ProtectaKote

Finally finished the inside of my van today. Thought I would list some helpful pointers for those who are considering lining the back of the van.

I had previously ply lined and - what I had assumed - sealed the base with 5 coats of garage floor paint. It still looked in pretty good condition but when I removed my tank and reel it was COMPLETELY saturated. It smelt of sewers it was that far gone (didn’t even last two years).

I don’t like fibreglass, I know a lot of people are fans but I don’t get on with the stuff and find it messy and awkward to use - so I opted for Protectakote.

So - my recommendations......

Strip the back out completely (floor).

Clean with CIF cream cleaner using a scotch pad, this process is to CLEAN the existing surface.

Wash down with water to remove residue.

Use a DRY scotch pad (green or red -medium or coarse) to dull the paintwork. I found trying to dull the paintwork with CIF didn’t work all that efficiently, when I went over the whole van bed again with a dry scourer it gave instant results.

Brush out and wipe over with xylene (thinners for Protectakote). Make sure the van doors are open and you have a breeze - it’s powerful stuff and gave me a horrific hangover!!

Make good any edges and holes, I’ve used UPOL Tiger seal (used it before) and find it extremely good and hard wearing, for larger gaps around the edges I used expanding foam first.





Once the foam has set (an hour for most brands) it can be trimmed and Tiger seal applied to the perimeter/edges of the van floor.



Everything was then masked up (the bits that you don’t want painting) ready to paint.



Now - I ordered the textured (by mistake!!) as I got carried away with the colour choice, ginger was the only choice for a member of the superior race (Steve Garwood understands!!) so struggled at first getting to grips with the finish.

The only tips for painting would be -

Buy a roller for each coat you plan to do , the paint dries very quickly and you can not store them (I tried the usual cling film trick and the second time I brushed on some xylene thinners) the first roller dried after the first coat, the second roller disintegrated during the third coat so I had to finish off with a brush which isn’t easy!!!

Don’t worry about full coverage on the first coat, even if you only do two coats (I did three) the second coat goes on a lot thicker naturally anyway. I had a lot of white showing through after the first coat but didn’t panic as the instructions said get the first one on as a key in a thin layer.

I didn’t use a roller tray - I just dunked my roller in the tin which seemed to work really well, I just made sure I stirred it frequently and the rubber granules were distributed evenly.

Use frog tape to mask off - it’s foolproof!!

Overall I’m pretty pleased and impressed with the final results - even though I did get the textured finish and not the smooth. I’m confident this time I’ve created a ‘tanked’ liner in the back that should last a lifetime.

Everything came to around £150 so around the same price as fibreglassing - just without the mess!!



Job done - just got to get the new tank in now and set it all up!!!!

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Looks like you have done a cracking job. I have bare plywood in mine at the moment with rubber matting down but not really had a issue with spillages, But I was going to use garage floor paint and I am always cautious when tank is full I wrap a cloth around the lid in case of spillage in transit.

Nice thorough job, agree it's better to just do away with ply lining. Did mine over a year ago and the only problem is I may get an occasional chip when taking the reel out The mistake I made was i threw away the tin with a bit left over, when I should have kept it for touching up.
I just use a dab of black paint and it's fine.

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Raptor lining is amazing 

Check it out on YouTube 

Can be rolled,gives a texture and is so hard once dry you can not chip it

dmw said:

Nice thorough job, agree it's better to just do away with ply lining. Did mine over a year ago and the only problem is I may get an occasional chip when taking the reel out The mistake I made was i threw away the tin with a bit left over, when I should have kept it for touching up.
I just use a dab of black paint and it's fine.

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Click to expand...

I won’t have any issues with wear dmw as I have a plastic tray insert that fills up the area in the back where I have space.


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Eviestevie said:

Raptor lining is amazing 
Check it out on YouTube 
Can be rolled,gives a texture and is so hard once dry you can not chip it

Click to expand...

I looked at Raptor when I did my van originally- back then they didn’t have a great deal of info on it or long term reviews. I know another member used it and thought it was really good too but can’t remember who it was. At least with Protectakote it’s tried and tested so had more confidence it would work if the prep was done correctly.


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@AGlassAct How much paint did you have to buy? cheers m

scottish cleaning service said:

[mention=2651]AGlassAct[/mention] How much paint did you have to buy? cheers m

Click to expand...

