Complete Exterior Paint - What to Budget

[Passages]

A friend is considering the purchase of an older 75' Hatt MY which is in need of a complete exterior paint job. Boat is in south Florida.

He was told the project could be anywhere between $150-300k,

Anyone here with real world experience?

 

[rsmith]

I always like how people especially on here pull numbers out of the air. It all comes down to material man hours and overhead.
It greatly depends on the condition of the existing paint the quality of the job he wants and if he has the time and wear with all to ride heard on the project. With roll and tip giving a near spray quality. And that can be done in sections. There are a lot of DIY yards in SoFla that have independent contractors that can handle the work. You need to sniff around to see who is doing the best work and is most reliable. If he just wants to throw the keys at someone and call when it’s done lookout and bend over. Most of the horror stories I’ve seen are the extras that the yard talks the guy into. Some needed some maybe not. Window frames and deck coring are probably the biggest while your there that runs up the bill on these jobs.

 

[JuiceClark]

I'm getting her painted in a couple months. The painter is well known in this area and been in the biz for 30 years.
He's painting the hull (Ian damage) foredeck, house, cockpit and bridge for $40k. That does not include what the yard will charge for pulling her out for a month. So, I'm budgeting $50k.

A 75' would have to be much, much more.

 

[rsmith]

I'm getting her painted in a couple months. The painter is well known in this area and been in the biz for 30 years.
He's painting the hull (Ian damage) foredeck, house, cockpit and bridge for $40k. That does not include what the yard will charge for pulling her out for a month. So, I'm budgeting $50k.

A 75' would have to be much, much more.

Spray or roll and tip?

 

[Eddieclemons]

......I am awaiting Juices results. I would love to have new paint. I have convinced myself that my old paint is somehow a good luck charm for the mechanical side of things. I had a detailer 3 step my old Hull last Fall, but there just isn't enough/any paint to do anything further up.

 

[ageless]

I had Sebastian at A&J in Stuart repair and paint (spray)toe rail and pulpit (bowrail removal), repair/paint cracked glass on front of super structure and repaired (no paint) several gouges throughout the hull. $19k, which I thought was a little high but I knew there'd be some time in the cracked glass up front. We were interested in complete paint until he quoted me $90k, granted this cockpit has been fished HARD, but the remainder of the vessel is in pretty damn good shape.

After all the great reviews he received on here I figured we would get some pretty good work, NOPE!! I'm almost convinced he didn't do the painting, it is BAAAAAD. We were essentially run out of the marina due to all the work scheduled and no room for us to stay. There are MAJOR runs all throughout the toe rail, one 4' section looks like something was drug across the wet paint. The majority of the rub rail has an 1/8"-3/16" line of paint from lazy tape off and the super structure has overspray EVERYWHERE. A few bits of tape here or there is to be expected, but they left A LOT, including tape glue the entire run of non skid inside the toe rail, I've spent hours removing. I would love to know who's painting yours and see about getting the hull done. To be fair, I raised enough hell over this horrible work that he refunded me $4k but that likely won't cover costs to repair.

 

[cww]

I had Sebastian at A&J in Stuart repair and paint (spray)toe rail and pulpit (bowrail removal), repair/paint cracked glass on front of super structure and repaired (no paint) several gouges throughout the hull. $19k, which I thought was a little high but I knew there'd be some time in the cracked glass up front. We were interested in complete paint until he quoted me $90k, granted this cockpit has been fished HARD, but the remainder of the vessel is in pretty damn good shape.

After all the great reviews he received on here I figured we would get some pretty good work, NOPE!! I'm almost convinced he didn't do the painting, it is BAAAAAD. We were essentially run out of the marina due to all the work scheduled and no room for us to stay. There are MAJOR runs all throughout the toe rail, one 4' section looks like something was drug across the wet paint. The majority of the rub rail has an 1/8"-3/16" line of paint from lazy tape off and the super structure has overspray EVERYWHERE. A few bits of tape here or there is to be expected, but they left A LOT, including tape glue the entire run of non skid inside the toe rail, I've spent hours removing. I would love to know who's painting yours and see about getting the hull done. To be fair, I raised enough hell over this horrible work that he refunded me $4k but that likely won't cover costs to repair.

Well as you've learned, in the boat repair world, don't ever pay that far ahead of the work. That's the only way to keep any control over the project. You're actually lucky, most of the typical boat repair guys wouldn't have had $4k to refund you. The advice above that you have to go over there daily and make them correct everything they're half-assing is spot on. Not just paint either, that goes for everything.

