Professional Boat Painting Costs

[cburger]

What have you paid to have your vessel “professionally” (No amateurs) painted at a yard or credible marine facility. More specifically the details would be of great interest, i.e…. how much prep work, was the hull primed, were materials included in the cost, where you quoted a flat rate price of did the yard use a per foot formula, what type of paint, where you satisfied with the job initially and years later?

[beneteau-500]

well I have just received a quote from a so called professional in Greece it was a flat quote but all was itemised as follows 1/ sand hull below water line 1500 euros 2/ anti foul paint 850 3/ primer & thinners 350 euros 4/ apply anti foul and primer 750 euros 5/ seal keel joint 250 euros 6/ paint prop shaft and prop £ 150 euros 7/ pressure wash and clean top and hull 950 euros 8/ apply 5 coats of gelsheild 1650 euros . which came to a total of 6,450.00 euros of which when he gave me this quote i replied do i look like a clown or a mug .

Now the best bit is to come i was told he was one of the best and this person had also treated my yacht that i just purchased for osmosis using the west system , so on deciding to take it upon my self to do all the work myself i commence abrading the hull only to find that the west system started to fall of and i go oh sh... so contacted west technical guys who said hull had not been clean properly in the first place and that all the old anti foul was still on the hull in places and no wonder he wanted to apply 5 or 6 coats of gelsheild and as the west technical guy said if the west 105/206 resin had been applied correctly the only thing needed doing was to abrade with 120 and put anti foul straight on ,

so there is my story and sadly i wont be using Greek labour as i do like to support local
trades but no more

[Joli]

For the hull figure $150 per foot. For the deck figure $500 per foot.

[anotherT34C]

I had a quote of $5K + materials (34 foot hull... fill, sand, prime, paint).

Wound up doing it myself (easy... took ~40 hrs).

[Cheechako]

wow, I dont think you could touch $150 a foot around here, but I havent even priced it in years... a 44 footer cost me $300 per foot 15 years ago!

[nautical62]

Actual cost for a 30-footer in NE Florida for haul, scrape, pressure wash, block, 2 coats trinidad and relaunch was US$1,050 About 4 weeks ago. The scraping/sanding was 4 hours of labor.

That's the breakdown for the bottm job, but I had some other work as well which included 2 new seacocks & thru-hulls, a new cutlass bearing and engine mounts for a total (including bottom job) of just under $2,300.

[mrcottonsparrot]

how about the top and bottom refinish for a boat that's sat out in the weather for 10 years? one i'm looking at is going for really cheap, but the topside is really stained, the wood's badly weathered, even in the cabin, and it looks like it's taken in rainwater over the years, so i'm wondering if the hull and topside are shot because of osmosis. i don't know boats, or fiberglass too well, and i can't personally inspect the boat, nor do i know what i would look for. i just know that if osmosis and blistering is the case throughout the boat, might as well sink it for divers to look at.

[David M]

I got a per hour quote for the filling and fairing. The cost depended on how close to perfect I wanted it.

As far as the paint goes, I got a flat rate for the masking, primer and finish coats. The flat rate was partially determined by the number of square feet to be sprayed.

[Cheechako]

My comment above assumed he was talking finishing the topsides etc... not bottom paint...

[roscoe]

The cost for my Pearson 35 was 10,000 that was from the top of the mast to the centerboard inside and out. two color decks. accent stripe.useing two part emron paint Dupoint I beleave.Anti slip on deck, sole;and cockpit. Preping alone took a month.you can see pictures at www.pearson35.com projects by Roscoe.
When done right it isn't a 1 week job.

[zengirl]

Originally Posted by nautical62

Actual cost for a 30-footer in NE Florida for haul, scrape, pressure wash, block, 2 coats trinidad and relaunch was US$1,050 About 4 weeks ago. The scraping/sanding was 4 hours of labor.

That's the breakdown for the bottm job, but I had some other work as well which included 2 new seacocks & thru-hulls, a new cutlass bearing and engine mounts for a total (including bottom job) of just under $2,300.

Please, please, where did you get this work done and were you pleased with results?

[stevec195]

If you are talking older boats that will need the inevitable gel coat repairs for cracks, porosity and chips you are looking at 1000/ft for a "restoration" spray on paint job that takes that all into effect. The prices quoted earlier are accurate, but reflective of a roll finish with little restorative work.


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[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by zengirl

Please, please, where did you get this work done and were you pleased with results?

Uhhh... I think Nautical's post is 6 years old. Prices may have gone up.

[stevec195]

That they have!


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[Suijin]

I assume the OP is talking about the topsides, which is exponentially more expensive than below the waterline.

It all depends on what you start with and kind of result you want. If you take a boat in average condition and want a beautifully faired hull with a mirror-like finish, be prepared to pay somewhere up to ~$400/ft if you have it done at a competent yard. Obviously it can be considerably less based on the cost of labor in your area.

The amount of prep labor involved in doing a first-class job is considerable. The hull needs to be scrubbed and then power sanded, then faired and sanded. Then at least four coats of primer, with sanding and solvent washing in between each, and all the taping that goes with them. And then the finish coats. You're looking at 80 hours of labor, easy, probably $1,500 in materials alone.

I did my boat last fall/spring and did all the work except for the actual spraying. That's how I know. I worked with a painter in Deltaville VA. He supervised all my work and showed up to put the primer and finish coats on. I went with Awlcraft instead of Awlgrip for a variety of reasons.

If you're happy with a less-than-perfect job you can probably cut that cost in half by cutting out much of the fairing process but the result will show the difference.

In the end, the cost largely depends on the condition of what you start with since the majority of the cost is in everything leading up to the finish coats.