Opinion on just painting rough surfaces?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Benz

I have unfaired fiberglass surfaces in my boat, painted over with one-part primer and gloss Rust-oleum. Bilges are Bilgekote, but I didn't break my back fairing all that. You can still see the weave patterns, but it's shiny. I like it.

Exactly what I was thinking of doing. Down to the brand of paint.

Do you have a picture of that you could show? Would love to see what it looks like in advance.

Rustoleum is some very tough stuff.

I have used it here and there and it holds up really well against abuse.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Why paint it at all? (unless you want a particular color there) What's wrong with seeing the "bones" of the boat? [I like being able to see my timber through the glass and expoxy.] As long as the present surface is easy to clean and keep mold-free, why paint? Besides, it is something, if you decide to sell the boat on, later, that the new owner could customize to suit him/herself, without adding the weight of paint.


Ann

I guess I really don’t like the look that you see in the pictures. The yellow is corecell foam and the brown is some bog filler to even that stuff out so that you could bond the fiberglass properly to it. Without voids.

It’s kind of haphazard looking and to me it’s an eyesore.

So on the exposed areas I would like a uniform color. I don’t care about anything inside of cabinets. I don’t care about anything in the bilge. I would like to leave those like you see in the pictures so that the hull is easily inspected. But the staff that’s looking at you all day, it would be nice to have that quieted down and uniform.

Selling the boat isn’t looking very appealing right now. really starting to see the potential in this thing even motoring around.

[smj]

Our cat is all painted over unfaired glass on the inside.
Advantages are it’s easy to clean and all fittings are easy to reach if needed. Also liners and fairing ad quite a bit of weight, something to think of on a performance cat.
Disadvantage is it doesn’t look finished which doesn’t bother us.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by smj

Our cat is all painted over unfaired glass on the inside.
Advantages are it’s easy to clean and all fittings are easy to reach if needed. Also liners and fairing ad quite a bit of weight, something to think of on a performance cat.
Disadvantage is it doesn’t look finished which doesn’t bother us.
Attachment 271951Attachment 271952

Thank you! Some of my glass work is probably not as tidy as that work in your pictures. Ha ha. I have some drips and things here and there. Unfortunately I can’t sand them down. That’s just epoxy dust.

And I think the same way you do.

It would not bother me at all to have rough surfaces like that.

However, it just makes me worry a bit because if I go to sell the boat later, later in life, I’m wondering how much of a hit I’m going to take because the interior won’t look quite as fancy as it will on other boats.

And that’s kind of why I’m thinking if I really go over the top with the cabinetry and make it absolutely beautiful, maybe that rough surface will look like it was done on purpose.

Just like a lot of the modern construction does when they re-purpose an old building.

Is that a valid approach? Or do you think people will just focus in on the rough walls and think the boat sucks?

Another thing I was considering that I saw on a different boat that had rough glass painted over was doing some kind of pattern. Some kind of splash pattern of different paint.

They did it with a really high contrasting paint. It was white with blue splashes. That to me was ugly.

But I was thinking if I did it white and then splashed some slightly off-white, it would give a visual texture (not an actual texture) that hides some of the roughness without standing out too much. Kind of like a bright white and a less bright white.

But doing it just like your boat also to me seems kind of cool.

It’s weird how subjective this stuff is. The guy doing my rigging absolutely hates my chainplates. Tells me that they will decrease the value of the boat.

Why? Because they are a lump. They stick out. Just an inch or so. But to him that’s unacceptable. I kind of like it. It shows that you have composite chainplates. It’s cool. But to him it’s not.

[rslifkin]

Depending on how rough the actual texture is, thinking about it, you might be able to just apply and sand a high build primer to get things pretty smooth and not have to use an actual fairing compound. Depending on the exact chemicals of concern, you can probably find something safe to use that will fill a little bit of texture.


The other option is to use a paint that you know can be sanded off within reasonable effort, then you can always go back and do more with the surface later if you find someone to take care of the epoxy sanding for you.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Depending on how rough the actual texture is, thinking about it, you might be able to just apply and sand a high build primer to get things pretty smooth and not have to use an actual fairing compound. Depending on the exact chemicals of concern, you can probably find something safe to use that will fill a little bit of texture.

That’s what I was hoping for. That there was something available at Home Depot like this. Nothing specialty. Because why bother with all of that hassle?

