Soda blasting bottom paint off?
 

Is it possible? I hate sanding. I'm still in the process of finishing the deck and fiberglassing at 92 degrees outside is not fun. I want a lazy way to remove this stuff.

I had a marina do mine and thats how they removed it.
Some people have a travel system and they can some to you but it costs more.

Not sure about the DIY style stuff.

The only way to go if you have multiple coats on. It will cost you 5-900 Ben's. and you will have to do a lot of filling and sanding after it is done.

Check my posting on this entry 28

if your boat required a lot of filling and sanding after the blasting process -you had one of 2 things going on:

first,the blasting process was way aggressive

second,the boat had damage /blisters under the antifouling pant


after a hull is blasted,it will require a light "finish sand" to remove any residual paint.the hull will have a slight pofile,from the blasting -similar to "orange peel"

being "in the business,as I am,i've lost count of the boats I've had blasted using both baking soda standard blasting sand,no damage on ANY boat.in some cases,the boats blasted,the water line was adjusted - the existing gel coat was sanded,wet sanded and compounded,to bring back the original finish...

there's 2 subjects,these are the most MISINFORMED,full of "old wive's tales" subjects ever
these subjects are "BOTTOM PAINT BLASTING/REMOVAL" and ETHANOL

Pelican: Do you have a company you recommend? When the time comes, I'd like to get in touch with you to get my boat bottom properly taken care of. I'd be happy to tow it the 200 miles to get it done right. Thanks.

I think if you look at the pictures you would be wrong in both cases.

First off any hull 50 years old is going to have voids, which the blasting will find.

Second the age of the gel coat heat and cold will cause a whole different set of problems.

No matter which way you cut it, you will still have a lot of work to do.

voids in a lay up,these have no bearing with age - the void is there,or it's not...a void doesn't appear...

voids will be blown open with pressure washing,long before blasting,you do realize the water pressure in pressure washing is much,much greater than the air pressure involved in blasting..

now,an old hull,that's been covered in bottom paint,isn't gonna have the same gel coat as a hull a few years old - that's true,however,if you're blasting a hull that's 50yrs old,odds are,you're restoring the entire hull,thehull's bottom will require the same finish sanding,aong with any fairing/priming and refinishing,just like the hull...

again,lots and lots of misinformation on this subject...

I have a gentleman who comes to my shop,when blasting is required...