Painting Over Thompson Water Sealed Exterior Plywood

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SD Fishing

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The Arkansas Traveler project continues, which poses a few more questions. This time in regards to painting the plywood used for the decking.

I have already treated the 5/8" Exterior ply with a very thin coat of Thompson Water Seal. Once dry I sanded good with 120/220 grit so that it is smooth, not "sticky" (in the areas that the sealer went on a little heavier), and ready for paint.

The question becomes - paint the entire piece (top and bottom) along with the sides, or paint the top and sides only and allow the bottom to breathe? With the water sealer on the piece I do not have concerns of the moisture soaking in through the bottom, but I may be mistaken. I will be adding vents to allow the underside of the decking to breathe so any moisture that gets in there will hopefully only be temporary. Also worth noting is the actual floor is at least 1 1/4" off the bottom of the boat so it will never be submerged in water (if it is I have more problems than just paint) and also sits atop insulation board between the support joists so very little (if any) wood is exposed on the bottom. Front and rear decks are raised at least 6" so I don't worry about those as much.

While on the topic, should I prime the wood w/ primer before the final Rustoleum Oil Based Enamel coat(s)?

Thoughts on this fellas?
 
The bass boat that I bought last year had plywood that was painted only.
no primer or preservatives. And the wood was 5 years old when I got it and it was
still in very good condition. The only reason I removed some of it was to
make some changes.

So, bottom line is this . . . . no matter how you seal it or what you seal it with,
you are way ahead of unprimed and unpreserved wood. Double preserving/painting
the floor plywood and ALL edges and filling voids, top and bottom is strongly recommended.
Added ventilation will help a lot. and you should expect YEARS of good service from your efforts.
Go through the SEARCH feature. there are literally hundreds of excellent posts on this very subject.

Read, Understand and Follow the instructions on the label of all products you use.

jus my Dos Centavos
 
Thanks Johnny.

Basically the reason for the question about priming over both top and bottom is related to cost issue. If I can cover what I need (tops & sides) with a quart, no need to buy a gallon if I'm only using around half of it doing all of it.

I do have vents installed in both the front deck area (two 3" dia vent holes) and 6 throughout the bottom floor walls (3 each side, 2" dia) so it will be well ventilated. The rear deck is open in the back for the motor, battery, gas tank, etc. so I did not add any to the back.

I think I have it under control. The with the minimum being a good coat of Thompson's (underside) and the max being Thompson's, primer, & top coat (top side) it should stay in good shape. At least as long as I plan on owning the boat.

Thanks again for the input.
 

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