Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

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sammtoon
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Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#1 Post by sammtoon » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:34 am

Here is a picture of my boat...I have been doing work to her slowly each year. New carpet, new front bench seats, newly recovered back seats. Small things here and there, this fall/winter I am thinking about having the outside side panels painted. I dont want the aluminum rails painted, so if possible I will try to help taping prior to taking it there to keep cost down. I will remove all the stripping that is there now also with a bead blaster i have. I am thinking about going with all navy outside, and maybe some white strips? I saw a pontoon similar passing by one day and was like that is kickass. Most of the toons on my lake are all white/off white panels. Any thoughts of cost or any opinions? I hope I can get this done at a decent cost....and I mean under 800.00(am i crazy).
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oldmn19
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#2 Post by oldmn19 » Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:27 am

The prep work is the biggest cost, as it's labor intensive, and will determine what the paint job finally looks like. You could save some money for sure getting the stripes and decals off, taping all the rails and area's you don't want over spray on. The last items will probably have to be done once you get it to the paint shop. When I say cover everything I mean everything, you wouldn't believe where you find over spray after spraying. Sanding and priming the panels you might be able to do. But a good aluminum primer is pretty rough stuff to handle. It's up to you as too how perfect and long lasting a paint job you want or can afford. Finding a paint booth big enough to get the boat in will also be fun. Most likely only a truck shop will work. Do a lot of body shop visiting and talking through what you want and how much you can do and not do and what you budget is. Bring pictures with you to show them, as some might not have a clue what a pontoon looks like. Good luck and keep us posted with pictures! :2cents
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#3 Post by 1roadking » Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:48 pm

Get it vinyl wrapped. It will make no mess and look awsome!!!
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tooned out
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#4 Post by tooned out » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:02 pm

I am thinking of going with vinyl wrap also. I spoke to the local sign place here that I have do our company vehicles and signs and they said that simple stuff like the panels on most pontoons are easy to do if I want to tackle the project myself they will sell me 15" material at 2.50 per foot. They said to use the stuff that goes on wet so you can position it then just trim it when it sets up.I'm planning on doing it in the next couple weeks. Looking at your pontoon it seems that the 15" might be the right size for you also maybe.
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sammtoon
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#5 Post by sammtoon » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:59 pm

I thought about the vinyl wrap, I priced out one last year...they wanted I think around 2,000, I was like HELL NO. If I can buy from a local shop and i wouldnt mind putting it on, that 2.50 per ft sounds great! My boat is 24ft (24X24X20 side/front and back + extra) should cost somewhere around 170.00. Definitly worth looking into. Thanks
I will keep you updated on what I decide to do.

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The_Hellbilly
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#6 Post by The_Hellbilly » Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:22 pm

tooned out wrote:I am thinking of going with vinyl wrap also. I spoke to the local sign place here that I have do our company vehicles and signs and they said that simple stuff like the panels on most pontoons are easy to do if I want to tackle the project myself they will sell me 15" material at 2.50 per foot. They said to use the stuff that goes on wet so you can position it then just trim it when it sets up.I'm planning on doing it in the next couple weeks. Looking at your pontoon it seems that the 15" might be the right size for you also maybe.
$2.50/ft.? What shop? I'm just up the road from ya and in McAlester at least weekly
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#7 Post by Bamaman » Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:01 pm

I painted the sheeting on my fences 6 years ago with Rustoleum cans of spray paint, and they still look great. They have even better paint now. Cost me something like $25 for the paint, as there's just not that many sq. ft. to paint.

You could not go wrong with the vinyl wrap. Any good sign shop can design some stripes on their computer, and print the design on vinyl. It's a high profit business--simply put. (I have a buddy in the business.)

Or, you could go to GreatLakesSkipper.com and buy one or two of their ready made striping kits.

It's just not that bad of a project.
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umtigerz
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#8 Post by umtigerz » Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:15 pm

I'll sell the vinyl all day long for $2 per ft. @15" material. I just did it to my new to me toon, turned a 1981 with black walls to white in 2 hrs.......
I have a sign shop in Nashvegas if anybody's interested, be glad to answer any questions, or design any graphics you might want....
Jeff
here's a link to the pics

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9659
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#9 Post by spurhunter » Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:12 am

umtigerz wrote:I'll sell the vinyl all day long for $2 per ft. @15" material. I just did it to my new to me toon, turned a 1981 with black walls to white in 2 hrs.......
I have a sign shop in Nashvegas if anybody's interested, be glad to answer any questions, or design any graphics you might want....
Jeff
here's a link to the pics

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9659
Where are you located?? Your profile is not filled in. I am in CHattanooga and seriously looking for someone to do this on mine!
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umtigerz
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#10 Post by umtigerz » Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:46 am

spurhunter wrote:
umtigerz wrote:I'll sell the vinyl all day long for $2 per ft. @15" material. I just did it to my new to me toon, turned a 1981 with black walls to white in 2 hrs.......
I have a sign shop in Nashvegas if anybody's interested, be glad to answer any questions, or design any graphics you might want....
Jeff
here's a link to the pics

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9659
Where are you located?? Your profile is not filled in. I am in CHattanooga and seriously looking for someone to do this on mine!
I am actually just south of Nashville, out I-24, I do alot of onsite installations, I'll be about 45 mins from Chatt tomorrow in Morrison TN installing custom graphics @ Ironhorse trailers, I do all their custom graphics, and am there at least 3-5 times a month.

