{"id":558,"date":"2012-09-20T10:17:34","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T14:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/?p=558"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:02:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:02:39","slug":"applying-antifouling-paint-pontoon-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/aluminum-application\/applying-antifouling-paint-pontoon-boat\/","title":{"rendered":"Applying Antifouling Paint to a Pontoon Boat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"post-updated\"><strong>Last Updated: February 9, 2026<\/strong><!--?php echo get_the_modified_date('F j, Y'); ?--><\/p>\n<p><!-- Quick Recommendation Box: Applying Antifouling Paint to a Pontoon Boat --><\/p>\n<div class=\"bps-quick-reco\" style=\"border: 1px solid #e5e5e5; border-left: 6px solid #0a6fb5; background: #f8fbff; padding: 16px 18px; margin: 14px 0 22px; border-radius: 8px;\">\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 8px; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: .06em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #0a6fb5; font-weight: bold;\">Quick Recommendation<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.25;\">Applying Antifouling Paint to a Pontoon Boat<\/h2>\n<ul style=\"margin: 0; padding-left: 18px; line-height: 1.6;\">\n<li><strong>Use aluminum-safe antifouling only:<\/strong> Choose <strong>copper-free or aluminum-compatible<\/strong> bottom paint for pontoon tubes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prep thoroughly:<\/strong> Degrease, remove oxidation, and lightly abrade the aluminum to ensure proper adhesion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prime correctly:<\/strong> Apply an <strong>etching or epoxy primer designed for aluminum<\/strong> before antifouling paint.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bottom line:<\/strong> Long-lasting pontoon protection depends on <strong>aluminum-safe paint systems and proper surface preparation<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"margin: 12px 0 0; color: #555; line-height: 1.5;\"><strong>Tip:<\/strong> Never apply traditional copper-based antifouling directly to aluminum pontoons\u2014it can cause rapid galvanic corrosion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you do not have any coatings at all on the bottom of the boat, we suggest to sand the\u00a0pontoons with 80 grit and then apply <strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"\/tuff-stuff-highbuild-epoxy-primer-12gl-kit-p-9473.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Tuff Stuff High Build Epoxy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/strong> It is a water tight barrier coat designed for use under the waterline and with aluminum hulls. Tuff Stuff will insure that you protect the aluminum from corrosion, and also aid in the adhesion of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/boat-bottom-paint-top-performing-bottom-paint-c-13523_13525.html\">antifouling paint<\/a>. Use 2 coats. You can apply the 2nd coat within a couple of hours of the first coat. See detailed instructions at<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"> <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/how-to\/application-of-marine-epoxy-primer-to-a-boat\/\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>How to Apply Marine Epoxy Primer&#8221;.<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TUFFSTUFFnew.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-671\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TUFFSTUFFnew-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"TUFFSTUFFnew\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>After you apply <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"\/tuff-stuff-highbuild-epoxy-primer-by-sea-hawk-paints-p-9473.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tuff Stuff marine epoxy primer<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>on hull, be sure to use an aluminum safe\u00a0antifouling paint. The bottom paint needs to be applied the same day as the Tuff Stuff marine epoxy primer.\u00a0Antifoulants in general are designed to repel hard growth. For soft growth you should have an additional biocide that help with the algae.<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/boat-bottom-paint-aluminum-safe-bottom-paint-c-13523_13531.html\/Sea-Hawk-ColorKote-Triple-Biocide-Antifouling-Power\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"> Colorkote<\/span> <\/strong><\/a><\/span>is an excellent antifoul for aluminum pontoons used in salt water and\/or fresh water. For a less expensive option, see <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/boat-bottom-paint-aluminum-safe-bottom-paint-c-13523_13531.html\/smart-solution-metal-free-bottom-paint-p-9937.html\">Smart Solution Metal Free Antifouling<\/a><\/strong> paint.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WARNING:<\/strong> <em>You should only use an aluminum safe antifouling like Smart Solution. Using any other type of copper based antifouling could severely damage your pontoons and will cause corrosion, pitting and eventually holes in your pontoon boat.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you do not need antifouling paint and are in fresh water, we suggest using one of the products located in the <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/how-to\/paint-jon-boat\/\">&#8220;How to Paint an Aluminum Jon Boat<\/a>&#8220;<\/strong><\/span> article.<\/p>\n<p>Links:<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Video: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tuff Stuff Pontoon Boat\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Vf0u2oBoyI8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/w.sharethis.com\/widget\/?wp=6.9.7\"><\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Updated: February 9, 2026 Quick Recommendation Applying Antifouling Paint to a Pontoon Boat Use aluminum-safe antifouling only: Choose copper-free or aluminum-compatible bottom paint for pontoon tubes. Prep thoroughly: Degrease, remove oxidation, and lightly abrade the aluminum to ensure proper adhesion. Prime correctly: Apply an etching or epoxy primer designed for aluminum before antifouling paint. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[257,256,255,258],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aluminum-application","category-bottom-paint","tag-apply-paint-to-pontoon-boat","tag-bottom-paint-on-pontoon-boat","tag-pontoon-boat-paint","tag-pontoon-boat-paint-application"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4163,"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions\/4163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bottompaintstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}