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75 Naubuc Avenue |
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75 Naubuc Avenue |
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Marine - Bottom Paint Removal
Soda blasting is very good at removing paint and not harming the underlying surface. It's ideal for removing the bottom paint from the hull of a fiberglass boat without harming the gelcoat. It will remove the bottom paint from other types of hulls also wood, steel, aluminum. It's also gentle on underlying wood surfaces.
Many boat owners let the marina/shipyard decide on cleaning and repainting boat bottoms simply because there haven‘t been many options to choose from. Some owners are unaware as to what conventional methods of bottom cleaning do by way of damage to the hull.
Basically, the conventional process of cleaning and prepping boat bottoms would include the following: When the boat is hauled out, the first task if necessary, is to scrape off the heavy marine growth with flat blades. Excessive scraping may very well gouge into the gel coat if not careful. The next step might be pressure-washing the bottom prior to mechanical sanding which does little except clean off surface scum. Sanding the hull is the most destructive process in hull cleaning and occurs simply because it is a very difficult manual task and virtually impossible to keep from sanding into the gelcoat. Once the gel coat is damaged, water can get between it and the fiberglass. The hydraulic pressure from the water then begins to cause blisters, fractures, and delamination of the gelcoat. The original gel coat is smooth in texture and serves as a protective barrier of the underlying fiberglass. A quick coat of bottom paint and the owner is totally unaware of the condition of his hull because of the cosmetic effect of the fresh paint.
Most boat bottoms have never been completely stripped simply because it is costly and very labor-intensive using conventional methods. So in reality one coat of paint is applied over another and another and so on. After a point in time all that is left is layered coats of peeling paint and gelcoat failure, not such a pretty sight, but most important the hull integrity is diminished not to mention the loss of boat operating performance due to a rough bottom surface and the added weight of water that has been wicked into the fiberglass.
New boat owners should always be present at the time of the first haul out, especially if the boat is still under warranty. It is not uncommon for blisters to form on newer hulls, especially on the bottoms. A quick visual inspection can determine the presence of blisters. In some cases there may be hundreds of blisters on new hulls. Each blister must be located, removed, and repaired lest the risk of catastrophic failure. Most warranty’s will cover blister repairs but if not determined while the boat is still under warranty the owner may have to pay a fortune in hull repair at some later time. Traditionally, blister repairs are expensive and time consuming. Boat manufacturers are becoming aware of SodaBlasting blisters because of speed and quality. A nickel-sized blister can be removed along with a one inch to four inch feathered edge in only two to five seconds?
So what is SodaBlasting?
This is an air pressure driven, and non-destructive method of cleaning and paint
stripping on fiberglass, wood, aluminum and other substrates. Soda blasting is fast, cost effective, and
flexible as it relates to the specific task: Boats that have layers upon layers of bottom paint with
moderate to severe damage to the gelcoat. SodaBlasting will remove the layers of old paint and damaged
gelcoat without harming the remaining gelcoat that is without spider cracks and intact. In this tough case
scenario a moderate level of SodaBlasting effort will thoroughly prepare the surface for gelcoat repair
and/or further prep for an application of barrier coating that will ensure years of coating life service and better
operating performance because of less drag from rough and water saturated bottoms. In summary,
SodaBlasting will support and sustain good hull integrity while improving performance in speed for sailing
and motor craft with lower fuel cost.
Our procedure for bottom paint removal starts with a tenting process in which we use 4-mil plastic to create a floor underneath the boat to contain the dust and bottom paint that will be removed during blasting.
Next we put up the sides of the blasting tent using 4-mil plastic. We tape the plastic above the boot stripe with shrink patch tape, a tape used in the marine industry, and is safe on most gel coats and most painted boats.
After the plastic has been taped to the boat it is then clamped together with the bottom "floor" plastic. The blaster enters through an opening left at the bow end of the boat. This technique provides a tight tent that keeps in the used baking soda and bottom paint removed during the blasting procedure.
During the blasting the tent will expand from the air entering the tent through the blasting hose making the tent appear as a bubble.
The person doing the blasting is connected to a fresh air system and isolated from the environment.
When the blasting process has been completed the dust is allowed to settle and the tent starts to come down by first taking down the sides and then rolling up the wasted materials in the floor plastic. Finally the waste and plastic is disposed in the dumpster onsite unless other arrangements have been made.
The bottom is not stripped of bottom paint. Now all that remains is the barrier coat if there was one and or gel coat. Our process is only one step in the preparation process of painting a bottom. All instrucitons given by the product now being applied to the boat bottom must be followed in order to get the results the product states.
