TotalBoat Fast-Drying Marine Topside Primer

This is some of my favorite paint. I’ve used on my boat two years in a row, my boat’s older and gets a lot of foot traffic on it although it did come a little damage last time I received it. I’m not sure that it lasted for years and years unless you take your old paint down really low.

after reading some negative reviews i contacted the distributor to find out about the product. with that conversation i decided to buy the primer, paint and thinner. i did 2 test spots with the paint and primer to make sure it performed as it should. The paint took about 15 hours to dry and the primer only a couple hrs. I have a 16 ft center console i am painting the inside , by the time i was finished the the beginning was dry to touch. The primer is thinner than the paint so i choose not to thin it out. i rolled a thin coat with a foam roller coverage was good with one coat but will likely do a quick 2nd coat just to be safe. do worry about the negative reviews, follow the directions and you will have no problems. i have my garage heated to about 68 degrees also

I put this down first, before TotalBoat Wet Edge. Went on easily. Cured quickly. Helped build a solid base.

Dries fast and even. Good base for the overcoat.

Great product but its all about the prep before you prime. Sharp edges need to be rounded or you will sand thru the primer. The primer dries very quickly ( even thinned 10% ) so complete the square space in front of you before you proceed but make sure you do a light ( no pressure ) role on your final tip pass. ( I did not use a brush to tip. I rolled my project using a foam roller which works great. My surface was an epoxy sanded with 120 grit. You could still see the swirls after priming in the first coat but the 2nd coat did the trick & seals everything. "Seals".... I have done some minor filler work on a few imperfections before priming. The primer prepped these spots ( dull finish ) in the first pass & sealed them in the second pass along with all the filling all the swirls. The only thing I could see after the second pass was the roller marks. If you make a final no pressure pass this should be minimal. 1) There is no such thing as a one coat. I could light see thru one coat but the coverage is excellent. 2 coats are required 2) You must lightly sand between coats just to take the roughness out. I use 320 dry light passover on the first coat & 400 wet sanding with orbital sander on the 2nd coat & did not sand thru the primer. I did not need a third coat mainly because the surface prep was almost perfect. 3) Do not use the thinner to clean the surface ( primer ) between coats unless its over 24hrs. Only use to prep the surface before you prime. I could sand after 4 hrs Coverage is very accurate based on applying 2 coats. My project was about 120 sq ft so I had to use 2 qts. 1/2 ( 4 oz ) cup will coat about 30 sf. So you don't waste primer, leave the little stuff for leftover paints. I had 4 2x4 hatches that i coated after each of the 4 30 sq ft sections which worked out well.

This product does not sand without clumping on the sand paper 150-400. It acts like sanding a latex. The product was left to dry over 48 hours in dry conditions with temp 60 - 75 degrees and would not sand smooth without tearing and clumping on sand paper. It is not a good fairing primer for a smooth gloss top coat.

Repainted my pretty slippery topside paint. Satisfied with results and have gotten compliments. Generally followed manufacturer’s instructions. Biggest pain was taping. I was fortunate to have a good weather window. But still did it in stages, mostly to keep my dog from walking in it when it wasn’t dry. Primer dries quickly. First coat takes awhile to dry. Covers fairly well. Second coat dries much faster but still tried to avoid walking on it for a bit. My advise is to keep stirring/mixing it, in the can and even in the tray. I started off using a 6” foam roller but found that it didn’t spread the grit very well. I found that l had much better results with that when l switched to a 1/4” nap “regular” roller. Just my opinion. My deck already had a tannish color so l chose to go with the sand color. I think it looks nice but my only real concern with it will be keeping it clean. In that regard for the places where we (dirty dog feet) board amidships l have decided to put down some foam decking. Amazon carries different choices but l elected to use the Sailrite offering. Haven’t put it down yet but it’s on the list. I’m also putting some in the cockpit in front of the companionway. All in all, so far l am satisfied.

Excellent solution for worn carpet (marine application)