To PAINT or not to PAINT that is the question!

[FisherofmenNJ]

Hey all first time poster! So as the title indicates im looking for advise or experience on bottom coating/ painting aluminum boats. Ive only ever owned aluminum boats but never painted them except for duck camo above water line. I recently bought a new to me 1999 lowe sea nymph 16’ and the boat is in great shape with no leaks. Had it out yesterday after i did some outboard work. Now that i know shes running good i have dreams of installing subfloors casting decks storage all the good stuff but that will take some time, money and planning before im ready for any of that. However i did want to clean the boat real good and paint the outside. Im wondering if painting the hull/ bottom is a mistake or seeing how it has no leaks presently may serve to prevent leaks. Any advise on paint vs epoxy and how to clean/wash and paint would be great!

 

[Zip]

If its not leaking, and not going to be left in water, I probably would opt not to paint it. If you plan to leave in water, there are some good antifouling below waterline paints - BUT make sure you get one without copper in the ingredients as it will corrode the hull. I believe total boat has one specifically for aluminum boats.

 

[airshot]

Owned aluminum boats for 60 years, aluminum will discolor and oxidise thru natural issues. So...the bottom line is....do you care about how the bottom looks ? I have owned both painted and unpainted. The real difference is the painted bottom look better and is easier b to keep looking good. The unpainted hulls get a dull oxidized Finnish and stays that way, it does not effect performance or change life expectancy of the aluminum. The oxidizing is aluminum's way of protecting itself. Bottom line comes down to appearance, do you care what the bottom looks like ?? I like a painted bottom only because it is easier to keep clean on a boat that has painted sides and decorations on it. On my non painted hulls, I didn't worry about it at all. Comes down to preference, painting had no benefit to the aluminum itself except for appearance !! But....when selling anything, appearance can make or break a sale !

 

[LDUBS]

I agree it comes down to appearance. I decided to get an aluminum boat so I wouldn’t have to worry about dock rash or keeping it shiny. I have to admit some of the paint jobs I see here are pretty nice.

 

[LaqueRatt]

The better question may be HOW are you going to paint it? I can slap a coat on in a couple hours, but see other guys spending weeks on it. I have to say my Mirro with marine paint on it will scuff up real quick if it rubs against a rough pier. If it didn't come painted, don't think I'd do it. Like the man said, if you want to sell it, fresh shiny paint helps a lot, but once you paint something, anything, it never ends.

 

[Ray Clark]

As said above, it all depends on what you want.

I painted the bottom of my boat this past winter. I painted the "above the waterline" half of my hull the first year I had it. This past winter, three years later, I painted the bottom half. A lot of the motivation for painting the bottom half was that I already had to remove the boat from the trailer so I could do some needed trailer mods. I painted the trailer; since the boat was already off, I went ahead and cleaned it up, too.

Choice of paint is up to you and your budget as well. I went the inexpensive route with paint and primer. Some choose to go with higher quality materials.

The build thread link in my signature line below will show you what and how I chose to do my boat.

 

[Tin Man]

Appearance is what it comes down. I painted a Tracker V16 several years ago. It was originally a painted boat. It had quite a bit of dock rash and dents/gouges on bottom from beaching.

I removed decals, sanded, primered, and painted. I also repaired some dents and gouges on hull bottom and painted the bottom as well. All same color. Used high quality Petit marine paint. I was going to spray, but in the end I decided to use the roll and tip method. Turned out pretty nice.

Preparation is a LOT of work. If hull was not originally painted, I would not have done it.
Another potential option.....My father has a Crestliner Sportsman 14. He decided to add some large pieces of vinyl to cover approx. 1/2 of the hull sides. Came out very nice. Much easier than painting. It took 2-3 people to install properly.