Has anyone tried to paint your own boat? If so how much of a pain in the a$$ is it? I really need some fresh paint but the best quote I got was $3000.00. Any help or advice is appreciated.....thanks.

your best bet is to do all the prep work yourself & hire a profesional to spray it. I painted a 26ft cat i used to own & it came out semi-profesional. if i did it again i would let a pro
do the spraying.

Hey vette thanks for your input....if I do decide to do it myself, what kind of paint do you recommend? Also how many coats of clear did you use? Thanks.

have a pro do it. a ****ty paintjon is somethign taht EVERYONE will notices especially a future potential buyer

you can make up for some skill with a ton of time.... if you have tons of time then i say go for it, if you don't i say pay somebody.... most of it is prep work and quality materials, the rest is practice... if you haven't done it before, i say start with something small and see what happens.... a old car hood or door something like that and see if you can get it to turn out like you want.... if not, pay somebody, because puder is right, the paint job will be the first thing everybody notices....

Cuda painted his F-20. Check the Formula forum there are lots of pics. It came out well.

I did the deck on my old boat a few years ago. I spend about 2 months sanding and prepping. I had is sprayed and buffed in about 3 days. Go slow, do multiple "light" coats and you'll be fine. Shoot, I did mine outdoors at 5 am, no one could tell the difference at the dock. Not that I would recommend that....

Alright guys it sounds like its not that bad to do myself.....I do have time and I also have a large garage. I think I'll try on some old pieces of fiberglass and see how it comes out.....After all even the pros had to start somewhere...Right?

i used ppg base clear 3 coats of clear
it looked good but was easy to scratch at the dock. i've heard some boat painters are using imron clear instead & it makes it much more durable. good luck

Are you going to paint or re-gelcoat it? Big difference.

Jon