TotalBoat Topside Primer

I laid down the first coat on mostly bare wood, (restoration project built in 1962 and was unsure if the old paint would be compatible with the new, so i sanded 95% of the old stuff off). Thined the primer 5-10 % with their brushing lacqure thinner and it went on great. I Waited 24 hours and sanded with 220 grit paper and it sanded great. I then wiped it down with their dewaxwer and surface prep. I was concerned as I noticed this surface prep was softning the first coat some and sticking to my dampend (NOT WET) cloth. I let dry a couple more hours and attempted to apply a second coat as I could still see the grain of the plywood under the first coat. The second coat unthinned was thick and would not flow (inside shop conditions were 75 -80 degrees F) and it was leaving big globs where the brush strokes ended in attempts to maintain the wet edge, so I was forced once again to thin it. I could not find a happy medium, as too thick it would glob, and adding thinner would just loosen the first coat undernieth, so now I had saggs and runs. Now it would not cure and it was unsandable. It gummed up 100 grit sandpaper for 4 days! On the fifth day (80 F with fans running) it finally set up enough to sand out the sags and runs with 100 grit paper. Waited another 24 hrs to sand with 150 grit......then Another 24 hours to sand with 220. Heck, I'm almost back to bare plywood and my fingers are sore and bleeding from all the sanding. I'm going on two weeks into this project in a controlled environment and haven't even got past the primer, sheesh. I'm very frustrated and not sure what i'm going to do. On a more positive note, I have had good luck with Total Boat products in the past, most noteably their Krypton bottom paint, I love that stuff. But this ones really got me scratching my head. I wish i were more computer savy (71 yo). I have pictures but not smart enough to get them from phone to computer.

The cans were so dented that I cant have them shaken and can hardly open then. I'm really surprised they were not leaking in the box. Can't blame the shipping company because the boxes they were in were not damaged at all. I don't think I'll be using Total Boat products again. Just hope I can get this project finished.

If you are inexperienced with fast drying alkyd paint, you should practice on some scrap before using this on your project. It dries so fast that you really can back up over what you just did with a roller or brush. I cut it 5% and that is so thin I would not want to thin it further as it would drip. This primer really cuts into previous paint layer and bonds like no other. If I needed a very smooth car type finish, I would consider spraying this and not roll and tip. I didn't care is it was going on a pontoon boat over a bunch of crappy texture. Worked great.

I would recommend this product to all boat owners.

Great primer on surfaces in good condition. Used it as a primer for Wet Edge & Total Tread. Fast drying/ strong odor must use with good ventilation.

Follow directions. The coat must be thin. It dries very quickly so work tiny areas. No need to tip off. That is nearly impossible anyway because it dries so fast. Smoothing over just adds more (too much) paint and texture. Thin coats work great.

This primer appears to have worked great. Proof will come over the next few years during use, but a good start. As a side note, I used a combination of Wet Edge and Halcyon clear varnish (9 coats all in) over the rest of my outdoor cabinet with stellar results. That cabinet has been in the back of my pick up through sun, rain and snow for a couple years with no failure. The cap that I refinished protects my battery, associated electronics and refrigerator – it needs be watertight to keep things dry. My project was re-coating an outdoor cabinet top that sits in the back of my pickup. After sanding and scraping, the substrate was a combination of bare wood, paint, TotalBoat Wet Edge and Halcyon varnish. Definitely needed a primer. This product was sticky yet easy to use. I thinned close to 10% with TotalBoat brush thinner. Applied two coats with a brush. The primer went on evenly and provided a good base for the five coats of wet edge I applied on top. The end product looks great. Hope it will last a few years.

Easy to use, but next project I'll probably go with the 2 part epoxy primer.

Removed lower deck teak on a 1989 Grand Banks. Sanded black butyl off with 80 grit. Filled pulled up gelcoat with TotalBoat fairing compound, and sanding to 150, then applied Topside Primer. Used two coats because we had some hairline cracks and random low spots I missed. Was great at filling in and smoothing surface. The final topcoat was TotalTread. The Primer and the TotalTread were both applied with a red 4"" mohair roller. Everything went on smooth and easy. The hardest part was the taping. Very happy with product(s) and results.

My fore deck was in danger of collapsing because of water intrusion. First time with epoxy, total boat made it easy. Everything worked the way it was supposed to. The boat is better now than new.