Epoxy over varnish.

The person who owned my boat before me varnished the bottom plywood. Do I need to take off the varnish with paint remover before I epoxy it? I am going to start putting the boat together next month and want to prefinish all pieces before putting it together.

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Permalink Reply by Terry E Walsh on January 27, 2013 at 2:50pm
Yes,yes,yes,yes, strip it down to the wood completely! Bare all the way
Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on January 28, 2013 at 5:45am

Brian: Try a heat gun and a DULL putty knife.  Will remove almost all of it and not rot your brain with fumes from some of the strong compounds. Terry right on the mark with his advice- get it all off.  Sand and wipe off dust before the epoxy.

Good Luck

Permalink Reply by tungsten on January 28, 2013 at 5:22pm

You can paint over varnish,which would allow you to turn it back to wood at a later date.But as said in order for the epoxy to do its job  the varnish has to go 100%.

Permalink Reply by John Lell on February 7, 2013 at 7:10pm

Brian,

I wouldn't remove the varnish with paint remover.  That would just add one more chemical to the mix, and as we all know epoxy reacts adversely with some compounds.  I would use a random orbit sander and 80 grit paper and take it off that way.  Once you're down to the wood fibers, the epoxy will have much better adhesion. 

 

John

Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on February 8, 2013 at 8:13am

Brian,

 

We have used a product called Aqua Strip to remove paint and varnish on our restoration projects. This product works very well and is non toxic.  You will need to do a light sanding once the varnish has been removed and the panel has dried to give a bit of "tooth" to the surface.  This procedure is much more effective and user friendly than just ripping into the panel with an aggressive sanding disc.  No problem using epoxy on a surface prepared with this product.

 

AJ

Permalink Reply by Mark Heskett on February 8, 2013 at 4:50pm

AJ, would like to try this product on my boat but Home Depot website will not ship to Oregon. How well is this product. I have citrus strip and use it to remove varnish on old bamboo fly rod restorations but don't think it is going to work as well on a 40 year old drift boat paint removal. I have used Kleen Strip in the past but don't really want to use it on my property due to it seeping into the soil and possibly getting into the water table of our well.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C. on February 8, 2013 at 5:14pm

look at sunnysidecorp.com for back to nature products including all the stripper products available

 

Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on February 8, 2013 at 5:38pm

Aqua Strip, Ultra Strip and Ready Strip are all very green products by Back to Nature.

I have used them all with very good results.  I get them at www.jamestowndistrubutors.com .  Should be able to find them locally as well.

Happy shopping!

Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on February 10, 2013 at 1:36pm

  Whatever you do, don't try bead-blasting or sand blasting to remove the old finish like some dodo did on the boat sitting near my shop right now.    It did take off some of the finish (old paint) but it also leaves a 'topographic' surface, eating out the softer grain of fir and leaving the winter grain rings standing tall...  

  About the only way I could save this boat would be to trowel on epoxy fairing compound where the blasting was done, then finish over that after sanding sanding sanding....Ugg!

  Don Hanson

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