Topsides paint question

[radicalcy]

Well I rolled and tipped the third coat today. On the advice of an experienced diy'er, I thinned out the paint about 10% using the factory recommended thinner. Some areas look perfect. Others still have brush lines after setting up for 3 or 4 hours. I'm hoping that they might flatten out somewhat overnight. If not, its wet sand, and coat # 4. Any suggestions from the group here, on how to avoid the brush lines? Can I thin out more? Or less? I'm using Interlux Brightsides one part poly and 313 brushing solution.

[Jason K]

According to Interlux's website (www.yachtpaint.com) Brightside is to be thinned a maximum of 10%.

How's your brush? Good enough? Really old or new?

Are you giving the paint too much time to set up?

I called Interlux and they told me that if you're having problems, you should consider buying a more expensive paint. What do you think of the brightsides? I'm about about to use it on the no nonskid (should I just call it skid?) portions of my deck and I'd love to hear about your results. Good luck with your project!

[radicalcy]

Boy, it really speaks well of Interlux if they think I should buy a more expensive paint to do the job that they say their paint will do. How much more than 120 bucks a gallon do you think I should spend?
I have been using relatively new but broken in natural bristle brushes. I'm going to try using foam if I have to re coat.
I have noticed that the quality of the advice one gets from Interlux depends entirely on who one talks to. They have some real dolts answering the phones sometimes. Other times it's great.
Next time, I may just use Sherwin Williams.
As far as using it on your decks, it should be fine. It cures to a good hard finish, and flows out beautifully on horizontal surfaces. Its the verticals that kill ya. Additionally, it wet sands really well, and I experimented on my other boat with finishing compound. It leaves a mild haze, but salt water and oxidation will take care of that soon enough.

[Tim]

Manufacturer's recommended solvent amounts are a guideline, based on general painting conditions and surely some assumptions on their part--things like temperature and humidity range and the like. The solvent guidelines are also intended to balance, for the average user, the coverage of the paint against brushability. Thinning is not a science--it's more of an art. One specific guideline does not cover all possible scenarios.

I feel you can easily extend the amount of solvent you add, but you should increase it in small amounts as needed until you acheive proper flowing. Of course the more you thin, the less good the coverage, but coverage shouldn't be an issue after 3 or 4 coats anyway. Start with what feels right and do a test sample to see how the leveling goes; proper reduction should result in almost immediate leveling (within a few minutes). If you don't see that, or if your brush still feels "draggy", then add more reducer in small increments until it is right.

My experience with Brightsides and other one-part polyurethanes is that they require significant reduction to acheive the best and smoothest results. Properly-thinned paint of any kind will self-level rather quickly and shouldn't take an overnight or even hours. A consistent application affects the leveling process as well; if some areas are thicker or more heavily brushed than others, they may level less (or more), depending.

The quality of the brush is very important as well. I don't generally like foam brushes for fine paints, although they work well for me with varnishes. For that ultra-smooth paint finish, however, a quality bristle brush will lay it down much better. It doesn't sound as if your brushes are the problem, although I don't know exactly what you're using.

Brush marks in the final paint, assuming a decent brush, are always the result of insufficient reducer or overbrushing the paint. I think additional thinner will solve your problem, but can't say how much additional you need; it is too dependent on local conditions. But feel free to increase it over the amount listed on the can. If you ended up double and still experience problems, it might be time to address other areas of your technique or equipment, but that probably won't be the case.

[radicalcy]

Tim,
Thanks. Finally an answer that I can work with. I've been working with the 10% rule as stated, and was afraid to go higher than that. I'll try thinning down more, and at worst, will have to do an extra coat. Nothing new there. I'm becoming expert at wet sanding. 33 feet X 2 x 3. Not counting the first coat that I completely removed.

[Figment]

Bear in mind that the thinner you're adding is an evaporative solvent. If you thin and get good initial results, but then your later work shows brushmarks, it's entirely reasonable that you'd need to add a splash more ten or fifteen minutes into the job to replace what's evaporated from the pot in that time.

[Tim]

That's a very good point, one that I neglected to mention.

[Figment]

That's just because it doesn't really apply to your fancy schmancy closed-container spray gun process!

;P

[Invitation]

radicalcy,

I have worked with the Interlux 2 part interthane and have had the same type of problem. I have solved it by painting with 2 people ( my wife and I), as I paint, I tell her to add more thinner ( very little ) to keep the correct consistancy. The thinner evaporates rapidly and your paint is getter thicker by the minute. It takes a little practice but by adding very small amounts you can keep it at 10% for the entire job and you should end up with better results.

[radicalcy]

wet sanded and fourth coat on today. Thinned it down about 30% overall. It wasn't opaque, but it was close. A few runs, lots of bugs, but the paint is thin enough that I can knock most of the bugs off once it dries. I may still go over the whole thing with 4000 grit wet paper, to clean up the runs, and sags. Overall though I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. I've seen worse. Hell, I've owned worse. For a first attempt, it couldn't be much better without spraying. Next: boot stripe.

[D Wrate]

we did topsides with Easypoxy thinned 15 to 20% with Penetrol. It looked beautiful. We put it one when the weather was 75+ degrees. We cleaned our tipping brush religiously and worked fast.

When we had the paint thinned to where it went on nicely the paint was about the consistency of water...