Bottom paint, Spray vs rolling

[speakrdude]

Is there really a big difference that would justify the hasel of spraying? I have the conventional spray rig.
Lots of prep for spraying outdoors.

The paint is Interlux CSC, Black (matte finish).
Just want it to look as professional as possible.

Thanks

 

[fwebster]

I don't think you can legally spray anything but one of the water based bottom paints. No boat yard will allow you to do it. Spraying Micron CSC would be like spraying poison......you'll probably kill anything living in the area including yourself unless you use a forced air suit and hood.

 

[Alegria]

Roll Roll Roll... My daughter and I rolled our 330 this year. It was the easiest darn part of spring commissioning!!!! Couple of rollers and 2 hours we were done. One coat on the bottom. Two on the waterline.... We used the Hydrocoat from Petit so far so good..

Of course I just re-read your post. I am guessing you are on a trailer so you are going for looks and durability??? If not ours is in the water and all that is visible is the water line!!!

 

[speakrdude]

Boat will probably live in the water.

It sounds like a "roll job" for sure.

Thanks all

 

[tobnpr]

Yeah, roll it.
They can be spray applied, but since rolling is so simple on a hull bottom no one sprays.
All the extra masking/protection, and the safety gear FW mentioned just doesn't justify the additional hassle.

It's an interesting topic, though. Spray application, done properly, should yield an extremely smooth finish- I would wager that a boat with spray application would run a knot or two faster than a rolled hull. I wonder if there's ever been any testing done in that regard...

 

[vernh59]

It isn't worth the considerable effort it would take to get CSC to go through a gun. The solids in the paint have to be evenly distributed and a roller does the best job. That paint is ablative so it will polish away in the water. If you have a rough surface when you launch it will eventually smooth out. Like FW said you could kill yourself spraying a paint like that without the proper equipment. The best way to apply bottom paint is with money and someone else. If you have to do it yourself as I do just be carefull.

 

[speakrdude]

One more question before I apply (with roller). I've read somewhere (ok, I looked at the pictures) of when applying the bottom paint, it was important to keep about a 1" space away from any under water metal. (drives, etc) Does this include the stainless trim tabs, swim deck mounting hardware, bronze thru hull??

Thanks

 

[tbirdvet]

I thought the keep clear area was only to the outdrives.

 

[tobnpr]

One more question before I apply (with roller). I've read somewhere (ok, I looked at the pictures) of when applying the bottom paint, it was important to keep about a 1" space away from any under water metal. (drives, etc) Does this include the stainless trim tabs, swim deck mounting hardware, bronze thru hull??

Thanks

Remember the rule of dissimilar metals underwater. Antifoulings (all of them) are copper-based. Painting underwater metals (bronze, stainless) is a no-no without a primer to isolate the copper coating from the different metal of the underwater fitting.

You need to use an appropriate underwater metal primer, such as Interlux Interprotect, or Primocon:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10918|296162|11453|311499&id=159813


The metals must be cleaned and prepped properly, best method is blasting. Once primed, go ahead and paint away...