Do you want to know what kind of paint for deck is the best? Painting or repainting a boat is a task that can be one-off or recurring. Between antifouling every year, repainting the hull, deck, and live and dead artwork, these tasks need the best paints. Moreover, when it comes to renovating the interior paint, the task may become difficult.
Furthermore, you need to know which product to paint your boat, and where to buy marine paint. Let’s find the answers now.
What Kind of Paint for Deck: For Which Parts of the Boat?
The first step is to decide which part of the boat to paint. Then you have to adapt the type of paint to the type of material you want to paint.
Paint for the Hull
Whatever the length of the boat, each part of a hull is divided into 2 segments:
The “lively works” are the part of the hull that is in the water. They extend from the bottom of the keel to the waterline. Due to their permanent or quasi-permanent immersion, live works must receive a treatment. It prevents the proliferation of dirt, algae and shells.
The “dead works” are all the rest of the hull, from the waterline to the deck list. They are “dead” because they do not influence the boat’s progress through the water. Since they are not immersed, you should paint them with a paint adapted to the material of the hull.
What Kind of Paint for Deck: For The Deck, the Hold and the Cabin
The bridge is divided into 2 large sections according to its deck plan:
- The gangways and the sections that experience crew traffic must be non-slip
- All the rest of the deck, where regular traffic is not essential, the marine paint can be an option
- The paint should be suitable for the material, or left rough (wooden deck)
Since it receives stagnant water and oil residues, the hold must receive specific treatment.
Please note: You should treat the interior of the cabin and crew quarters with “marine” quality paints, and follow the specific instructions.
What Kind of Paint for Deck: Laying Operations and Regulations
The painting of the live works must be done at least every year. The anti-fouling” paint is the paint that prevents algae, shells and various types of dirt from attaching to the hull.
Antifouling paints are now mainly hyper-slippery. They favor the movement in the water, and prevent the adhesion of marine organisms.
If you want to install a new antifouling, you need to scrap off the live artwork to remove residues and dirt. In addition, it enables the removal of the old layer of antifouling that has become inactive. This operation is called the “refit” of the vessel. It requires removal from the water (by craning or towing).
Various Types of Antifouling
Underwater paintings are classified according to their characteristics:
Erodable (or semi-erodible) antifouling: The layer of antifouling paint wears out with friction, so that its degree of wear can be seen in the shade that disappears. Erodable antifoulings are for slow boats.
Hard matrix antifouling: The paint layer does not wear, even at high speed, and these antifoulings are suitable for both slow and fast boats .
Propeller, base and probe antifoulings: These are products specifically made for the nature of the propeller or base material. They are available in hard matrix as well as erodable or semi-erodable.
Primer: Each antifouling requires the prior installation of a bonding primer. Moreover, it is also a passivator of the residues of the old antifouling. Each category of antifouling requires its own specific primer.
Most antifoulings are not necessarily compatible with the aluminum hull. It is good to check the compatibility of each antifouling with the aluminum and in each brand. You should then check the compatibility of the color with the aluminum shell.
Painting Dead Boat Artwork
You can paint the rest of the hull as well as the deck and roofs with the same paint adapted to the material they are made of with the following restrictions:
The gangways and traffic routes, when they are not made of raw wood, are painted with a specific anti-slip paint. On the other hand, you should use a paint with added anti-slip paint (glass or silica beads), or covered with an anti-slip polymer coating .
The rest of the hull, deck, cabin, can be painted with a “marine” paint. That is as long as the support material is respected (aluminum in particular).
The bilge and the inside of some lockers must be painted with a specific “bilge paint”. This is generally epoxy paint capable of resisting abrasion, chemicals, and hydrocarbons.
What Boat Paint Should I Buy?
Criteria for the Choice of Paint
First of all, before you consider buying boat paint, you should know the material of the part to paint:
Wood, polyester, epoxy or metal (except aluminum): You can use most acrylic polymer paints bearing the “marine” qualification with or without a primer.
Aluminum is very sensitive to electrolysis. Therefore, you must paint it with suitable paints whose components will not interact with the aluminum.
You can also repaint tires, both live and dead. However, you must paint or antifoul with a paint or an antifouling specifically adapted (flexible) and compatible with their PVC, hypalon or neoprene material.
Important: A repair or scale repair on a fiberglass vessel is done using gel-coat and not paint!
Where to Buy Paint for Your Boat
The “marine” paint can be found at the harbor shipchandler or on specialized websites.
Most shipchandlers are only dealers of a few brands or radical distributors of a single brand of paint. The yachtsman may want to look elsewhere for a favorable price. However, the internet allows for a huge comparison.
You should beware of antifoulings, which are generally not available for home delivery. However, you can obtain them from a shipchandler or a hardware store, or even from a paint professional.
Price of Boat Paint
The price of boat paint varies considerably according to the technicality of the product, even within the same brand.
But the quantity in liters is not everything since each paint has its covering power in m², and the manufacturer specifies it (often optimistically) . It is also an important factor to compare before you consider buying marine paint.