Weird Paint Problem

[High C]

I've just begun to paint the bottom of my upside down weekender, 3 coats so far. As per the advice of the Stevensons and others, I'm using 100% acrylic latex exterior paint, Behr brand, with no primer. It's semi-gloss, and navy blue in color.

It looks great, but when I sprayed it with the hose to wash off some pine pollen, it changed colors wherever the water hit it! It looked like I had just poured wet paint on it. The color was much lighter and ran down the side in streaks wherever it was wet. The paint was dry, about 24 hours, and it wasn't actually coming off, but it looked awful. As it dryed the color returned to normal.

Maybe this will stop as the paint cures longer, or ??? He'p, me please, he'p me!

[Craig]

The fresh paint will do that. As it cures that will stop. You are using th right paint and will find it will hold up very well. Press on ... Don't you hate that damn pollen?

[Guest RADAR]

I used the same paint, not the pollem. Found it took for ever to dry ,

just painted over the tacky coats got 5 coasts on and

it took 6 weeks to go hard looks nice (navy blue) as for colour change

had no problem when i turned her over had some bangs but

it didn't mark much, going for brit white on top

[Arnie Eaton]

Bright white topsides will be very hard on the eyes during the summer. Also the reflection can cause sunburn. Solfen the white to a cream, will help the eyes and look even nicer.

[MikeStevenson]

I'm afraid we recommend exterior oil-based enamels if using hardware store paint. I don't know if I'd use latex enamels on a boat, but others have so I may be over-cautious about this.

Mike

[Robert Cox]

That's the same paint I used on our Vacationer, except I used the ultra Pure white. Had the same problem, but of course the color didn't actually run but it dulled the paint. You have to give this paint at least a couple of weeks before you try washing it down. Your best bet, paint and stay away from the paint for as long as you can. Find other little jobs to do for a while. Dust settling on it after the first 24 hours is nothing to worry about. Just let it set there and ignore it. Just don't subject the paint to any scuffs, weight or water for that first couple of weeks. After that, the stuff is tuff as nails.

Bob

[High C]

Mike, I'm sorry to have put words in your mouth. :oops: I suppose I combined your advice to avoid primer and "marine paint" with the advice of a chemical engineer named Dave Carnell who wrote an interesting article on this topic.

http://home.att.net/~DaveCarnell/articles.html#A1

Robert, your advice is much appreciated, though that pine pollen is really coming down now. The boat was starting to turn yellow, and it is somewhat sticky, so I was anxious to get it off of there. I guess the best thing to do at this point is to wait out the pollen deluge another week or two, then resume the painting. After three coats it's still pretty transparent, so I imagine it'll take two or three more. For the decks and cabin top I'm using a white that has a tiny bit of yellow in it to soften the glare.

I've updated my site with some new pics.

Thanks All!

[Mike Donlin]

Not to rain on your parade but we used latex on our boats and it peeled off, but I think the reason it did is because we painted in late April (still cool in the garage) and put it on way too thick and too fast (I'm talking a thick coat every night for three or four nights) we then launched the boats on Mother's day and after a couple of dunks in the water it started coming off in big sheets. (mostly just on the bottom of the boat) I think the topcoat was dry but the underlying coats didn't have a chance to cure and it would just lift off from the primer. The primer held on fine but the topcoat let go.

The touch ups I have done since then have held up fine because I went with thinner coats with 3 or 4 days drying time between each coat. None of the topside paint (same brand and type) ever bothered but there was never much water on the decks or seats.

That being said, I wouldn't be afraid to use latex again, but I would definietly take my time between coats and go with thin coats.

[Barry Pyeatt]

John Thomas, I have to thank you for referencing the articles by Dave Cornell on Latex Paint. I would seriously recommend their reading (and serious consideration) by all the builders of these boats. The information is concise, accurate and completely valid.

The other articles are equally valid on "rot repair and prevention", epoxy use and on the Mastushita saw blades.

I have recommended that Fran include them in our FAQ section.

Really good information on fillers (additives for epoxy), splicing panels with glass/epoxy and primer/paint recommendations for boat use.

[High C]

Yes, Dave's articles are all fascinating. I wish he lived next door to me!

Living in a swamp as I do, I was particularly taken with his talk of using automotive anti-freeze to kill rot and fungus. The only thing that holds rotten wood together around here is a crust of fungus, followed by several coats of mildew.

I'm using his method to inject anti-freeze into one of the 8x8 posts that my timberframe house is founded upon. It has begun to rot about a foot above the ground, with no apparent moisture source. It's under the house where it's dry, and bolted atop a massive concrete footer. Very strange, and very alarming. I've drilled it full of small holes to inject the green miracle juice into its innermost regions. I've managed to soak in about a quart so for and will do more from time to time.

Here's hoping!

[Frank Hagan]

I used latex on Aslan. You trade off gloss and durability against ease of use and cost.

All latex paints are compatible with epoxy, but not all oil based paints are. You can have spectacular failures with oil based paints, so you should do a "scratch test" prior to painting the whole hull. Paint a little on, let it dry, then scratch a cross-hatch pattern in the paint using a straight edge and a razor blade. Put a piece of cellophane tape on the hatch pattern, burnish down one edge of it with your thumbnail, and pull it off. If the oil based paint comes off, you will have problems later.

Mike Donlin's experience with latex is the extreme end of the same mistake I made (although my paint never came off the boat). I put on three coats, with just a day between them. Latex paint isn't made to be built up in multiple coats. It was soft for a few weeks, then got a bit harder, then finally hardened up nicely. But it seemed to take forever! If I had it to do over, I would use just two coats, with three weeks between them.

Durability does suffer. Latex is softer paint, and it will scratch easier than a really good oil based paint. But it is also pretty easy to touch up, and so cheap you don't care if you do have a gallon left over.

[capt jake]

It looks great, but when I sprayed it with the hose to wash off some pine pollen, it changed colors wherever the water hit it! It looked like I had just poured wet paint on it. The color was much lighter and ran down the side in streaks wherever it was wet.

Typical of latex paint that is uncured. I won't go into the details of what happened when my son in law painted our house last year; but suffice to say.... it must cure before exposed to moisture!!!! If it is a light exposure, it will probably survive. Anything more... well it won't survive! ;D

I have a lot of deck rails that need... a repaint now!

Let it set ans you wil be fine!!

[Sailor3356]

Regular bottom paint gets light when wet. Every year I put a beautiful coat on my boat. It looks so nice until it gets wet. Then the sun get to it. Oh well it will look nice next time I paint it, again.