GRP Heron - flaking paint - any suggestions?

A random orbital sander, 60 grit sanding discs, a face mask and cover everything within  10 yards with dust sheets! You'll need to get it all off, as paint doesn't stick well to GRP, really.

There will be many views on what paint to put on after, from getting it professionally sprayed, through putting on 2 pack polyurethane, to using exterior gloss. Assuming you aren't going to go the spraying route, the advantage of 2 pack is that it is a much tougher paint, and less likely to get scraped off. However, it is harder to work with. Personally, I tend to use single pack marine paint (International do a good range, and are easy to order on line, but there are other brands equally good), and haven't had any trouble. Most important, have a well sanded, smooth surface before you start painting. Get the best quality undercoat you can - the paint layers will stick to each other much better than that 1st layer will stick to the hull.

Thank you Rupert & JimC for your replies.

I'm keen to get the boat on the water as soon as possible but would like to get it looking a bit tidier than it does at the moment, so am keen to try a quicker option but perhaps accepting some compromise around quality and long term durability.

So I might give the polishing disc/T-Cut suggestion a go first and see how it looks. I like the prospect of taking the paint off and not having to repaint it if its good underneath!

Will it be obvious when I get through the paint to the gel coat? I don't want to get heavy handed and go through too much and muck it up from getting carried away.

If that doesn't work, or indeed I find a big repair patch then I will have a look at the paints. I'll be honest here, I'm quite bewildered by the different products and what I would need though. Is there a particular undercoat and paint that you could recommend to give a reasonable result. I'm confused by the single pot/2 pack differences but single pot sounds less problematic. I looked on one site, and could see stuff like International Perfection, but then could only see a 2 pack International undercoat. I want to do it properly and get a nice finish but hope to find some middle ground between just slapping on some Dulux Emulsion to it being a labour of love exercise! Joking aide about emulsion, can any old exterior paint be actually used? Does it work, or could that be what is on my boat and which is why it is flaking off?

Part of the reason for wanting to find a quick approach for now is that I haven't sailed her yet and I might find she sinks as soon as I get in, or my inexperience stuffing it into a tree etc! I have been tempted to take the boat down the club like it is (once I work out the rigging at the back for the main sheet), but the snag there is that it is a pain to get out of my garden (boat off the trolley, boat on its side out of the gate perching it on tyres etc, then trolley on its side and out of the gate, then road trailer on its side and out of the gate, and then put it all back together to tow!) so I was hoping to tidy it up, then get it out of the garden and park it at the club for the season and then if need be, do a better long term job at the end of the season when I don't feel like I'm missing sailing opportunities.

Thanks again for your replies - the help and suggestions are very much appreciated.

Regards,


Greg

At the stage you are at, I would be tempted simply to scrape off the bits that are actually lifting and then take her for a sail before doing anything else.

It will be pretty clear when you are down to gelcoat - it looks pretty different to the paint.
Looks like International now call their single pack undercoat Pre Kote, for some strange reason.

Thanks Owenfackrell, Rupert and JimC for your replies.

I think you're right Rupert and Jim - I'm going to scrape off the obvious bits flaking off and get her down the club. That will get me sailing/sinking and give me time to work out and plan what I'm going to do at the end of the season to spruce her up properly.

Cheers for the pointer on the International Pre Kote Rupert - I now know which product to buy. How much do you think I would need to paint the hull?

Owenfackrell - do you mean that a different paint can be used for the top i.e. above waterline part of the outside of the hull?

Also, is there a particular type of paint that is suitable for painting the inside of the boat? I think I've read about some people using garage floor paint but would rather use the 'proper stuff' unless of course it is all the same thing but labelled differently and priced higher!

Thanks again.


Greg.

Edited by gjs - 24 May 14 at 8:17pm

Ah I see - thanks for the clarification Owenfackrell.

Edited by gjs - 25 May 14 at 11:38pm