TotalBoat Topside Primer

Not impressed - had to thin it and it still left brush and roller marks. Did not dry within 24 hours in 75 degree FL weather. Balled up when sanded and made it even worse. Will not use again.

Fills scratches and sands to nice solid base for topcoat. Like the label states- two thin coats is easier to work than one thick coat.

This primer is too thin for me to use as high build. Much thinner than other high build primers I've used.

Have tried other non-skid topside paint this far exceeds my expectations would recommend this to To any DIY users

I have been in the boat building / repair business since 1975. In my many years of working with the various marine primers on the market Total's Topside Primer is by far the best one part I have run across (it will stick to snot!). When combined with your Wetedge Topside product it is unbeatable, when spray applied I can rely on a flawless finish. Great Product!

Goes on smooth, covers small imperfections and leaves no brush marks.

Used this on a Joel white catspaw dinghy that I am building. I like the product, but there are a couple of things you need to know. The brushing thinner WILL lift this paint! Oops....learned that lesson the hard way. Also, give it at least 48 hours to completely dry before trying to sand or it will make a mess of your sandpaper. After 18 hours dry time I tried to sand this smooth. Paper lasted about 30 seconds on my RO sander(with a vac and abranet paper) before it was clogged and useless. At a buck a disc, that adds up quick. Be patient. Put on all of the primer coats and go do something else for a few days. There's ALWAYS something else that needs to be done when you have a boat, right? Come back and you are good to go for sanding.

I used this primer over epoxy resin and under monourithane. It has worked great so far.

I found this primer to be a little tough to apply evenly, it is pretty thick and dries fast. The good news is that it sands easily so I suggest just getting it on and then deal with getting the finish nice and even after it dries, just sand it. I usually wipe down with thinner before I tack rag and apply my finish coat. Don't do that with this primer, it will lift it! Vacuum after sanding, tack it and apply the finish. The finish coat bonds well to it. Overall this is a good primer.

Easy to mix and roll on, the proof is in the pudding, the final Wet Edge top side coats looks great,

Good price, average product. Doesn't compare to interlux primer

Applied 2 coats of primer one day apart. let set for 2 days and still to soft to sand. No improvement after a week. I'm in SW Florida and the temps are high 85-95 with 50 to 95% humidity. Perhaps it works better in cooler temps. Went back to the 2 Total boat 2 part epoxy primer. Easier to use faster dry times and sands well

This was easy to apply and one coat coverage - Just follow the surface prep directions and you will get professional results. Make sure you buy the solvent resistant rollers :)

I recently bought TotalBoat primer, wet edge top paint underdog bottom paint. I watched the video for application of top coat and other similar u-tube videos. they all said use high density foam rollers, the primer did not have an application video on your site. when I received my items and looked through everything I was pleased to see all the extras that came with. One item I thought was odd was a 3/8 nap roller, I assumed maybe it was for the primer to fill minor scratches or pits because it was in same box as primer, against my better judgement I used the nap roller on the sides of my boat, as it set I noticed why I felt the nap roller was going to cause a problem. It left an orange peel like texture, I assumed after the primer set I would be able to sand it smooth with a D/A sander, says it sets in 24-36 hours, my schedule allowed me 4 days for it to set, there were 3 very hot days of letting it sit and bake. When I got home to sand the primed area, because of the thick layer of primer from the 3/8 nap roller, as I began to sand my paper and the primer started to gum. Not good!! So, I painted a small area with the Wetedge with a high density foam roller hoping it would cover and smooth out the orange peel look, it did not, but I did notice if I heavily over coated and let it run and drip It did help but not fix the problem. The areas on the inside of the boat (btw,its a small stand up center console) that I only used a high density foam roller came out with an amazing mirror finish which is what I wanted for the outer sides. Bottom line, with the nap roller that I used for the primer the results were not what I wanted, with only high density foam I got amazing results,but now I will have to re-do the outer sides right next year. My problem is, my items came in 2 boxes the box with the primer had the 3/8 nap roller and no instruction for why, so I assumed it was for primer, was not, why would you send an item that ruins the finish? please contact me back

Excellent coverage. Used two coats just because. Had it but one would have been sufficient. Covered small cracks good but need to make sure any small holes are fixed.

goes on smooth,rock hard upon drying.would caution against being too heavy a coat as it is hard to sand

Used this to put down over a new fiberglass and epoxy resin floor, prior to painting with a topside poly.It sealed very well after a few coats, like it was armor coated. Paint is very thick! They tell you to put it on thin, well you can't. I thinned it with the recommended thinner and it just made it more difficult to work with. You have to stir almost constantly or it skins up. It also covered splotchy. if you attempt to go over it after only a very short time it makes a mess. it tacks up very quickly..but doesn't dry to sandable for a few days. So you have to spread your coats out. 2nd and 3rd cover easier. It is very thick, so it dries slowly and and ridges ,swirls, overlaps,thick spots need to be sanded out. Pro's it covers very well, bullet proof, and flexible. Cons- hard to get first coat down. if you go without thinning it will be thick, so you have to work really fast to spread it thinly before it starts to set up and pull paint back off. If you have the time, just cover it good with first coat and let it dry till it's ready. that could be a week or more.

