Cleaning the Hulls
Clean the hulls with a high pressure cleaner. It's best to do this whilst the algæ is still wet or damp, as it removes easier. If not, pre wet the hulls with detergent & water to soften the algæ and follow up with a high pressure cleaning.
Preparing the Hulls
Sand the hulls with 80 grit sandpaper, taking it to a dull, scuffed appearance. Dust off thoroughly after sanding or the Durebild may not adhere properly. Take note for any bubbling or blistering.
Repairing Spots
Anywhere that has bubbled or blistered needs to be sanded back to raw metal. Preseal with Durebild STE, giving 2 coats with a brush. If there is a persistent bubbling, blistering, or delamination problem on the hull, sandblasting may be required, as the previous coat may have failed. If the bubbling and blistering is constantly near where the batteries are stored, there could be an issue with your earthing. Be careful of these pockets, as the water inside can highly acidic.
Painting
Before painting, you will need to mix Part A & Part B of the Durebild STE together. It must be mixed for 3 minutes with a power drill. Any manual, hand stirring/mixing is too low energy and will see the paint start going off in the container or will see the paint not properly mixed, which can lead to a patchy coating, inconsistent hardness, lower hardness, delamination, blooming, and stickiness or uncured paint. It is easier to mix the entirety of Part B into Part A and have at least 2 people painting the hull/pontoons at the same time.
Do your cutting in first with a 3" brush, doing small sections at a time, such as from one weld seam to the next. We recommend using a 10mm pile, 230 mm wide roller on a roller pole, painting in a cross thatch motion. Cross thatching reduces the chance of missed spots and often leads to a better final finish. We highly recommend doing a thick coat of paint if you want to improve the chances of the coating lasting 7 years. When painting under the pontoon, make sure you go past the half-way mark so you pick up on the other side. You can paint your outboard leg with Durebild.
New Hulls/pontoons
New steel has a protective oil coating over it. Before applying any paint to it, make sure it's rinsed down with an alkali detergent.
Apply 1 coat of the grey STE, followed by 2 coats of the black STE.
For decks, you must must use an anti slipping agent. The coating required will vary on whether your deck is fibreglass or metal.
anodes
Make sure you have fresh water anodes on your boat. Always keep them clean & have them at the end of each pontoon or hull. Never paint your anodes. You can easily clean your anodes whilst the boat is in harbour.