I brought the van kit which came with a 5 litre tin. 3 decent coats and I have a litre left I reckon


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Raptor is amazing 

It's so hard wearing 

Protectacoat in my experience looks mega when done but weeks after is just so scratched and chipped 

Looks a good job that, especially the colour ?

Looks nice but aren't the holes a problem? You said you were confident you'd created a tanked liner, but can't water get into those holes and into the undercarriage ect?

Looks nice but aren't the holes a problem? You said you were confident you'd created a tanked liner, but can't water get into those holes and into the undercarriage ect?

Click to expand...

All the holes drain straight through, I’ve just made sure they are coated well. I filled the van for the first time today and the shut off valve failed so it flooded..... took it for a trip to a steep hill and no more water!!!

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@AGlassAct  I wondered if your van an swb fiat Doblo/Vauxhall combo, also how long did it take you in total and did you have to use the thinners/primer between each coat as well, I was hoping to get mine done over next weekend so curious about drying/curing times also did you use sealant along the bulkhead to prevent any spillages ending up the cab footwell. Thanks I.G 

We recently had all the old ply stripped out of the van and re-plyed. I then cut out jigs to fill the holes, sealed all edges and gaps that the ply fitter hadn’t, and covered the lot in protectakote, it really is proper stuff. Dont be shy with it though, 2 coats, nice and thick as well. I’m going to do the floor every 6 months. Preferably April/may, & september/october. Did it in january & took 2-3 days to dry out ?. Looks the part now. 

I am doing as @AGlassAct has ripping out ply lining from the floor which is getting done today as I have 2 jobs this morning so water still in the tank, I did one coat of light grey gloss on the sides last night, I will do the expanding foam and a second coat of gloss today and as much as I can as waiting on delivery of Upol Tiger Seal and also my order below. 





Description


Unit price


Qty


Amount




Xylene Thinners 
Item Number 31


£8.95 GBP


1


£8.95 GBP




Protectakote - Choose the Tin Size : 4 Litres, Select Colour : Blue - RAL 5010 
Item Number 246


£77.95 GBP


1


£77.95 GBP




3" Large Diameter Roller Kit 
Item Number 274


£5.95 GBP


1


£5.95 GBP




3" Large Diameter Roller Refill 
Item Number 297


£1.80 GBP


1


£1.80 GBP













Subtotal


£94.65 GBP




Postage and packaging


£2.95 GBP




Total


£97.60 GBP

This is a blast from the past @Iron Giant . It’s funny you’ve asked the question today as I signed the van over to its new owner an hour ago!! Anyway, Yes it was a swb combo. Mine didn’t have any side doors so I sealed around the perimeter including under and over the plastic trims. Where there were larger holes/gaps I used expanding foam first. Then I used tiger seal to finish it off. I found out afterwards that the plastic didn’t paint too well (should have known better really!). But I’d fully sealed all the edges beforehand so I was confident it was watertight. I also drilled holes where I could see a risk of water pooling - they were painted in and out to prevent rust and were a god send on a couple of occasions! Just remember to only drill where it’s single skin if you are going down the drain hole route. You don’t need to use thinners between coats, I used thinners on the rollers to try and re-use them (wrapped in cling film) but they set like concrete in the time between coats so buy plenty for each coat. Even though it was pretty warm when I painted mine I hung a radiator in the back to assist with the drying times. 

The most time consuming part of the job was the prep as that is the key in my eyes. I used upol tiger seal as I know it’s bullet proof but it takes a while to dry. I’m sure I did mine over the space of 3 days. Once the first coat of paint goes on though you have to be on the ball as timing is very important - leave it too long and you have to wait for it to fully cure and then you have to ‘key’ it up again for the next coat. To be fair the instruction that came with the kit were very thorough.

Hmm plastic, just wondering if I could paint it with spray paint for plastic, then try the protectakote over the top ?

I have got a blow heater I can hang from the van roof, so you are saying fully touch dry then start with the second coat and so on. Many Thanks I. G

I’m sure the instructions say ‘tacky’  like I said they are very concise so just follow them to the letter, I’m sure I remember having to hang around to keep checking on it. The fear was if it was too dry it wouldn’t stick to the previous coat. Has yours got side doors? I just stuck the plastic trim down with tiger seal and than sealed the whole perimeter of the van - the bits of plastic I could remove that wouldn’t create somewhere for water to pool I just took out. 