Maybe we can work somethin out, but seriously its not that hard to do.
You can do it with a little soap and water and mix in some patience.
J
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#11 Post by spurhunter » Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:54 am

PM sent!
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umtigerz
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#12 Post by umtigerz » Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:32 pm

I've gotten a few messages asking question, and thought I'd add all that info here to this thread, for anyone who might be interested in finding a local sign shop for doing vinyl on the sides.

I'm gonna add pics, of one I did 2 summers ago, and a rendering of what I'm putting on mine.

IF your thinking about going in to a sign shop for vinyl on your pontoon side walls, here's some info to consider.

Just make sure you go in there knowing what you want. In this business there are alot of people who will act like they do not have time for you, its just the way it is.

Have all your measurements ready to go, and know the linear footage that you need. These rolls come in standard sizes of 15" (punched, which means only 14 inches of it is usable), 20" (not too commonly stocked), 24" (very common) and, 30" and up. I would imagine not too many pontoons would require much more than 24".

Sign vinyl is classified in 2 main catagories:
High Performance - 2 mils rated @ 8-10, or 12 yrs -All colors metallics and opaque's
Intermediate - 3 to 3.5 mils rated @ 6-8 yrs - limited range of about 25 colors and gold and silver metallic, avoid intermediate metallics at all costs.
There are other catagories, but not important in this application
Use only High Performance vinyl if you choose a metallic color.

If you can, take your time and locate the color, who makes it, and request it by name/number and size, that way they kinda know you've done your homework and they can't just say anything to you and over sell you.

6 yr vinyl is as good as it gets for this kind of a job.
Sure, there's "better", whats called "high performance" vinyls in the business, but it a whole lot harder to install for the average Joe.
I've seen 6 yr vinyl last over 10 yrs, especially nowadays with the new production methods used.

You'll probably be told that you need to use High Performance, forget it, its 2 mils thick(very thin) and too difficult to install without masking.

Masking, thats another thing, if they tell you that you need it masked for install, tell 'em no, you don't need it, what you need is felt-tip squeeges, at least 2 of 'em cause you'll need it. I can get 'em for $4 ea.

I have basic color chart in all manufacturers, .jpg's and .pdf's if anybody wants one i can email, or post a pic of it.

Keep in mind that if you are trying to match a color to an existing color, you are going to run into trouble, in this business we can get close, but thats about all you can expect.

If you're thinking about a wrap, that's a whole 'nother ball of vinyl, for another long post, but if anyone's interested, I'd be glad to help.

You can just put the new vinyl on the sides as a base, and add graphics on top of that later if you decide to.
If you're installing, expect to pay between$3-5 per linear ft. for intermediate. High performance $6-8 per linear ft.
Typical installation charges in between $2.50 and $5.00 per sq ft., because most sign shop will treat this like a wrap install and price it like that.

I would sell the vinyl on here for:
Intermediate(no metallics, 25-30 color choices):
15" - $2 per linear ft.
24" - $3 per linear ft.

High performance (metallics, all colors)
15" - $3.50 per linear ft.
24" - $4.50 per linear ft.

Felt- tip squeegees for installing $4

Hope this helps you in your efforts.
Attachments
My-Pontoon-boat-with-graphics.jpg
A rendering of what I plan on putting on my toon this week/end
My-Pontoon-boat-with-graphics.jpg (275.88 KiB) Viewed 14567 times
DSCF6723sm.jpg
Done 2 summers ago to a friends boat
DSCF6723sm.jpg (389.82 KiB) Viewed 14587 times
DSCF6720sm.jpg
port side
DSCF6720sm.jpg (298.5 KiB) Viewed 14550 times
DSCF6721sm.jpg
front
DSCF6721sm.jpg (364.24 KiB) Viewed 14542 times
DSCF6716sm.jpg
before graphics, new white vinyl on sides
DSCF6716sm.jpg (340.41 KiB) Viewed 14528 times
DSCF6712sm.jpg
After all white vinyl was done
DSCF6712sm.jpg (372.16 KiB) Viewed 14489 times
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spurhunter
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#13 Post by spurhunter » Wed Jun 22, 2011 6:58 am

Some great info, cant wait to see the renerding you do for mine!
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tooned out
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#14 Post by tooned out » Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:57 am

Thanks for posting all the info. I really appreciate someone who knows what they are doing helping us out with info on this.
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umtigerz
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Re: Painting my pontoon - Opinions and Help

#15 Post by umtigerz » Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:16 pm

spurhunter wrote:Some great info, cant wait to see the renerding you do for mine!
Sorry about the delay, we've been covered up with work, I don't think I'll have time to get the graphics on my boat by the weekend!
Anywho, here's a rendering for you spurhunter, I'll send it in email in the morning, and we can start to tweak it from there.
I kinda used some of the original design elements, and kept the name at the rear of the sides.
I've definately got to tweak that name a bit. Let me know what you think.
Attachments
Eric-spurhunter-original.jpg
Original
Eric-spurhunter-original.jpg (327.06 KiB) Viewed 14296 times
Eric-spurhunter.jpg
1st rendering spurhunter Procraft
Eric-spurhunter.jpg (332.67 KiB) Viewed 14261 times
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