise relatively new boat, I agree. Very good chance you can recover the gel coat.

On a 20-30yr old boat or one that has not been kept buffed & waxed for a long period, you may get great results initially but because the gelcoat is so degraded it won't last long.

We did the topsides on a prior boat with 1 part enamel and loved the results. 3yrs later when we sold, it was still shiny (with nothing but occasional washing) and if there was a chip or scratch, it was very easy to touch up...Not so with 2 part paints, so while they will resist chips and scratches better, if you actually use the boat, you can expect them to happen.

Paint or gelcoat, you results will like any other painting project be mostly a product of prep work. That was probably 90% of the work when we did the topsides.

[Geoff54]

I have to be a dissenting voice here. I would never spray paint a fiberglass boat. There is possibly a case for roll & tip on a cheap boat, but that’s a different story.

One part paint, like awlcraft or perfection, just isn’t as hard and durable. Two part paint, like awlgrip, shouldn’t be buffed or polished as it compromises the outer layer, and is also a real B**CH to repair.

Yes, gelcoat is a bit more finicky to spray but if you know what you are doing, spraying gelcoat isn’t that difficult. And a less than perfect finish can be wet sanded and buffed out without compromising the durability. Don’t try that with awlcraft. Gelcoat can be easily repaired, buffed, polished and lasts a really long time – mine is 23 years old, has been compounded a few times, looks great and I can’t even tell where the gouges that I repaired were. Unless you can do it yourself, the biggest problem with gelcoat is finding someone who knows how to spray it.

I am starting to shop for my next boat and I won’t even consider a boat that has been painted. At some point it will get some dock rash and I want a boat that I can easily repair and doesn’t need periodic re-painting. And I always wonder why it needed painting in the first place.

I know some people paint but not me!

[rslifkin]

As Geoff mentioned, a boat can definitely be re-gelcoated. But there are definitely far more people good at applying paint than good at spraying gelcoat. I wouldn't be afraid to buy a painted boat, but I'd absolutely need to know what it was painted with (so it could be cared for properly).

For the 2 part paints, some, like Awlgrip are considered non-repairable. But IIRC, some of them like Alexseal can be repaired and blended. I'm not sure about Imron.

Also consider that some boats are painted right from the factory. Like every Hatteras out there. They all left the factory painted, not with exposed gelcoat. If memory serves, Imron was their paint of choice for many years.

[gamayun]

I struggled with this question for a long time on my 1988 boat. A year ago, I sanded, primed, and painted the deck with Alexseal (a near white color, "winter clouds" or something) and used coarse SoftSand for the non-skid. It turned out great. I only rolled (no tipping) because of an additive that makes the bubbles disappear. Just gotta watch for drips. I still have to do the topside, but that was painted from the factory, which has held up well but it's time. I just need to decide whether to stay with the same Navy color or go lighter.