Testimonials
Epoxy, built 1966
Paint Stripping
This was the worst job that I had to deal with in the restoration of EPOXY. Lots and lots of bottom paint, not the new stuff but the old stuff. My first thought was to sand it off using a big belt sander with the appropriate safe gear however, this would not work as I discovered that under all the bottom paint was a two part tar based epoxy that clogged the belt up almost instantly. As a result, I had to resort to some sort of paint stripper and after trying many different types I settled on STAR 10.
Fig 2 is a thick application of STAR 10 paint stripper. It was sprayed on with an airless sprayer and it is easy to see how well it sticks to the vertical and horizontal surfaces. It is not necessary to cover it with any plastic as the formula prevents premature evaporation. I let this stripper sit for 12 hours after it was sprayed and it went through many layers of bottom paint and that two part tar epoxy with ease.
Figures 3 & 4 illustrate how well this stripper works. You can see how well it is penetrating all the old paint and lifting it off the wood. Below using a standard scraper the paint came off with hardly any pressure on the tool. One of the advantages that this stripper has is that being a thick paste it stays put. When the paint dissolves, it has a tendency to stay in a thick past rather than dripping all over the place. When the scraper was full I simple shook off the dissolved paint on a plastic tarp. The next day all the paint re-solidified which resulted in an easy clean up and prevented all the dissolved chemicals from contaminating the entire area.
Fig 7 illustrates the advantage of this stripper, all the dissolved paint stay together. When this cures overnight it becomes a solid mass and you can just pick it up. Other strippers I have used were very thin which resulted in dissolved paint running down my arm and all over the ground. Below I started using simple WOODEN tools to demonstrate how well this paint stripper works.
What a beautiful sight all that bottom paint has been removed and we are ready for our application of CPES. Using a standard low pressure sprayer I applied a continuous coating starting in the bow working my way back. I would spray an area then move backwards when no more epoxy was absorbed into the wood. Upon reaching the stern I went back to the bow and did the same process over. When the wood maintained a gloss for approximately 5 minutes and the product would just drip off I knew the wood was saturated. One week later I applied a second coating of CPES in the exact same manner. The next day or 12 hours after the second coat we applied three coats of Smith's high build barrier paint. This process is going to give me a superior paint adhesion and will result in a dry bilge.
After the initial application of CPES we can see the beauty on the wood. This epoxy penetrates into the grain of the wood to stabilize it for superior topcoat adhesion.
Figures 12 & 13 illustrate how the application of CPES to mildly deteriorated wood is a must. The wood has deteriorated due to a fiberglass repair that was previously carried out. In order for wood in this condition to be painted with lasting results, you must stabilize it, and that cond only be done by something that is absorbed into the fibers themselves. Fig 13 is what happened when I applied CPES to the inside of the HULL. The product was not only absorbed by the wood but it completely penetrated the seams and came to the outside. The final coat of Royal blue looks great.