Gelcoat vs. paint (LP)?

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by mattotoole, Mar 5, 2005.

  1. mattotoole
    Joined: Nov 2004
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    Location: Potomac MD, USA

    mattotoole Senior Member

    I'm wondering about re-gelcoating vs. painting (LP). Everyone tries to make their gelcoat last as long as possible, thinking that once it's painted it will never be the same. But I'm not so sure. LP is pretty neat stuff. Which do you think is better, not so much for initial finish quality, but durability, repairability, color matching, etc? How about re-gelcoating vs. painting?
     
  2. Raggi_Thor
    Joined: Jan 2004
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    Location: Trondheim, NORWAY

    Raggi_Thor Nav.arch/Designer/Builder

    LP needs less (none) upkeep work, wash it once in a while, no waxing, rubbing, polisshing. My painter (a car paint shop in the sae house) sais that regular car paint lasts at last five years (on boats), while LP lasts more than twice as long. Of course this depend on the environment, we don't have much uv radiation here, 60-70 degrees north.
     
  3. Capt. Chris
    Joined: Feb 2005
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    Location: north atlantic

    Capt. Chris Junior Member

    mattotoole,
    LP is the way to go! I am in the process of finish a project and am using a waterborne LP. It is a llittle tricky to spray, but once you get it down it looks great and is rock hard. In my opinion re-gel is old school at this point in time as the technology in coatings has advanced so much just in the past few years. I think it has its place in new boat building because this is the process it was designed for. Good luck and save up some $ ... LP coatings with the primers are mucho bucks!
    Capt. Chris
     
  4. mojounwin
    Joined: Dec 2004
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    Location: Queensland, Australia

    mojounwin Junior Member

    Just a question from a newie,
    What does LP stand for? Is it linear Polyurethane?
     
  5. SamSam
    Joined: Feb 2005
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    Location: Coastal Georgia

    SamSam Senior Member

    This isn't about gel coating vs. painting (don't even think about re-gelcoating) but just to suggest maybe you don't need to do either. If your gelcoat looks bad, maybe all it needs is to be attacked with a buffing/polishing compound and a buffing wheel to remove the haze and then re-waxed.
     

  6. mattotoole
    Joined: Nov 2004
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    Location: Potomac MD, USA

    mattotoole Senior Member

    Well, that's always been the attraction with gelcoat, it can always be renewed. But only up to a point. After 20-30 years a lot of boats look pretty faded and tired, and only a fresh coat of somthing will do the trick.
     
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