mookster

i have a formula that the previous owner left the boat in the water he had that anti growth roll on paint put on the bottom of the boat
is there a way i can remove that and get it back to the gel coat?
is there a stripper for that?

Perlmudder

yes there is, you can get it at west marine, and it is water based. it is called aqua strip. worked descent, but it was a lot of work, also, make sure to put it on thick and and do not let it dry before you scrape it off. but you do need to let it sit and do the work.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

E-Z-Off oven cleaner gives good results to but be careful not to get it on ya. It will burn!

30ctsutphen

I would look into either baking soda blasting or plastic media blasting.

Baking soda would be my first choice due to it being biodegradable and many guys will come out to your site and hit it.

we use it on cars allot and it works very well for that type of work. Please call and ask your local media blaster about boats speciafically though since I havent done one personally

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

hit it with a pressure washer 1st. to remove alot of the growth. It will also take off some of the antifouling paint. I used E-Z Off to remove the remaining of my anti fouling paint last fall. Sprayed it on, waited a minute, then used a scrub brush and it simply dissolved. Right down to the barrier coat. I did take a paint scraper over it 1st to remove the majority of the thickness. My boat had a few coats of barrier paint, so I didn't have to worry about getting into the gel. Could have done without scraping, but it made the use of the EZ off more effective and faster working. Only used around 6-8 cans at a few bucks each to do my 29' cruiser. As Glassdave mentioned, keep it off your skin!!! I tried the Interprotect brand stripper 1st. Didn't touch it, no matter how long I left it on. Going by the instructions on teh stripper, you'd brush it on heavy, then place a plastic sheet over it to keep it from drying out, and then have to wait along time depending on layers, doing small sections at a time. PLus the small fortune for the stripper itself. I also got a qoute to have it soda blasted off close to $2k. After that, decided to try the oven cleaner that has been mentioned before here.
Sure glad I spent less than $30 and got the same results. Took the wife and I 2 evenings to strip it all off.
Results may vary depending the type of anti foiling paint that was used.

Does it have a barrier coat under the antifouling paint?

mookster

i dont know if it has a barrier coat.
i dont have any growth on it just want the bottom of my boat smooth

mookster

oven cleaner wont touch it i will have to try something different.
the top layer is white and i chipped away a piece and theres another yellowish whire under that.. is that the barrier coat?