Shrinkwrap

[erice]

Any thoughts on clear vs white shrink wrap?

[RobS]

White is what you want. Clear will give you the greenhouse effect, moisture..

[hetek]

Agreed - Go with white.

My friend had a bad experience with clear on his older Grady White. Delamination was the worst of it.

- Jon B.

[jleonard]

I have never seen a boat wrapped witrh clear.
Usually white, sometimes blue. Ours was blue the first winter while it was still in Rochester...was ok except everything under the cover looked a different color in the sun. LOL

[RobS]

I see the clear from time to time - Usually if the boat is listed for sale so it can be somewhat viewed. From what I have heard the blue is used in very cold climates to try and keep the boat warmer to aid in snow/ice melting.

[Froggy]

I cover mine with canvas. Breathes better thank shrink wrap and saves me abt $600 a year.

[RobS]

$600, really? $375 here

[Froggy]

$600, really? $375 here

Yup $600 up this way. (part of the price of living in RI) That's one of the reasons I switched over to a bolt together frame and the canvas. Here she is last year. Not so pretty but the system works.

IMG_0353.JPG

[Pitou]

Any thoughts on clear vs white shrink wrap?

$600, really? $375 here

As stated earlier in this thread clear will give you the greenhouse affect. The only place I see clear used is in a couple of dealer's yards for show & tell. Whenever I drive by and the sun is out the zippered doors all all opened wide to prevent it from raining inside the terrarium. You don't want that. I use white as it's easier to see inside than blue when working under the tent.

The going rate in our area is $ 450 ... $14 / ft. at 32 ft. LOA. When I bought the Albin in '04 I became one of those 2 boat owners and was staring at $775 that fall to have both boats wrapped. I decided to buy a shrinkwrap gun and have at it. I practiced on the old boat first. The Albin came out better. Now it's a breeze. I reuse the frame, vents and zippered door each year and I get away with a little under $100. Sweet!!!

[jleonard]

$18 per foot in Ct

[RobS]

$12 to $13 here in the yards. I have friends that will come to your house for $8 to $10, depending on beam and hgt.

[Froggy]

Unfortunately, our yard put the clamp on having outside folks do it.

[RobS]

Unfortunately, our yard put the clamp on having outside folks do it.

Same here, when I wrote "in the yards", I guess what I really meant was "in the yards, by the yards".

[DougSea]

I do mine myself. Had one of those "weed burner" guns for a while but bit the bullet and got a real one last year. If I'm remembering my math for the roll it's costing me about $250, maybe less, per season.

Here's the "gun of all shrinkwrap guns":

SWS-998_med.jpg

Puts out an incredible amount of heat but is very easy to control.

And yes, the wrap is white.

[Pitou]

I do mine myself. Had one of those "weed burner" guns for a while but bit the bullet and got a real one last year.
Puts out an incredible amount of heat but is very easy to control.

Way to step up to the "big boy" gun Doug. Bought my "weed burner" in '04. I keep eyeing the 998 for when my Dr. Shrink Gun bites the bullet. It doesn't get much use though, my 28, a good buddies 19 ctr. console each year and over the years a couple of wayward souls in between.

The freight on the wrap can be killer. I learned that the 1st year. After that I spotted a classified in the sports section of the Sunday Boston paper advertising shrink wrap for home skating rinks / 7 mil white. I now coordinate a trip into Boston with a pickup for shrink supplies. http://jfreeman.com/shrink-wrap.html