Repainting Cost

B

Boatdreamer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
266
Fluid Motion Model
C-28
Non-Fluid Motion Model
17 Keywest
Vessel Name
Gratitude
Has anyone repainted their R25 or R27? Our Claret red 2012 R27 has taken a beating in the south Florida sun. I've waxed her twice a year and kept her covered when not in use but it doesn't seem to matter anymore. I buffed the hull with Presta cutting cream and them waxed her with a marine UV wax. A week later she doesn't look like I did anything except spend money and waste a weekend we could've been on the water. I think it's time for a repaint. I'm scared to ask but has anyone done it yet and how much did it set you back? Thanks

Tim and Donna
Gratitude
 
We repainted our R 25 two years ago with Awlgrip. It looks great, like brand new even 2 years later. Cost 2 years ago was around $5000. We are in North Carolina.


Jim and Jo Ann
Banjo R25
Southport NC
 
Awlgrip is great, but FIVE big ones on a 24 foot hull, sheesh.
Anyway, Tim there is something nagging at me about your problem. You said you buffed and waxed it, then a week later is was dull again.
How did it look right after the buff and wax?
If it looked great then I am at a loss how it could degrade that rapidly.
Have someone who details boats professionally look at it and maybe re-do a 2 foot square test patch. It might be the materials, etc. And the test could shed some light on it.
And even if that is not the answer not all is lost. If it is just the gelcoat that has failed, the hull can be wet sanded and a fresh clear coat sprayed on.
Or you can have it repainted - though to make it look good if you have overall fading you will need to have everything painted including topsides and is likely more than $5K at that point.
And lastly, you can explore having the hull wrapped with vinyl graphics - wow, I can see it now, the crowds on the dock pointing in amazement as you cruise in wrapped in the Stars and Stripes and an Eagle on each side of the prow :mrgreen:
 
I agree with Denny, the color shouldn't oxidize that fast. I have a Blue hull and it's tough to keep up but at least I get a few months out of it. I used Presta few years ago, I then used the Prizm products for a couple of years and none of them gave the greatest results. I am now using 3M Super Duty Compound, then 3M Finesse-IT II, then Collonite 885 wax and she looks brand new. Compound and Finesse applied with a wool pad and variable speed buffer on low speeds. If anything I would have the boat professionally detailed for maybe around $600.00 (a quote I received in Fl) before the awlgrip route.
Maybe someday Ranger Tugs will offer a White hull for us that boat in the sunshine.
 
I just happen to be in the St James Marina in Southport NC today doing the Great Loop. I looked at your boat this morning and it looks tremendous. I called friend in Michigan, that is having his 38 foot sailboat painted using awlgrip for $3000, however the process is rolling, not spray, and he is in Michigan, where some people use vinyl wraps with stripes and eagles proudly cruise like they're wearing the emperor's new clothes. Hey, wait a minute, I'm from Michigan, maybe I could get a F-15 wrap and get more speed. :mrgreen:
Dwain Dumas
R-25 Lydia.
 
Thanks for all the great responses. Let me give a little more detail about what's happening. Last weekend I buffed the port side twice with Presta cutting cream on Saturday but didn't apply wax. Sunday I looked at it to see how she looked in the sun. I was shocked to see it looked like I didn't spend anytime on it at all. I move on the the starboard side with one round of the Presta and one coat of marine wax. It looks like a new boat. I attacked the port side again with the Presta and then waxed it. As soon as I buffed the wax off the milky haze was back again! The starboard side looks great but there is definitely a problem with the port side. I felt this is way beyond my skill level so I took her back to my dealer in Stuart. They are calling in a pro to see if he can figure out what's going on. I'm starting to think it's more than the Florida sun just fading her since one side looks better than new and the other looks like a ten year old boat that's never seen a can of wax. I'll keep ya posted.

Tim and Donna
Gratitude
 
Tim:

Has the boat been docked so the port side of the boat has gotten most of the Florida sun since it was new in 2012? If so maybe this could be a contributing factor. Keep us posted as to the final outcome.

Jim F
 
Dwain Dumas, thanks for the compliment regarding Banjo's paint job. I am impressed you are doing the Great Loop. Sorry we were not on the boat to meet you. In fact, Banjo is for sell (listed on this forum's classifieds and Yachtworld) in case you know of anyone in the market. We love the boat but we live 3 hours away (in the middle of North Carolina) and we just don't get down to use Banjo enough!

Jim and Jo Ann
Banjo R25
Southport NC
 
Hi Jim, I would say it's 60/40 with the port side getting the sun. The strange thing is parts of the port side looks good and others not so much. I would think it would've faded all the same. When she's in our storage lot she has the full cover on her and the trees protect it from the sun. We'll see what the experts have to say. I'll post the results.

Tim
Gratitude
 
Ive got a 2014 Class C motorhome with color infused resin panels that look like one side is ten years old....!! I cant watch my 2015 red 21EC suffer the same fate...I sell automotive paints and this rapid deteriation would be most unacceptable in even the cheapest automotive paints..?
 
