3 weeks and $6,000 to bottom paint 380?

Members thoughts? Here me out... Monday June 22nd, at 10:00am my “future/still closing” 2001 Sea Ray 380 was loaded onto a trailer. It was scheduled to be pressure washed, and bottom painted for $6,000. As of today July 1, at 6:00pm, I was told that it would be 3 weeks from today with good weather. I was also told it still needed to be pressure washed, and a total of “5” coats of bottom paint would be applied. “They just don’t slap on paint.” When I pushed back on the schedule change, I was told they could speed it up the schedule, but it would be more than $6,000.. I don’t feel right about this situation, and that is putting it nicely. Please correct me if I am wrong about my thoughts.

Best to remove that sign on your forehead,

For $6,000 - I'll drive down from Indiana and buy a pressure washer, pressure wash it myself then paint it for you.

That price is a joke....I get my boat pressure washed as it's pulled out and spend and afternoon in the spring redoing the bottom paint....

Haden said:

Members thoughts? Here me out... Monday June 22nd, at 10:00am my “future/still closing” 2001 Sea Ray 380 was loaded onto a trailer. It was scheduled to be pressure washed, and bottom painted for $6,000. As of today July 1, at 6:00pm, I was told that it would be 3 weeks from today with good weather. I was also told it still needed to be pressure washed, and a total of “5” coats of bottom paint would be applied. “They just don’t slap on paint.” When I pushed back on the schedule change, I was told they could speed it up the schedule, but it would be more than $6,000.. I don’t feel right about this situation, and that is putting it nicely. Please correct me if I am wrong about my thoughts.

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You on the Tennessee or Guntersville ?

If you’re just putting anti-foul paint on, it’s way too much. If it’s a bottom strip, epoxy base and then anti-foul, still 3 weeks says your boat isn’t a priority. The pressure wash can be done anytime. Just make sure what the individual coats of epoxy/paint are and what type of warranty comes with the job.
This really should be an out-of-season job. If you can wait until winter, have it done somewhere inside.

Unless the entire bottom is being stripped, epoxy coated, and painted, that's an absurd price. No one does 5 coats of bottom paint. And you basically DO just slap it on there. Except the water line - that you carefully tape and cut in. The rest just gets rolled on. A coat of antifouling on your boat should take 3 hours, tops.

For perspective, my boat was about $700 to paint this year. (38 ft overall, 34 ft water line length, 12 ft beam). I had my 270 AJ bottom stripped for about $1200. I then applied Interlux epoxy barrier myself (3 gallons? multiple coats), then the yard applied 2 coats of antifouling for about $450.

I generally do not post on these type of threads but 5 coats? Why? Is there a reason? 3 weeks? What kind of shape is the bottom paint in now? Did the survey find something wrong? Granted the last big boat (450DA) i did was 2012? Pulled out, pressure washed on sling then on the hard. Next day applied (I think 2 coats). Let it dry a day and hit some problem spots that morning and put the boat back in late that afternoon. I think total cost and they included every possible thing that was used was $3200.00 The good news is there are several owners on here that know their stuff and will give you a better idea what you should expect than me. Good luck and GOD speed. JC

I concur with Brad, although my bottom paint bill was a little higher due to some time scraping off loose paint. I also had our 280 soda blasted and then I applied four coats of epoxy barrier and two coats of bottom paint. I can see that kind of job costing $6000 on a 38’ hull because there is a lot more prep time between blasting and first epoxy coat.

Time wise it took me about eight days overall duration. During the painting phase it went on for five-six days for two to three hours each day. Basically prep and do one coat and then wait 24 hours and repeat.

Common sense needs to be applied here.... figure out what they are doing to the bottom, what paint they are using and figure out their costs.
I can put two coats on my boat in less than 3 hours.... including 6 beer breaks

Thanks for all the nice words!!! Haha. Very helpful!! I will be on the road at 4:30am to confront this issue personally. Wife said she was coming to see this too. I knew this was a sham, but I just wanted reassurance from others. Wonder what this guy will try to charge for haul out and a 90% pressure wash???

Bt Doctur said:

Best to remove that sign on your forehead,

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You are correct. Will be removing it ASAP!!

Wow, my buddy has a 34’ four Winns and is paying 2k, that’s walnut blast and I believe a total of 5 coats (between barrier and bottom paint.

he is hauling it to LOTO to have done, I think they said a total of a week was needed, could be 9 days though

This winter haul out, block, pressure wash, sand, 2 coats of antifouling paint - $2200.

JimT said:

This winter haul out, block, pressure wash, sand, 2 coats of antifouling paint - $2200.

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That sounds about right.

Best to start asking questions before you charge in to the boat yard with guns blazing.

I can count 5 coats of paint easily if you are having the bottom stripped and barrier coated........2 coats of epoxy primer and 3 coats of antifouling paint. Also, it if is barrier coated the paint cost is about 2X what just bottom paint costs. Barrier coating also requires the bottom to be stripped of old paint, not just scuffed with a scotch pad.

