Which paint is best?

[Nicole D]

I'm going to get a friend to spray paint the outside of my trillium. Should I buy auto paint or interlux? Which is the best? Which is the easier one to apply?

[Doug Arthurs]

Originally Posted by Nicole D

I'm going to get a friend to spray paint the outside of my trillium. Should I buy auto paint or interlux? Which is the best? Which is the easier one to apply?

Never used Interlux. I sprayed with Duplicolor auto paint from Canadian Tire. Good coverage easy and quick to spray. Make sure he wears a respirator. Cost was about $100 for four one litre cans. I did it two tone.

[Loren G. Hedahl]

I would recommend going with a 2-part polyurethane auto paint over an epoxy primer. The epoxy primer will fill any small cracks or crazing in the original gel-coat as well as provide an excellent 'grip' for the last finish coats.

The finish coats should be overlaid with a clear coat. The final clear coat will give a deep shine as well as provide sunlight protection. It is not a good idea to go cheap on the paint as the prep work is what is really expensive, if done right. The clear coats are often quite expensive because of the amount of UV light protectant in them. I attempted to keep the costs low by purchasing inexpensive clear coat for my Scamp and Blazer. It is yellowing over time. :>(

[Marg]

Originally Posted by Nicole D

I'm going to get a friend to spray paint the outside of my trillium. Should I buy auto paint or interlux? Which is the best? Which is the easier one to apply?

I feel that if you are going to the expense of buying a good paint for your FB trailer you should buy the best you can find. I am very satisfied with the Imron paint that was applied to mine. I could only afford to have the painter paint the top half, above the belly band and am saving my money so that I will be able to hire him to paint the bottom half. Imron is very expensive and is what the truck fleet owners use and I felt that if they were safisfied with it why wouldn't I and I am very happy with it. Only needs washing. No wax. Marg

[Sleeka]

I just painted my Boler with Imron 3.5HG and it is nice paint but was tough to roll. Maybe spray is better but I got a slightly inconsistent gloss with patches slightly glossier than others so not totaly satisfied. Also I rolled 7 coats to cover it which was the whole gallon. That is without doing the roof which is something else.

The biggest problem I faced was I didn't like the color choices so had to go with a paint with the most options and still good quality but marine paint would have been a better choice if rolling as the Pettit easypoxy for the roof seems to work quite well with a brush or roller.

[Kurt in BC]

I have used both, Interlux and PPG automotive based paint. Interlux rolled and tipped and PPG sprayed.

Interlux worked fine for hand application but results are much better with a proper automotive paint. I used PPG industrial white that was sprayed 6 years ago. But, here in Canada solvent paints are out and everything is water borne now (as of Jan 1, 2011)

Regardless, if you have the facilities or the money, have it sprayed, results are just better.