It seems to stick very well and was easy to paint over. I thought it was a little more drip prone than some hi-build primers I have used. Still very good though, and I like that it can be used with one or two part finish coats.

Used it over a epoxied surface and it doesn't sand well , easily clogged sand paper and came off boat. Maybe it's better for just bare wood.

A very good product at a good price

This was my first time refinishing a canoe. The primer filled small scratches and was easy to apply as directed.

I'm a first timer at this. Restored my 72 Boston Whaler 13' and just follow the instructions. I did 3 coats of primer and lightly sanded in-between each coat. Easy!

I used this full strength. It set up quickly and easily sanded smooth. I alternated between white and gray as I fared the hull. I mixed the final coat 50/50 with wet edge topside to give a little gloss to make sure absolutely smooth hull that was easily sanded. I am very pleases with the entire TotalBoat product line.

Primed topside prior to painting with Total Boat one-part epoxy. The short 1 1/2 hr drying time was great, as I could apply the initial coat of the epoxy the same day I prime.

I needed to paint the underside of the hard deck on my catamaran. I had been given a gallon of one part white polyurethane but needed to prime the surface before painting. I used a foam roller and all went smoothly. I have one coat of top coat and going for two. The proof will be time. I have used two part primer but this was a lot less nerve wracking.

soooooooooo... ok this is not my first boat that I have ever painted. But I am not a pro. the total boat primer is not as easy to use as I was anticipating. I have had better luck with some of the other primers out there like the interlux primers. Now that being said I guess every product has a ""learning curve"". So here we go. First and foremost this stuff stinks take the proper precautions and wear a mask. I can't imagine the fumes are good for you. second and I think I will say this twice do not and I mean DO NOT use the red tree foam rollers they will make you want to drill a hole in the bottom of your boat and sink it right then and there. They break down and fall apart in about 2-3 min I learned this the hard way. I would reccomend a good 3/16th inch nap mohair roller. yes you are going to have stipple it is not going to go on perfect however you have to sand this anyways. that brings me to another point I read several reviews about this not being sanding friendly, I beg to differ this product sands out really well. the main reason I think that people have trouble with the sanding is that it does take a couple to three days to cure hard enough to actually be sand able. I found this out the hard way as well. my first attempt on my transom I waited 24 hours and it was not coming off well at all. still pretty soft. I sanded that all off and then waited three days on the next try. I wet sanded with 220 grit and wow what a difference that made, three days and wet sand. I will use this product again on the next boat I paint after you figure out the quirkiness of the product I think you have a great product in hand. so all in all I think this is a good primer I can't say much about how it holds up yet but maybe in a couple of years I will be able to add to this review. hope this helps people out there when working with this product

I chose this primer because this boat is going to be stored outdoors year round. My aluminum boat has a wood transom and I wanted to protect it from rot. The primer worked great. Went on well and dried quickly. Once it was set, it bonded well to my transom. I covered it with Rustoleum marine paint and the transom turned out great. I don't anticipate having to repaint for many, many years.

I will be going back to interlux products, such as, prekote and primekote based on my experiences with Total Boat Primer. I just really don't like the flow characteristics, nor its inability to hide small imperfections. I have used this primer four times now -- paying careful attention to the instructions including thinning appropriately. It just isn't working well. I have ended up with a lot more sanding than is typical, and have had to basically sand off coats and start again. It simply has not been user friendly--and I honestly cannot remember the last time I used a paint product and had so much trouble. I'm not a pro, but I've been working on boats for more than 40 years, with a very wide variety of products. I'm not a fan of this one.

This primer took days to dry. After 24 hours in 90 degree Florida heat I tried to sand this primer and within seconds it gummed up the sandpaper and left scratches in the primer. I decided not to continue and allow it two more days to dry. After I allowed it to dry for days it didn't gum up the sandpaper and it sanded off really nice. Would I buy this product again? Yes, I just no I have to wait a couple of days before I'm able to sand. I would of liked to give this primer 5 stars but since it takes so long to dry I gave it 3 stars.

Good product, sprayed good, covered good and left a good hard finish.