Thanks everyone for all of your supportive comments about the paint job. Much appreciated, and we'll pass them on to the team. We got further praise today at our moorings where other boaters commented as they passed.
It took us most of the day today to clear the boat of all the dust and rubbish accumulated. Now we are ready for our first outing in our new livery. On Friday we go to the Canal cavalcade at Little Venice along with other boats from our moorings.
One other job we did today was to return unopened tins of paint to Uxbridge boat centre. The paint (craftmaster) went quite a lot further than we anticipated, but luckily UBC gave a refund on the unused tins (about £90!). That means that the final bill for paint was down to about £375. And we still have a couple of half used tins to keep for touching up future wear and tear. I reckon the total job cost (paint, abrasives, dock hire, brushes, tools) comes in at just under £1000, plus something like 50% more for food and drink. Well you have to keep the workers happy.
Compare that with the cost of £3000 to £5000 normally charged by professional paint shops (more for the top places). Not that I think their prices are high. There is a huge amount of labour involved if you do the job right.
HERBIE! Journeys on our narrowboat and the trials and tribulations of maintaining her.
3 comments:
Coming up (by train) to Cavalcade, planned to come Sun, but maybe Sat if weather looks set better - will try to come and say hello. Do enjoy reading your blog. If you see me, I'll probably be carrying Chertsey's new chimney around - do shout!
Sarah (Chertsey)
But its not just the money you save, is it? There is a huge amount of satisfaction from knowing that its something you did yourself.
Capt Ahab
Sarah - yes do seek us out. love to meet you.
Captain - yes, the experience and the satisfaction is a very big part
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