Thanks again, yes I have a side door and figured it best to tiger seal anywhere water may get so around every edge. 

Did you just seal up were the lashing points were with tiger seal, I know I will have to totally remove the middle ones as the tank will be on top of those. 

I assume you used 4 litres to cover the van floor with three coats?

AGlassAct said:

Finally finished the inside of my van today. Thought I would list some helpful pointers for those who are considering lining the back of the van.

I had previously ply lined and - what I had assumed - sealed the base with 5 coats of garage floor paint. It still looked in pretty good condition but when I removed my tank and reel it was COMPLETELY saturated. It smelt of sewers it was that far gone (didn’t even last two years).

I don’t like fibreglass, I know a lot of people are fans but I don’t get on with the stuff and find it messy and awkward to use - so I opted for Protectakote.

So - my recommendations......

Strip the back out completely (floor).

Clean with CIF cream cleaner using a scotch pad, this process is to CLEAN the existing surface.

Wash down with water to remove residue.

Use a DRY scotch pad (green or red -medium or coarse) to dull the paintwork. I found trying to dull the paintwork with CIF didn’t work all that efficiently, when I went over the whole van bed again with a dry scourer it gave instant results.

Brush out and wipe over with xylene (thinners for Protectakote). Make sure the van doors are open and you have a breeze - it’s powerful stuff and gave me a horrific hangover!!

Make good any edges and holes, I’ve used UPOL Tiger seal (used it before) and find it extremely good and hard wearing, for larger gaps around the edges I used expanding foam first.

Once the foam has set (an hour for most brands) it can be trimmed and Tiger seal applied to the perimeter/edges of the van floor.

Everything was then masked up (the bits that you don’t want painting) ready to paint.

Now - I ordered the textured (by mistake!!) as I got carried away with the colour choice, ginger was the only choice for a member of the superior race (Steve Garwood understands!!) so struggled at first getting to grips with the finish.

The only tips for painting would be -

Buy a roller for each coat you plan to do , the paint dries very quickly and you can not store them (I tried the usual cling film trick and the second time I brushed on some xylene thinners) the first roller dried after the first coat, the second roller disintegrated during the third coat so I had to finish off with a brush which isn’t easy!!!

Don’t worry about full coverage on the first coat, even if you only do two coats (I did three) the second coat goes on a lot thicker naturally anyway. I had a lot of white showing through after the first coat but didn’t panic as the instructions said get the first one on as a key in a thin layer.

I didn’t use a roller tray - I just dunked my roller in the tin which seemed to work really well, I just made sure I stirred it frequently and the rubber granules were distributed evenly.

Use frog tape to mask off - it’s foolproof!!

Overall I’m pretty pleased and impressed with the final results - even though I did get the textured finish and not the smooth. I’m confident this time I’ve created a ‘tanked’ liner in the back that should last a lifetime.

Everything came to around £150 so around the same price as fibreglassing - just without the mess!!



Job done - just got to get the new tank in now and set it all up!!!!

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

Click to expand...

4 Litres to cover the van floor with three coats?

Nick1000 said:

I assume you used 4 litres to cover the van floor with three coats?

4 Litres to cover the van floor with three coats?

Click to expand...

Ginger should be your first choice ??‍??‍??‍?

Nick1000 said:

4 Litres to cover the van floor with three coats?

Click to expand...

If you buy a 4 litre tin you will have quite a bit left depending on how thick you apply it,  I did a thin coat first as it does pre-warn you about putting it on to thick to avoid puddling or mud cracking I think they call it, then you can go with thicker coats, I got in a bit of panic about dry times and decided to buy the accelerator as well, I only applied 2 coats as I deemed that enough, but I have since applied a 3rd coat to freshen it up. 

If you decide to buy the accelerator as well, buy a paint kettle or use an old tub suitable for the job, mix the paint in it's tin as required then pour a litre or so into a paint kettle then add the accelerator to the paint in the kettle.

If you want to remove the lashing points in the van so it looks tidier, which is something I did, you will need these M8 Dome Head Bolts  just double check yours in your van with a Hex key to see if they are 8mm heads, I then just kept and have stored the lashing bolts