Bottom painting done correctly is far more than just slapping on a coat of black paint. Here on the Gulf Coast, we expect to pay around $75/ft for a proper bottom job, without barrier coating, that will last 3-4 years. Add barrier coating and repairing a few blisters and it can get to $6-$7000 pretty easily.

On the other hand, if you want haul out and repaint every year, you can do a slap on a coat of cheap West Marine bottom paint for a few hundred $$.

Now go back and re-read the first sentence in this post.........Good luck with it.

firecadet613 said:

For $6,000 - I'll drive down from Indiana and buy a pressure washer, pressure wash it myself then paint it for you.

That price is a joke....I get my boat pressure washed as it's pulled out and spend and afternoon in the spring redoing the bottom paint....

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Lol!
If it’s just a repaint without stripping and barrier coat, I’d do it for $5999.00.
Sounds like the OP’s boat is getting a lot more done to it though.

Not sure what the protocol is, or type of bottom paint required, where the OP is located, but around here where the boat is out of the water for several months every year it is common to apply a fresh coat of Ablative Bottom Paint every year before launch.

Bottoms are immediately pressure washed when the boat is lifted out of the water at the end of each season.

A yard would charge about $700-$900 plus the cost of zincs and installation of them for a straight up Spring bottom paint job on my 41’ boat.

This is what is involved around here for a simple annual bottom re-paint job:

I’m old and slower than I used to be so when working alone it takes me a full day and a few Advil to lightly scuff, mask, paint bottom, apply Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing compound to running gear/tabs, change zincs on tabs/hull/thruster, then clean up.
A young boatyard worker set up to do several boats in a row would do it in half the time.
Material used is a gallon of water based ablative bottom paint, disposable smooth roller, disposable paint brush, disposable roller tray liner, some masking tape, a few sheets of sandpaper, disposable mask, disposable coveralls, a large garbage bag, and zincs.
My bottom was stripped and barrier coated in early 2017 so it’s pretty smooth and when using a smooth and flat 6” foam roller, my bottom takes a lot less paint. Lots less splatter too.

For comparison if the OP is having the bottom stripped:

The total cost of having a 380 bottom stripped, re-barrier coated with two coats of a two part epoxy based product, then a couple of coats of Ablative bottom paint around here would easily be in the neighborhood of about $5000.00 - $6000.00.

Aside from the cost of having the bottom stripped (several thousand), and the added cost of the barrier coat products, it is way more labor intensive.

I barrier coated and bottom painted a 22’ boat last year that we had a company strip a couple of months earlier at a cost of $900.00.

It was way more time consuming and involved. I had another guy help me and it took the better part of a day because of prep and wait times between coats. We did three barrier coats because we had extra product.

We had to wait for a day with ideal dry weather conditions. Wipe down the hull with a prep solution, then wait for each coat of the barrier coat to be at a precisely tacky condition before moving to the next coat, then follow up with two coats of Ablative bottom paint. I started by applying multiple layers of different width masking tape so I could just pull off a layer each time we finished a coat.

$2000 last year for pressure wash, light sanding as needed, 2 coats.

fwebster said:

Best to start asking questions before you charge in to the boat yard with guns blazing.

I can count 5 coats of paint easily if you are having the bottom stripped and barrier coated........2 coats of epoxy primer and 3 coats of antifouling paint. Also, it if is barrier coated the paint cost is about 2X what just bottom paint costs. Barrier coating also requires the bottom to be stripped of old paint, not just scuffed with a scotch pad.

Bottom painting done correctly is far more than just slapping on a coat of black paint. Here on the Gulf Coast, we expect to pay around $75/ft for a proper bottom job, without barrier coating, that will last 3-4 years. Add barrier coating and repairing a few blisters and it can get to $6-$7000 pretty easily.

On the other hand, if you want haul out and repaint every year, you can do a slap on a coat of cheap West Marine bottom paint for a few hundred $$.

Now go back and re-read the first sentence in this post.........Good luck with it.

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I agree with you 1000%. I would not go in with guns blazing. I do not handle my life, or business like that. Your advise is very wise. I have asked a lot of questions, but the owner of the marina has been less than transparent in my opinion. That being said, your advise is well received, and will be applied.

Chris-380 said:

Wow, my buddy has a 34’ four Winns and is paying 2k, that’s walnut blast and I believe a total of 5 coats (between barrier and bottom paint.

he is hauling it to LOTO to have done, I think they said a total of a week was needed, could be 9 days though

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That sounds like a great deal!

Haden said:

I agree with you 1000%. I would not go in with guns blazing. I do not handle my life, or business like that. Your advise is very wise. I have asked a lot of questions, but the owner of the marina has been less than transparent in my opinion. That being said, your advise is well received, and will be applied.

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If they are stripping and re-barrier coating your bottom, keep in mind that the manufacturer of the barrier coat has specific recommendations for weather conditions, etc., which could make the length of time needed to do the job unpredictable.