The regular paint from the hardware store is damn good stuff. I don’t know why we don’t use more of it.

So here is a picture of one of my dagger boards.

I’m not saying the paint looks good. But I’m saying the paint is durable.

These were painted very quickly closing in on 10 years ago. They were just painted with this temporary coat to keep the sunlight off of the epoxy.

The “painter” was a female friend of mine who has never held a paintbrush in her life.

The paint? Some random off the shelf Home Depot acrylic latex exterior paint.

The primer? None.

She Painted these in about 30 minutes. And it looks it. Ha ha

But there is no reason to use specialty paints. Hardware store paints for the interior is the way to go. If it can do this well outside for 10 years, It’ll certainly do fine inside.

The extremely low toxicity water base is an added bonus

The discoloration you see is Florida mold.

[smj]

I think most people are looking for a perfect finish on the interior of their boats, but there are a few that would appreciate the ease of cleaning and weight savings of a non faired painted interior on a performance cat.
The interiors of the Maine Cats look great as they are painted over a well faired surface, but how much weight does one gain when fairing the entire interior?
Here’s a pic of our theory. Use bright colors and hang stuff on the walls to detract from the crappy fairing job!

[rslifkin]

Primer-wise, I'm thinking something like Interlux Pre-kote might do the trick. There's likely a similar non-marine high build primer you can use, maybe something intended for automotive use. A coat or 3 of that and a little sanding would likely be enough to smooth out the texture, just maybe not any big drips and such.

Another option would be to leave the interior of the hull as-is and instead of a liner or paint, build a set of removable panels (so you can clean behind them) that mount onto wood furring strips or something. Then you can have a softer surface on them if desired (would make the interior a little quieter) and gain the ability to mount things to the walls (if you make the panels sturdy enough). And there's no need to do that all at once, you can do one area, make sure you're happy with the design, then do the rest bit by bit.

That would be more like the interior walls you'd get in a stick built boat, but designed to be removable for cleaning. Gives a good spot to hide wiring and such as well if needed.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by smj

I think most people are looking for a perfect finish on the interior of their boats, but there are a few that would appreciate the ease of cleaning and weight savings of a non faired painted interior on a performance cat.
The interiors of the Maine Cats look great as they are painted over a well faired surface, but how much weight does one gain when fairing the entire interior?
Here’s a pic of our theory. Use bright colors and hang stuff on the walls to detract from the crappy fairing job!
Attachment 271957

Exactly. Most of the current boats are faired inside and sanded and painted.

All you have to do is imagine all those gallons on a pallet. All the gallons of faring compound, all the gallons of paint. And just add that to the weight of the boat. It’s a lot.

It also takes hundreds and hundreds of hours.

My logical side says it’s crazy to do that. You are making the boat perform worse and you are wasting your time.

And again I agree completely. I feel like if you do a great job on the cabinetry and say you hang something bright on the wall it takes away the eye from the background.

I guess this thread is just to figure out how much of a financial hit you would take to leave the rough surface.

Or maybe I should just stop thinking that way and get sailing. Tough decision.

But maybe as you demonstrate the performance of the boat you can mention that it weighs less because it doesn’t have that filler all over the place.

A tough question to wrestle with for sure.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Primer-wise, I'm thinking something like Interlux Pre-kote might do the trick. There's likely a similar non-marine high build primer you can use, maybe something intended for automotive use. A coat or 3 of that and a little sanding would likely be enough to smooth out the texture, just maybe not any big drips and such.

Another option would be to leave the interior of the hull as-is and instead of a liner or paint, build a set of removable panels (so you can clean behind them) that mount onto wood furring strips or something. Then you can have a softer surface on them if desired (would make the interior a little quieter) and gain the ability to mount things to the walls (if you make the panels sturdy enough). And there's no need to do that all at once, you can do one area, make sure you're happy with the design, then do the rest bit by bit.

That would be more like the interior walls you'd get in a stick built boat, but designed to be removable for cleaning. Gives a good spot to hide wiring and such as well if needed.

Yes. This technique is how I’m doing the ceilings. Really good for hiding wiring and stuff. Great for placing lights.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Yes. This technique is how I’m doing the ceilings. Really good for hiding wiring and stuff. Great for placing lights.

