What kind of paint do you use to paint the inside of a fiberglass boat?

I have an old fiberglass v-hull boat. The inside is fiberglass (of course). It is white and has black lines throughout the paint (i've been told it's to hide imperfections in the boat). I don't like the ';lines'; so what kind of paint do i use to cover it up. Of course it will be walked on all the time. Sorry for the ';dumb'; facts but I want to give every detail possible.What kind of paint do you use to paint the inside of a fiberglass boat?
That ';paint'; isn't really paint at all. It's polyester resin and pigments, essentially Gel-coat with out the fiberglass. It's used to prevent the adhesion problems with most other coatings. Surface preparation is difficult on some of these hulls, because the oils and wax residue on fiberglass. If you use latex it will peal in a month or 2 years, no telling. Epoxy is good but expensive and is hard to mix and apply.What kind of paint do you use to paint the inside of a fiberglass boat?
Zolatone 20 is a great paint for this purpose. It has a splatter pattern that hides imperfections. It's tough as nails and keeps it's finish with a lot of abuse.





You can see an example of how it looks about half way down the page in the first source link.





The second source link is to the Zolatone website.
take a look a Interlux and petit marine coatings. These paints are available through marine stores or online.one source is :





http://discountmarinesupplies.com





in their navigation menu look up paint. We have have very good results using polyurethane paints from Petit (Easypoxy) and Interlux (brightside) best results will be had if you use apply a couple of primer coats first sand and then apply two finish coats. paints can be applied using a foam roller followed by a dry brush to catch drips and smooth out the finish.





Additional info can be had by doing an internet search for interlux or petit paint. both companies also offer a non skid additive or paint for the deck if you want it.
Hi Will,


They make a marine paint. I`ve used once and it is price`e but you wont regret it. Ask for it at a paint store and they will have or make it for you. If the store is a good one. Ahoy!
Nothing dumb about this question.





Your main issue is to create a key between the old surface and the new coating. This in practice is probably going to mean prep sanding the surface with a soft backed 180 -240 - 360 grit open coat Al. oxide abrasive, I'd suggest a random orbit machine but it's your call. All dust has to be removed, and a shellite dampened cloth used to wipe off any residue. Use full PPE or get very ill. Safety glasses all the time.





I would not use water to clean off - this will easily go into the glass fibres should any be exposed, and then you have another issue to deal with. If this has already occurred then those sections must be ground out and relaid or they will only get much worse and cost more to fix later.


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Don't sand too much off - the point is just to get a good key. Depending on the coating you choose you may have to undercoat. I would either use a two pack finish (not for the uncertain and not at all benign for your health!!) or a flow coat (better, but not paint). I would use a foam core flock roller, and tip off with a brush for best effect with the two pack and if you are getting a lot of bubbles in the finish, although I think the roller pattern is pleasing and helps hide any imperfections in the surface. With the flow coat just use a basic mid-fine roller and don't play with it much. The gel coat will slump if too thick, but the two pack stuff is a right mongrel full stop - any drips and droops can be sanded off but that group of products is not forgiving at all if you don't know what you are doing.





Use sugar before whichever finish you choose gels off spread over any areas you want grip - which is every horizontal surface really including the seats. The finer the sugar the finer the grip. When the finish is cured just hose off and the sugar dissolves leaving a prefect non-aggressive grip in the finish itself.





Your colour choices will be fairly basic and limited, the prep work will take 75% of the time. The hottest underfoot of all choices is grey.





If you don't get a good key you will waste your money.





Good luck.