bilge paint

[Publius]

can any one recommend a reliable paint for me to use on the flooring of my cabin and bilge area, it would be covered by the floor boards

[AdriftAtSea]

I wouldn't use a paint in the bilge.  Most paints are not going to be able to withstand the conditions there.  IMHO, you'd be much better off using Interlux Interprotect 2000E barrier coating as a "paint" for your bilge.  It is a fairly durable coating that will also help prevent water in the bilge from working its way into the laminate. :)

[skylark]

I used water based white latex paint, it has held up pretty good and looks a lot cleaner than the old stained fiberglass.  It will smudge but not too bad.  My bilge is fairly dry.

[Publius]

hmm, i do want to cover up the old fiberglass cladding with some paint, perhaps i could do both the liner then a coat of paint on top?  Really it doesnt matter, it will be below the floor boards... but I dont know why, it will bother me haha.

Need some more opinions I think

adrift will the liner do anything for aesthetics?

[AdriftAtSea]

Interprotect 2000E will leave a nice durable white or grey finish.

[Publius]

Oh that sounds perfect then.  Thanks Ill be buying some by the start of next week I'm sure.  I just need two nice days next to each other so I can power wash the interior and apply the liner, then put in the actual flooring.  Do I need to sand or anything prior to the application?  Perhaps I should just coat the entire interior with it if it will keep the cladding/fiberglass from deteriorating or molding/fouling?

The plan is to put in wood, insulated walls (for the lower half of the walls) and like a beige vynil for the top half and roof (with wooden molding and framing).  The interior is completely bare as I've mentioned in other threads.

Perhaps I should create a new thread saying "EMPTY BOAT, SUGGESTIONS?"

[AdriftAtSea]

As with any surface coating, applying Interprotect 2000E requires you do the proper prepwork.  That usually includes washing down the surface with a good de-greaser/wax remover, like Fiberglass Prep Wash 202 and then sanding it lightly.  If you do that, I'm pretty sure that the IP2000E will stick and stay stuck for as long as you have the boat. :)  You probably don't need to do the full four coats that would be required if using it as a barrier coating.

[Publius]

Okay thanks Adrift, will be doing that Monday.

[AdriftAtSea]

BTW, do not barrier coat or paint any areas where you're going to be tabbing in bulkheads or stringers or floors. In fact, I would highly recommend you wash the interior as well as possible with a good degreasing/dewaxing agent and the layout all the places you're going install stringers, floors, bulkheads, and do that before doing any painting or coating of the interior.  Otherwise, you're just wasting your time, effort and money. 

Once you have the bulkheads, stringers and floors glassed to the hull, before you install the cabin sole, fixtures and furnishings, you should do the barrier coating of the hull and stringers and floors.

Do all the work in the proper order or you're going to end up wasting a lot of money, effort and time.

I know you want to go ahead and barrier coat and paint, but there really is NO POINT to doing it until you've built the interior back up to the point where you're almost ready to add furnishings, fixtures, the overhead, ceilings and the cabin sole. 

BTW—The nautical terms are in bold and a bit confusing if you're not familiar with them.

Ceilings on a boat are the vertical surfaces inside the hull.

Bulkheads are the "walls" that laterally cross a boat

Overhead is the "ceiling" of a boat

and the cabin sole is the "floor" of the boat,

floors are lateral reinforcements to the hull that run across the boat,

and stringers are longitudinal reinforcements that run parallel to the keel of the boat.

[Publius]

well that just saved me a ton of time and money, seriously right in time.  Adrift, Im going to name the boat after you haha.

Thanks for the heads up, and you even spared me asking about what those terms meant (because thats what I was going to need to do if you didnt define them for me.

You should write a book!

Thanks again, will be doing layout design for the flooring and ceilings tomorrow.  Wish you could just come to south jersey and show me whats what.  I appreciate all the help!

[Amgine]

One minor clarification: ceilings are any interior surface which is applied over the hull/deck structure except the soles (which are ceilings laid over the floors.) So, your overheads may have ceilings, as well as the hull where it is not covered by cabinetry (which is any structure other than the structural members - the floors, frames, and bulkheads.) Many fibreglass hulls have a 'molded liner', which is a ceiling/cabinetry in fibreglass, sometimes called a 'pan' when cabinetry is built on top of it.

Often hulls which are custom built have sections of the interior built in one-piece units, then dropped into place (or lifted, by the craftsmen who intelligently build their boats upside down. A boat built upside down never needs to be cleaned out during construction; rightsideup builds get swept/vacuumed at least every day, and you pay for all that cleaning one way or another.)

[CharlieJ]

Here's two pics to give you an idea of ceilings This is Ash and is on the interior of our Meridian Tehani

first one shows the cleats we installed to fasten the ceiling to, second shows the ash ceiling- the strips are Slightly over 1/4 inch thick

[CharlieJ]

And one more showing my wife installing the foam insulation behind the ceiling. By the way, she put in all the woodwork trim on the inside of the boat.

[AdriftAtSea]

Charlie—

You do realize you're making us jealous... what beautiful work on that boat.

[CharlieJ]

Thanks- and as I've said before- Laura gets a good portion of the credit. She worked finishing the boat because I was building a 22 footer up in the other shop for a customer during that time frame. She did the lion's share of the interior.

As a matter of fact, she's out on the boat right now- anchored behind a point on the far side of the bay. She took it out single hand yesterday. Coming home this evening. Kind of a celebration sail because her last work day was last Weds ;)

I didn't go because I'm helping a friend sail another boat back, with a dead engine.

Here's that same area as completed except we no longer stow the jib up there- Laura sewed a jib bag for it so it stays on the headstay.

And of of the lady herself

[maxiSwede]

Congratulations to a really sweet job there, Laura & Charlie!!!

;D

[CaptMac]

Nice!

I noticed your V berth cushions for sleeping, I am going to put new cushions in my boat and was wondering what you think is the right thickness for setting on and for sleeping on, we do not want to bottom out when sleeping.
Thanks

[Tim]

For my vberth (my sleeping area) I use a 4" med. to soft open cell foam. Open because it provides softer padding, and I figure if they ever get inundated by water I am in deep doodoo anyway. For my settee seats I will use a denser closed cell 2 to 3" foam.

[CharlieJ]

On this boat, the previous one and for all the foam I order for customers, we use a 4 inch medium density open cell foam. We use that on vee berth and settees, since we often are sleeping on the settee particularly when at sea.

[Publius]

okay thanks for all the clarification and pictures.

adrift what fibreglass materials should I be using?

charlie, i noticed in one of the pictures of the v birth you used verticle studs to then attach wood panels to, how did you fix these studs to the hull?  also i see what seems to be a marking for a port, did you install the forward ports yourself? i plan to do the same except have no idea how to do it, how do i determine the height that they should sit at, make them level, symmetrical from side to side, etc.

thanks again all (as usual)