Painting interior

I decided to take the plunge and paint the interior of my boat.  The old factory finish had seen it's better days and painting was my only option.  I decided on using Sherwin & Williams "Tile Clad".  This is an epoxy paint that cleans up with water, it is also used a lot by the shrimp boats.  I have not read anything on this site as regards a review of this type of paint so I thought I would provide my observations. 
1)  The cost for the two part system was $84.  This was enough to do three coats for a 15 mill (dry) thickness and still have enough for a second boat.  I only used half of the one gal+quart mix.

2)  The pain comes in a lot of colors and can be mixed to match a lot more.  I chose S&W "Tradewind" which was a light blue/gray.  This made a nice contrast to the white gel coat of the exterior and does not show dirt as easily.

3)  The one thing that was of particular note is when mixing the components you have to wait 30 min before applying. This has a pot life of 3 1/2 hours after mixing so there is no rush like the oil based finishes that I have used in the past.

4)  The paint was applied with a brush and roller and even with the brush there was no brush marks when the paint dried.

5)  I opted for a slight sand finish on the final coat.

6)  As a final touch I painted the aluminum rub rail with a rubberized paint after priming with an aluminum primer. 

 

Some of the reasons for using the water based:

1. Low odor.

2. Easy clean-up

3. Longer pot life, as in it flows over the brush marks and am not rushed to finish. With solvent based finishes you need to work fast (in hot weather)

4. The durability of the finish is equal to the solvent based finish (this is what my research indicated) I will keep the forum posted of any problems.

 

I did not have blushing or dulling issues. I do my work in a shop with some control over the environment.

 

From what I was told at Sherwin & William here is that some of the painters do not follow the instructions and this is what causes the blushing. One requirement for this system is that it takes 7 days to cure 100%. So for the next 7 days the boat will stay in the shop away from direct sunlight, rain or fishing trips etc. Also note the requirements for 30 minutes for setting the mixture and then re-stir the mix, a four to one mix etc. It has been my experience that when some has had a bad experience with a product it was because they did not follow the instructions completely. I have been guilty of this myself. If you "Google" tile clad on the S&W site they address this.

To bad I still have enough to do another boat. If I had another boat the basic cost would have been $42. Not bad for an epoxy finish.

 

I suppose I could use the boat after a couple of days of setting up but I choose to wait.  I am very pleased at the ease of application, finish and clean up.  I plan to take the boat out and get all kinds of mud, shells, fish blood and let it set up with this and then wash it off and see how it cleans up.  I do not store it outside so a test of ultraviolet light is out of the question.  Hey if I screw it up I still have enough to paint it all over again!

PS: I sanded the surface with 80 grit sand paper to give the surface some tooth. This is a good practice for all painting. They make a primer for this but I was told that mostly steel is where you would use it or an incompatible painted surface. The store rep said painting over the factory webing would not be a problem.

 

I can see it. Do you get a red X in a box? Try to right click and down load picture.

 

I took the boat out last week and did my best to dirty it up with mud on my feet, shrimp smeared in some locations and then let it dry over night. I used only a stiff brush and water (no soap) and the dirt/shrimp came off very easily. I was very impressed and see why the shrimp boat industry uses it. As far as nicks and dings, I did drop a pair of pliers and noticed a small nick in the finish. Overall I am very pleased with the performance of the finish.

 

It can be sprayed.