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Post how you have protected your box

Started by the-big-glas-box, Jan 24, 2013, 09:47 pm

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galacticprobe

Feb 13, 2014, 06:37 am #15 Last Edit: Feb 13, 2014, 07:15 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: daveninja on Feb 12, 2014, 04:21 pm
...but my dad mentioned that there is a type of coating used for boats that easier to use than fiberglass and stays slightly rubbery so you dont end up with the cracks that fiberglass can get. Anyone know about boat paints/coatings?


Well, I'm not sure about civilian marine paints, but after serving 29 years in the US Coast Guard I can say that I've never seen any rubbery paint used on any of our ships or boats. Bottom paint/coatings are designed to prevent "fouling" (marine growth build-up); topside paints are designed to prevent rust; all, however, are designed for use on metal and don't work well with wood. (I know. When I was restoring an old wooden skiff for one of our local historic houses, and the funding was coming out of my pocket because the house's budget was about a dime, I managed to get some paint donated by one of our ships: the black for the bottom paint. Even after priming the skiff, after one trip on the water the black started peeling off, while the white used above the waterline - scavenged from another friend and intended for use on home exteriors - held up for several years. Both paints and the primer were oil-based to help preserve the wood.)

Marine paints aren't designed to prevent leaks as one would find in wood joins; they're designed to protect the wood (if you're working with wooden boats), or to prevent rust. Fiberglass boats are usually gel coated to seal everything, but again that's to protect the fiberglass and not for stopping leaks. Also, marine grade paints are very expensive! Go to your local home improvement store and ask for the price of their top-of-the-line home exterior paint - then at least double it. (Some of the marine paints I'd looked into for that skiff, specifically intended for wooden boats, were upwards of $150.00 per gallon!) But the white paint that friend donated had a 25-year guarantee on it, and while he wouldn't give me an exact price, he said it was less than $35.00 per gallon. And for the record, the white area of the skiff was roughly 90 square feet. (It was a 20-foot skiff, with a 5-foot wide transom, and at the stern was 2 feet above the waterline, and rose to 3 feet above the waterline at the bow, and the bow had a small triangular "fo'c'sle" deck measuring about 3 feet long by 2 feet wide. And that one gallon covered everything with plenty left over.)

Have you looked into that rubberized truck spray-on bed liner? (They have paintable ones.) That should seal just about everything and as proved on the Discovery Channel's shows 'Smash Lab' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSvVy6oiMZI) and 'Mythbusters' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JOXrpCLCJg), it could stand up to a bomb blast! But even before you sprayed that on, I would use a good paintable caulking (that also remains flexible to account for temperature changes and wood expansion and contraction) to seal all of the seams. Then apply the bed liner, and then "...make her blue again!". (Or, if you could find the right color blue bed liner and use that you could make your TARDIS blast-proof!)

One person I would suggest contacting via PM is geminitimelord. He has recently done extensive restoration on his TARDIS (which he lets me use as my avatar). He could probably give you some great pointers. Also check out his Build/Repair Diary (http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=497.msg53254#msg53254). He provides a lot of info there as well, and starting with the page this link points to shows what sort of weather damage he had to repair. (And he did a terrific job of it, too!)

I hope this was helpful.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

elevator guy17

when i get to it was thinking of trying that flex seal stuff that comes in a spray can. i tried it on my house and it seems to spray out pretty good. and i guess it comes in some other colors now too.

galacticprobe

Feb 14, 2014, 07:18 am #17 Last Edit: Feb 14, 2014, 07:18 am by galacticprobe
FlexSeal (whose pitchman sounds like Darph Bobo of the Evil Clown Empire) comes in three colors: black, white, and clear. I'm sure as demand dictates they'll come out with yet more colors, but goodness knows when or if that will happen. I don't know how expensive that stuff is when looking at a purchase on a TARDIS' scale, but I'd say of you wanted to go with that, the clear would be best. You could spray it over your painted box, and not have to worry about it. If you used one of the colored ones, then you might have to worry about the paint cracking if the FlexSeal "flexed" in the wrong place.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

daveninja


Arabol was the flexible boat paint my father was telling me about. I guess its hard to find now days. it was made by Borden (Elmer's Glue)

galacticprobe

Apr 22, 2014, 05:23 am #19 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2014, 05:23 am by galacticprobe
Boat, or any marine paint, is really expensive. (Then again, so is building a TARDIS, or having to rebuild the old thing if she deteriorates on you due to weather.) But I think the original issue wasn't so much the paint holding up, but rather how to fill in or cover the cracks and crevices, nooks and crannies to keep the weather (rain, snow, basically water in any form) from getting in and causing rot, or freezing and causing splitting of the wood.

True, boat or marine paint would flex and not peel, but then neither would a good exterior house latex paint, and the latex would cost less. I've seen marine/boat paints going for well over $150 US per gallon, depending on what brand you buy. You could get several gallons of a good house paint for that price.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

daveninja

My problem is the wood of the roof expands/contacts more than the latex paint will allow (which causes cracks that let in water and make the problem worse). I was thinking a fabric (canvas) coated shell would remedy this

galacticprobe

Apr 23, 2014, 05:55 am #21 Last Edit: Apr 23, 2014, 05:55 am by galacticprobe
Are you thinking of something like a fiberglass cloth and resin? That would work; others have done that. Not sure how much that would cost, though. Have you thought of trying that Flex Seal to coat the roof? That stuff is supposed to be watertight and remain flexible no matter what. (First off, does anyone know if that stuff can be painted over? Darph Bobo never mentions that in his adverts.)

If it can be painted, then it may not cause the paint to crack, and then even if the paint does crack, the Flex Seal will stop any water from reaching the roof and rotting the wood.

Just a thought.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

pmc

I have used a flexible rubberised paint on the roof and over painted it ok. Not sure how we'll the paint will do once outside though. If I manage to get my box outside this century I'll report back  :)

atomicgraph

I'm dying to see some one use a truck bed liner paint. Comes in a gallon size and costs about 50, it'd be great for a classic build tardis texture. I've never seen it without the texture so a new series build might be outta the loop

daveninja

I used some Flex Seal stuff i got at Target from the "As seen on tv" end cap. Its too thin to fill the cracks on my roof. I need something with more of a rubber cement consistency than a water consistency.