newish bottom coat peeling off

**Paladin** · 02-19-2012, 09:18 PM

Less than a year ago I had a bottom paint job done. when I had it out for other repairs the black bottom paint began to flake off, all over the bottom! The gray primer stuck well.
Funny though. the black bottom paint didn't flake where it had been applied a little higher than the waterline. That is, where it hadn't been actually soaking in water over time.
Also, the boat was out for almost five weeks, and it seemed to flake more the drier it got over time- or at least that's when I stared noticing it. It's in salt water, had never been painted before as it was always in fresh water.
I had the guy that did it out to look at it, and he wasn't happy. I haven't heard back from him yet.
Any ideas on what's going on?
Thanks, Paladin

**Pyrojodge** · 02-19-2012, 09:50 PM

Was the primer supposed to be roughed to let the other paint adhere properly? Sounds like there was a step skipped and with the paint being able to "dry out" its able to delaminate from the primer as water was able to leach into the paint...? Just a guess I don't know how things work with you salty guys...

**Paladin** · 02-19-2012, 11:44 PM

yeah, to me it is maybe like the wrong bottom paint to go with that kind of primer?
My fear is that it's a kind of bottom paint that needs to stay in the water, and no one told me, and now I'm holding the short end. Seems to me I have heard of bottom paints like that.
A guy at the boat yard says that sometimes people use a "universal" primer instead of prepping the bottom right when the bottom has never been painted before.

**fwebster** · 02-20-2012, 07:09 AM

Flaking bottom paint is always due to one of these things........improper preparation of the bottom, failure to follow the primer instructions as to cure times, incompatible chemistry between the paint and whatever it is applied to, or failure to follow the bottom paint instructions. Unless you instructed the boat yard to use incompatible products or insisted on a work schedule that didn't allow proper times between coats, then your boat yard should warranty the bottom job under the paint warranty. My guess is that the boat yard just slapped on the paint and never read the paint can labels as to timing and preparation. Flaking shouldn't happen and your yard knows it.

After a bunch of years with bigger boats in salt water, I have learned that the cheapest quote on bottom painting is false economy.....it takes time to do it right, and time in a boat yard translates to $.

**HUMPH** · 02-20-2012, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Paladin

Less than a year ago I had a bottom paint job done. when I had it out for other repairs the black bottom paint began to flake off, all over the bottom! The gray primer stuck well.
Funny though. the black bottom paint didn't flake where it had been applied a little higher than the waterline. That is, where it hadn't been actually soaking in water over time.
Also, the boat was out for almost five weeks, and it seemed to flake more the drier it got over time- or at least that's when I stared noticing it. It's in salt water, had never been painted before as it was always in fresh water.
I had the guy that did it out to look at it, and he wasn't happy. I haven't heard back from him yet.
Any ideas on what's going on?
Thanks, Paladin

Paladin, where did you have this work done? Most all of the reputable yards I know of would warranty their work (except maybe the one over at Riverboat who charged me full price even when they didn't do a proper or complete repair). I would talk to the yard that did the work and maybe have them come look at your boat if it's out of the water now.

**Paladin** · 02-20-2012, 10:38 PM

Thanks for the responses. I have been in touch with the company that did the job, in San Rafael Calif where I have the boat. They are due to contact me soon, and if they don't I'll be in touch with them this week again, and we'll just have to see how they want to take it. But I was a little worried that they'd say I was to blame, like for having the boat being worked on on the hard for about five weeks, or for maybe having some other thing to say like my Mercathode system did it. I hope I'm being paranoid, and they'll just redo it.

**Paladin** · 04-26-2012, 12:59 AM

Follow up:
Well, they did it, yes, it took this long for them to do it because they were busy. They didn't charge me for paint or labor, but did for yard time (because they don'y have their own yard, and so use one nearby). Five hundred bucks. can't say I'm thrilled overall, but them's the breaks I guess..
They said they didn'y know why it had peeled off (They use Trinidad after a barrier coat) and that it had never happened before to them.
I guess I chalk it up to being an expensive paintjob, which should last me a couple years maybe.. hmph