painting the bilge

[Rene Dalmeyer]

What is a good finish for a bilge in a wooden boat, composite to be more
specific? I have read a few solutions varying from nothing to a full paint
finish My personal preference until sofar is pink lead primer. Some of the
bilge in the bow comparment of my boat was finished with a thin bitumen
coating. All the fir planking under this coating is still in a good state.
The lowest bilge in the same area was not treated with bitumen. Most
probably this was because it was not accessible due to a water tank I have
now removed. The bitumen I am sure was done after the tank was placed.

Any suggestions? preferably based on experience my boat is not a yacht but
an ex-working vessel.

rened
To reply remove spam from address. Too much spam

[Rick]

By composite do you mean steel or iron frames with wood planking and
ceilings?

If so, are you trying to preserve the frames?

Is the boat out of the water now?

If the wood is clean and dry you could use tar and boiled linseed oil or
just paint it.

Rick

[Steve]

I have built several and owned several ply and plank-on-frame boats over
the last 45 years and always prefered not to paint the bilges, but rather
treat the wood while is it still dry with a penetrating wood perservative.
My choice has always been CopperNapthanate but some might object to it's
smell (myself, I like it) or you could use a product called Penatral (if
it's still available). CopperNapthanate is available as a ordinary wood
perservative (under the name Jasco, Termin-8) at Home Depot. It has a green
tint color.

I believe (and this comes from the 'old-school' of thought) that the paint
will tend to hold moisture in the wood grain while bare wood will breath and
dry out when ever the bilge is dry. All a matter of opinion.

Of the very old used boats that I have owned or worked on, if I found dry
rot, it was always wood that had been painted for many years. I never found
dry rot in any bare wood.

My experience and opinion, FWIW.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

[William R. Watt]

"Steve" (est...@hctc.com) writes:
> I have built several and owned several ply and plank-on-frame boats over
> the last 45 years and always prefered not to paint the bilges, but rather
> treat the wood while is it still dry with a penetrating wood perservative.
> My choice has always been CopperNapthanate but some might object to it's
> smell (myself, I like it) or you could use a product called Penatral (if
> it's still available). CopperNapthanate is available as a ordinary wood
> perservative (under the name Jasco, Termin-8) at Home Depot. It has a green
> tint color.

I've wondered if water based preservatives might be water soluable and
wash out after a while, getting pumped or bailed over the side to poison
wildlife. Would it need reapplication or protection with a finish?

I've also wondered if laying a bag of salt in the bilges would deter rot.
Fresh water is said to promote rot more that sea water. The salt would
gradually(?) disolve and go over the side with the bilge water with, I
expect, less damage to wildlife. Depends on how long the bag of salt would
last I suppose.

Then again there's the little device that hangs inside a toilette bowl
releasing some anti-growth chemical into the toilette bilge. :)

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