My blue colored hull has faded and stained despite waxing and buffing. The transom in particularly bad. I have made the transom a project polishing and waxing it every two weeks. It has still faded. Part of what I am seeing is hard water stains which are a real pain to remove. Once I get thru the hard water the shine comes up.

I like a good looking boat but I like to use my boat more. This fall I have decided to Algrip the hull. My dock mate has a blue hull that was painted several years ago and it looks great. He waxes it once a year.
 
A year ago I purchased a 2012 Cutwater 28 with the blue hull. One side of the hull and the transom were severely oxidized. I tried all the familiar waxing methods listed in this post and finally gave up.

Traditionalists sit down. . . After a year of trying to bring back the shine using wax products, I used the Poli-Glow system (http://poliglow-int.com) with a cost of $70. So far, it looks fantastic.

However, pay close attention to the temperature requirements or you'll end up with streaking. I applied Poli-Glow to one side of the hull when the temperature was right at the minimum requirement and ended up with streaking. I then got the pleasure of trying out their Poli-Strip product and reapplying Poli-Glow.

There are lots of threads in the boating world about the good and bad of Poli-Glow. Bottom line for me. . . the hull looks brand new and I spent a day instead of days putting it on.

On a side note, while I was applying Poli-Glow, multiple boaters came up to me and asked what I did to make the boat look brand new. Side note #2, the directions are for the minimum number of coats to apply. Each successive coat increases the shine a bit. Keep adding coats until you are happy with the shine.
 
We just finished painting our 2010 R-29 with AwlGrip. It needed it badly. It seems those who can't believe these hulls fade do not live in regions more exposed by the sun's rays (south of the Mason-Dixon line for example). Many boats built in the N.W. have the same problem and will eventually need painted (American Tug and Nordics included). I have tried many products (including Poli-Glow, which I don't recommend) on the hull and drip rails and had similar results with fade within a month or so. Your new boat will shine for about 3 years with normal two-times-per-year waxing then the battle begins. By year 5, it'll need the paint. The sun will have no mercy unless you are in a covered slip. An owner will spend more and more time buffing and waxing - or paying someone else to do it - and not enjoying the boat. We all have pride in our Ranger Tugs and I could stand it no longer...so we painted.

As for the cost, prepare to spend a lot of money. $5K may work with a R-25...for a 29 you can almost double that. 75% of costs were the massive prep required prior to actual painting. Our R-29 was masked, papered and taped to cover the areas not requiring paint. Then the gel coat was sanded, multiple coats of gray primer was applied followed by multiple coats of top coat on hull and drip rails. We even had the stripe surrounding the house changed. After the prep you can paint it any color you want too. I got 5 estimates by the finest paint shops in our region, large and small and went with a shop which provided the best value with the highest degree of technical skill and experience. It was done right by a shop which has been in business for 50 yrs. The result is...well, it's perfect! Better looking than new.
 
I agree. Our R 25 which we painted 2 years ago with Awlgrip still looks new after 2 years. To us it was worth the $$.

Jim and Jo Ann
 
My brother is a professional yacht detailer , owners fly him to Florida all the time to detail their yachts.

He tells me the Florida sun kills colored hulls.
He recently polished and waxed my 2008 R25 which the previous owners I don't think ever did. He also made mention that I need to avoid any more polishing of my boat by keeping up with the wax . He thinks the coat blue paint on the hull is very thin and he said hes seen a couple Ranger Tugs come through over the years with the same deal.

Anyway He gave me some rules

Florida Sun = wax every 3 months to keep it from getting chalky and dull. IF its already chalky and dull your gonna have to polish it , then wax it .

North East =3 x Season wax.

Ill take some before and after picks from his shop up here in Maryland when his crew finishes mine.( he owed me a favor)

He also warned me against augrip and that I would see it start to flake and possibly peel after 3-4 years.
 
We had two very knowledgeable gelcoat guys look at our problem on the portside hull. They both said the the gelcoat suffers from a problem called "porosity". This creates very small pin holes in the gelcoat that somehow gives it a very dull and faded look. One said he could wet sand it and bring it back for a short time but he would feel guilty charging me to do something he knows won't last more than a few weeks. The only remedy is to repaint the hull. This isn't what I needed to hear since we are talking about a four year old boat that's been well taken care of and covered when not being used. I've tried to call Andrew but I can't seem to get through to him. I guess I don't have the same luck getting a hold of him as some others do. I did get a call from a Monroe WA phone number but missed that. When I called back I just got a voice message saying I've reached Ranger Tugs please leave a message, so I did but nothing yet. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Tim
Gratitude
 
Tim,

Did you ever get a resolution to your gelcoat problem. I may have the same problem. See my post on General Technical Discussion, “Porous Gelcoat”.

Thanks,

Dick
 
I'm seriously about Vinyl Wrap for 1500 bucks....
 
I've been looking a simple plain blue wrap for just the blue hull on BAY RANGER, but haven't had much luck here on the Chesapeake. Best quote so far has been over $3500.
Just spent about $600 for a professional polish/wax job. We'll see how it goes.
Last year I did it myself. Took about 40 hours of my time and lasted less than half the season.
 
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