Might be worth waiting until you've got the ceilings done in that case. Then you can take the technique you developed for the ceilings and adjust it to work for lightweight wall panels.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Exactly. Most of the current boats are faired inside and sanded and painted.



All you have to do is imagine all those gallons on a pallet. All the gallons of faring compound, all the gallons of paint. And just add that to the weight of the boat. It’s a lot.



It also takes hundreds and hundreds of hours.



My logical side says it’s crazy to do that. You are making the boat perform worse and you are wasting your time.



And again I agree completely. I feel like if you do a great job on the cabinetry and say you hang something bright on the wall it takes away the eye from the background.



I guess this thread is just to figure out how much of a financial hit you would take to leave the rough surface.



Or maybe I should just stop thinking that way and get sailing. Tough decision.



But maybe as you demonstrate the performance of the boat you can mention that it weighs less because it doesn’t have that filler all over the place.



A tough question to wrestle with for sure.

No to mention all the lbs of wasted high dollar fairing compound that you’ve sanded off!
I’m a big fan of using Kiwigrip on the decks, easy prep, easy clean up, sticks very well and able to adjust to the texture you desire. I wonder how that would work on the interior?

[smj]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Might be worth waiting until you've got the ceilings done in that case. Then you can take the technique you developed for the ceilings and adjust it to work for lightweight wall panels.

My problem with liners is they can be heavy and if not well done, can look worse than a non faired painted interior. If well done they can look great but will be costly in both labor and material.

[JPA Cate]

So on the exposed areas I would like a uniform color. I don’t care about anything inside of cabinets.

We had painted surfaces on our previous Insatiable. The original pain had blobs of color in it to disquise the layup. We painted it with latex-semigloss white paint, and made it lighter below. The non-marine industry paint held up just fine.

I don't agree that the color inside cabinets doesn't matter. I think the brightest white possible makes it easier to see whatever's inside. It made a huge difference on our previous boat.

Imo, keep it simple as will serve your needs for a pleasanter viewing surface, and go enjoy the boat some more.

Ann

[nwh10]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Thanks for the comment. You’re definitely not wrong here. And thanks for commenting in general if you have been lurking. Ha ha.

You knew I couldn’t stay away. Wish I could have seen in the future that well. Ha ha. It’s just too nice of a living platform and traveling platform. Very hard to resist the lure.

I mean what is the alternative? RVing? I did a lot of that recently and it has its own advantages. Provisioning is really easy.

But, you never really feel at home. You always feel like either you shouldn’t be somewhere or your time is limited somewhere.

On the boat, I truly feel at home.

I think making the boat life work is more a matter of trying to solve the minor annoyances that start to add up.

* having to fix things all the time.
* dinghy rides to shore.
* Being stuck at the shore and unable to travel inland easily.
* provisioning.
* nervousness in large storms.
* being too hot, too cold, too wet.
* Loneliness and isolation.
* rolling, rocking, hobbyhorsing, bouncing around

Once you solve most of this stuff, you end up feeling pretty good on the boat actually. Because I have a lot of this already solved, the boat is just so comfortable. It really really feels like a home and there are separate rooms for everything. I forgot how much I missed that with an RV. The bridge deck is the living room. The galley is down. There are separate staterooms. Separate bathroom. Even the shower is in its own room. Everything is a different room. It’s so nice.

And aside from all that internal stuff, the outdoors has shown me a lot of beauty lately. Yes, the mountains are beautiful also. And you do end up missing them when you are on the water all the time. But the water is feeling pretty good.

A lot of rambling I guess, but I just wanted to share all of that because that’s where things are going. It’s hard to see why I would want to give this up. During the major construction phases of the boat and all of the hardships, I definitely lost sight of why. Why was I even doing this? Now that it’s being lived on, the why is starting to become apparent.


And yes. Testing a small area might be a good idea.

You really nailed it, i.e. the pros and cons. The older I get, the more I realize that every choice about everything is a compromise. 😵

Back the the painting, I'm always amazed how much better something looks - and how much better the visibility is - with some paint, including in cabinets and in the bilge. I've never had a white bilge , just gray, but I can see the appeal of white especially if you're a nut about absolute cleanliness like some of my friends. I mean I'm not a slob, but I don't think I could take the pressure of a white bilge. 🤣 Clean gray works for me.