Repainting cockpit locker wood

T

trailertrawlerkismet

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
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2,515
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Vessel Name
(2022) Kismet
With a little spray time on my hands I’m wanting to repaint the wood flooring in the cockpit lockers of our R29S. The folks at the factory tell me this wood is coated with a Gelcoat, it’s tan in color. Does anyone have advice on the best process to brush paint over Gelcoat with a non Gelcoat material? What to use that will be durable, brands you may have used and or other suggestions.

Jim F
 
Following. Ours needs painting, but looks like painted plywood, not gelcoat (unless very thin gelcoat). Ours is a 2011, so maybe a different process?

Bart
 
trailertrawlerkismet":2jlfsjlw said:
With a little spray time on my hands I’m wanting to repaint the wood flooring in the cockpit lockers of our R29S. The folks at the factory tell me this wood is coated with a Gelcoat, it’s tan in color. Does anyone have advice on the best process to brush paint over Gelcoat with a non Gelcoat material? What to use that will be durable, brands you may have used and or other suggestions.

Jim F
Click to expand...
GelCoat tends to have a layer of wax on it. You will need to remove the wax and rough up the surface so whatever you put on the Gelcoat will have something to stick to. Use the same clean up/prep procedure you would use to bottom coat a new boat.
 
On my 2011 R27 the floors in the port and starboard lockers including the flooring under the generator felt a little soft and further inspection revealed rot. Rather extensive rot. The exercise was to remove all the wood that I could get to and I replaced it with PVC foam board 3/4" with drains. That was two years ago and everything is now fine with no painting. I placed DriDeck rubber tiles on top of the PVC board to prevent things from sliding around and provide drainage.
 
The wood in my lockers is a great shape so I don’t, thankfully have to go thru what Fred did, the wood just needs painted. Besides cleaning it up with a fresh coat of paint I’m hoping to provide a little more protection for the wood floors. Any other thoughts on paint type? Thanks for the prep work suggestions.

Jim F
 
trailertrawlerkismet":3lxwpzef said:
The wood in my lockers is a great shape so I don’t, thankfully have to go thru what Fred did, the wood just needs painted. Besides cleaning it up with a fresh coat of paint I’m hoping to provide a little more protection for the wood floors. Any other thoughts on paint type? Thanks for the prep work suggestions.

Jim F
Click to expand...
Jim- They make a regular paint, and an epoxy paint, designed to go on floors. Either is tougher and more durable than a wall paint. I would start there.
 
I got a quart of the gelcoat from the factory recoated my compartments after making repairs to the hull of my C26. Not rot but screw holes from the mounting of my autopilot pump. The screws were to long and were screwed into the bottom of the boat.( Someone thought that 1 1/2" screws were needed to anchor the pump to 1/2" plywood) I had to cut large holes in the flooring to repair the bottom of the fiberglass hull. The final repair was to patch the holes made and re-gel the flooring. You must do a de-waxing and a 80 grit scuffing to get a good adhesion. The unfortunate component is the floor underside is not sealed so any moisture under the floor will eventually absorb moisture and rot. The build procedures mirror the old 1980's Bayliner build procedures. I thought wood at water line levels and below was long gone until purchasing my Cutwater. If Gel coat is not an option I would use a Good two part marine epoxy paint. It will still require de-waxing and sanding. The epoxy paint will bond to the gel coat resin. I have used Interlux Interprotect Epoxy Barrier Coat Kit - I used it as bilge paint on fiberglass over wood stringers and transom's after making repairs to damaged rotted transoms and stringers in older boats. It adheres well to the resin and is a hard finish. it looks good after completing the painting.
 
After input and a little research I ended up using a Rust-Oleum product called Marine Topside. It’s a modified alkyd resin that I brushed on after proper preparation of the locker wood flooring. It takes three coats to cover properly and provides a hard surface for above water wood, fiberglass or metal. It comes in 9 colors. I choose this product as we’re traveling on the water without means to get the exact product the factory uses.

Jim F
 
You used exactly what I used, Rustoleum Marine Topside. It's worked very well. I used white, and it really brightened up the lockers.
 
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