Sandblasting

M

MarkMuck

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
RO Number
362
Messages
264
I'm having the boat pulled in the Spring. One harbor says they will sandblast it before painting the bottom. Another harbor says sandblasting is bad and you should simply sand the bottom.....

What does our panel of experts here say ?

Thanks

Mark
 
I dont let anyone near my boat bottom with a grinder.
 
Not an expert but sandblasting is very aggressive. It can & will open any voids in hull gel coat that would otherwise be of no concern. There are other methods of blasting that are much less agressive. They are: walnut shells, baking soda & dry ice methods which will remove paint w/o damage to hull.
 
Follow the directions on the paint can,if that is not enough info the paint mfgs.have prep charts avaiable where the paint is sold.If you supply the forum with more info such as what the bottom is made of and what coatings are on it now I bet a lot of people have been down the same road. They also blast with corncob,water,or shot.Less aggressive on ablative more aggressive on vinyl.There are coatings that are not cost effective to sandblast so you just remove the loose paint. I had my bottom sandblasted 2 yrs. ago (steel)and the people that did it also do a lot of fiberglas. They can regulate some of the agressiveness with their gun. Hire a pro not a newbie. Good luck Jim
 
You may want to go over it with some very coarse sand paper to smooth out any bumps but otherwise you want to leave the old, adherent paint on there for whatever additional barrier it offers.
 
The answer depends on the skill of your yard. I've had a hull blasted with walnut shells, barrier coated and painted with great results. Soda blasting is a little more environmentally friendly. After you settle on the issue of how to prepare the hull, do yourself a favor. Add a barrier coat and then go with a high quality ablative paint so you are done with the need to do anything more than a power wash prior to recoating. Awlgrip and others make some very good paints.
 
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