 

[ageless]

Well as you've learned, in the boat repair world, don't ever pay that far ahead of the work. That's the only way to keep any control over the project. You're actually lucky, most of the typical boat repair guys wouldn't have had $4k to refund you. The advice above that you have to go over there daily and make them correct everything they're half-assing is spot on. Not just paint either, that goes for everything.

I thoroughly agree. Our issue came when we were told we HAD to leave for another vessel coming in, we had no choice.

Oh and to add to my full paint quote post, $18k to tent for paint, that was part of the $90k quote

 

[SeaEric]

A friend is considering the purchase of an older 75' Hatt MY which is in need of a complete exterior paint job. Boat is in south Florida.

He was told the project could be anywhere between $150-300k,

Anyone here with real world experience?

A friend/customer of mine had his 74' Sportdeck painted 2 years ago. It was done by Tung Luu at Lauderdale Marine Center.
The quote was around $150K + another $60K for the "while you're in there's" The finished job is stunning. He was very pleased
with the work and the amazing attention to details.

 

[ageless]

A friend/customer of mine had his 74' Sportdeck painted 2 years ago. It was done by Tung Luu at Lauderdale Marine Center.
The quote was around $150K + another $60K for the "while you're in there's" The finished job is stunning. He was very pleased
with the work and the amazing attention to details.

I've heard this about Tung's work

 

[motoryacht lover]

Sorry to hear that A&J did not do good work. Probably 6 or so years ago I had A&J do work on my boat a
Couple of times and I was very pleased. Nguyen did some painting of window frames and railing and
I was very pleased. Sebastian is a new name to me. I wonder if they have changed hands. Angel in Stuart
Painted my boat and I am pleased. I would tell you the cost but they didn’t finish it one year and finished
It the next year. So I can’t give you the total cost. I think it was in the 60K range but this was before covid
When cost rose significantly. I believe his business is called Angel’s Painting and he is sub that works a lot out
Of River Forest Stuart.

 

[madhatter1]

My mechanic bills me in full when work is 100% complete. Always done right.

The outfit doing the ER restoration did a midpoint invoice. Now nothing until done. Will be done right.

Anyone needing $ upfront?? Well that's a warning bell.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Paying for incomplete work is a trap most of us have fallen into at one time or another. Unfortunately.

 

[Pascal]

It depends. I have often had independent guys asking for a deposit for materials when starting a job, as with everything do your homework to make sure they are trustworthy

Many reputable yards also ask for a deposit when booking the haul out date.

On big jobs, like an engine rebuild, there will be a payment schedule at various stage of completion like after strip down, when heads are back on and then upon completion sometimes with 10-15% remaining until successful sea trial.

 

[Boatsb]

I take the cost of equipment up front (bef9re delivery on most projects. I will order the parts right away but don't wish to be the bank for customers.

Consider a lithium battery inverter package running $25k in parts. It's a big number to cary.

The incidentals I bill as we install them with the labor. Keep in mind many systems we install are larger and well above $50k

 

[JD5652]

I only have one data point on this and that's from my 7 months at AYB last year. They invoiced and required to be paid monthly for the work that was done. Didn't matter if the particular job was complete or not.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Did it work out okay? They have had a good rep over the years. Expensive, but good.

 

[cww]

I only have one data point on this and that's from my 7 months at AYB last year. They invoiced and required to be paid monthly for the work that was done. Didn't matter if the particular job was complete or not.

Those aren’t the ones you have to worry about. Marinas own some usually very-expensive property in the jurisdiction meaning you’re reasonably assured of getting your money back if something goes awry. The people like boatsb who can show me what the money is for, are fine too. It’s the independent guys on jobs that are either all or almost all labor (that isn’t done yet) demanding money upfront that you have to watch out for.

 

[Freestyle]

I have lawyered a couple big custom builds in China as well as 30 years of Hatteras owning on a working guys budget. (Anything foreign you need to find counterparty assets in the US to lien and secure deposits.)

Generally, with work on the boat in a US yard, the law affords both parties protections and remedies that work eventually.

My main advice for fronting costs is to front only equipment costs. Buy the equipment on an invoice with your name on it and take delivery to the boat. Pay labor in arrears or as agreed to in writing.

Those are my rules and then I personally make exceptions when I work with people with solid reputations but that is at my risk.

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54MY with ext)
Tampa

 

[JD5652]

Did it work out okay? They have had a good rep over the years. Expensive, but good.

Jim-

They did a "good" job.. and yes not cheap. Their invoices are very detailed and you have to kind of "trust" the process to a certain point. Meaning the invoice might list 50 sheets of sandpaper (a box). Did they really need or use the entire box??

I did review my invoices monthly and caught a couple of issues, but they got addressed quickly and to my satisfaction.

Still having an overheat issue on my stabilizer system, but not convinced it's an installer issue yet.