paint ?

You can't put gelcoat over paint, it must adhere to properly prepared fiberglass or gelcoat. Personally, and there are many opinions here, if you are on a budget look at 1-part marine paints. a little goes a long way and usually a few quarts can do a boat with ease. If you really need to stay on the cheap, rustoleum makes a marine paint that is about $11 a quart and you can get it at certain lowes.

 

If budget allows a 2-part paint is more durable. Look at interlux perfection, it's a 2 part but a little cheaper then some others.

 

I'm very happy with Sherwin Williams "Tile Clad" epoxy.

 

Epoxy products are a great way to go, as well as two part urethane's for interior or exterior. I would make sure however to add a product like skid-tex when using as an interior product. These type of paints sure do get slick when wet.... Contact your local paint store like a Porter, Glidden or Sherwin williams and they should be able to point you in the right direction. Just explain to them what you are using the product on and they will provide you with the proper materials to get the job done right the first time.... Try to stay away from the cheap 1 part products unless you like repainting just for the heck of it, because that's basically what you will be doing...

 

No! do not tell them what you are using it on! I tried to get some tile-clad from SW and also went to BM. At both I told them what I wanted the products for and all they did was argue the application. Like seriously what do they care what I'm painting, I ended up leaving empty handed and bought a gallon kit of pilgrim plastic which was like $40, it's durable but a bit of a pain to apply.

Come on let's not do this again, I already said earlier that the 2-part paints are more durable. However I'll have you know after 2 years I only had to touch up a few spots before I sold my old boat. The bad thing is that 1-part paints are less durable, the good part is they are super easy to touch up. I would have had to touch up the spots even if I used the best and most durable paint in the world.

 

As a marine painter by trade, I say stay away from 1 part paints.
I guarantee you that I deal with marine paint more than firecat. Although I respect his opinion, and his experiences, I highly suggest you don't use it.
I myself have used it with great results many times. But there also was several times were the paint just peeled right off.
Where it didn't cure 100% no matter how long it was left to air out.

This is what I do for a living. I've been painting boats for a decade.
I will NEVER use a one part paint again.

If you can't afford, or justify spending the bucks on Awlgrip or Sterling, I suggest you check out Interlux Perfection.
But I would stay away from paints like Interlux Brightside, and Petit Easypoxy.

And for the nonskid, look into Interlux interdek nonskid additive micro spheres.

Skid Tex is just beach sand...
Some people use Pumice as well.
But those products fall off.

A good additive specifically made for marine paint lasts much longer.
I personally use Awlgrip's additive, but it is pricey.

 

I've already conceded that a 2-part, if in the budget is better, and even suggested perfection. However, and we've talked about this before too, keep in mind some of us don't have spray booths, or the ability to spray at all. I will say that I would not use 1-part paint on a boat made out of poly resin again, I'd rather just gelcoat it.

Oh and they sell shark grip additive at lowes, works good like the interlux, nice and fine.

 

Cool. I'll have to take a look at it sometime.

 

I have had nothing but professional advice given to myself from my local ICI now Glidden store where my family has been purchasing paint from for over 30 years. I would take their advice on the products they sell over anyone. If they cannot give you an honest answer, then move elsewhere. I would listen to the suggestions given by PIB for he does this as a profession and not a hobbyist. I'm sure my opinions will be debated here shortly so I will conclude by saying "leave it to the professionals" in the aspect of the paint department.....

 

Well you bated me so I'll bite. Getting advise from pros is great if the processes being advised on are easily obtainable in a home setting, and are correct. This is not a dig at PIB as he does know his stuff, but not all pro's do, just cause someone does something for a living doesn't mean they know what they are doing (ie I had a boat builder of more then 20 years tell me the strongest way to build a boat is choppergun and poly resin :). Most pro's know how to do a few processes that they have done there whole careers, and charged a premium for.
As a matter of fact you have contradicted yourself here by even suggesting SW or Porter as an alternative as a pro never would due to the limited UV resistance of the epoxy products. Maybe us dumb hobbyists should be quiet and we can start a pay service with a few people in the business?

 

I must apologize first off STR8 for the derail of your intended question (non-intentional). We have already concluded that 1 part products are junk. The purpose of this forum is to educate others in areas they are not familiar with, hence the need for questions. When I see someone give advice to use an inferior product then of course I am going to chime in and speak my opinion. If I had an issue with a product I was not familiar with then I would surely go by what a professional has to say over someone who has no true credentials on the matter. We can beat this horse to death but at the end of the day junk is junk. If you cannot afford the quality paint, then wait a little while until you get the money to buy it. It will pay off in the long run and I just hate to see someone spend the labor on using a product because it was affordable, budget friendly and cost $11 bucks a quart. You get what you pay for.... I'll leave it up to the original member who started this post to agree or disagree for he is the one we are all trying to help...

 

If you want to do it once and do it right go with a 2-part paint. Prepping your boat takes a lot of time and energy so think about that when you are weighing the options of saving a few bucks vs. having to possibly repaint. Perfection is pretty good and can be sprayed or rolled and tipped but they have limited colors if you're even worried about that. Awlgrip has a lot more colors and is a lot better quality but it is also accompanied by a higher price tag.

Oh yeah and Shark Grip is the chit!

 

Str8 this is less about the paint, and more about a pissing match between AH2 and myself that is boiling over from previous topics. So I apologize for us not being able to maintain our own civility.

However I will restate what I said before, actually don't take it from me, just look through the pages here, read through some of the topics, and you will find plenty of people, who have used and had good results with so called junk paints.

Yes, as I said previously, catalized paints (2-part) are more durable, no doubt, but they are harder to touch up and apply. For me it comes down to where you fish. If I fished deeper more open waters then I would have gone with perfection this time (assuming they had a color I liked ). Since I am constantly scraping oyster bars, pushing off sand bars, and smacking encrusted pilings, it doesn't pay cause I will have to constantly touch up anyway as that stuff goes right through gelcoat and 2-part paints alike on my friends rigs. This is why I went with an epoxy graphite bottom coating and 1-part paint this go around.