# DIY Horsebox paint / respray - anyone done it?



## sam4321 (18 February 2010)

As the title sys really, 
has anyone done this themselves on a small box/trailer?

does anyone have any pics that they have done?

thanks


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## BigRed (18 February 2010)

Many years ago I went and bought several tins of Hammerite paint to hand paint my trailer a different colour.  It was the most disastrous thing I have ever done.  It was like painting with nail varnish and looked absolute c**p.  I ended up driving it to a paint shop and paying for it to be done properly.

I am actually a good decorator in the house !


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## sam4321 (18 February 2010)

ah doesnt sound good  
	
	
		
		
	


	




, 

i know to do it well you need to put in a lot of time sanding sanding and more sanding then primer,  paint and washing in between. 

i have lots of time and patience but not 2-3000 for a pro to do it!

thanks


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## Toby_Zaphod (18 February 2010)

I repainted an elderly trailer a few years ago &amp; it turned out really well. It took a little time &amp; effort but using the correct paint made things a lot easier. I didn't need any specialised compressor, sprayguns either. I think I spent around £50 on materials. I kept the trailer for 4 years &amp; ended up selling it to the first person who came to view it, and for £300 more than I bought it.


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## Keltic (18 February 2010)

I know someone who did a whole lorry by hand!! It was sanded down first then they used a sponge gloss roller to apply the paint so they didnt get lines, it took a while but the finish was quite good!


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## JJ2 (18 February 2010)

I have just had mt lorry repainted by a professional and it only cost me £300 which was worth every penny as he made a great job on it and i would never have been patient enough to do it!!


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## miller (18 February 2010)

OH resprayed ours last summer at home - done an excellent job - 7.5t - you will need a very good compressor though - we tried to start with with one far too small and the finish was awful


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## kick_On (18 February 2010)

sorry to be rude, but it's the quickest way to de-value your transport, as i will look hand painted!!!.  and will not last, which will then make it look even worst!!!

But if you insist on doing it, you must prepared surface properly, lots and lots of rubbing down and filling in, and when you paint (what paint type will you use, as this a a compete nightmare and i could write an eassy on each type), make you it's dry, warm and well ventilated otherwise sorry you'll be wasting your time.....


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## sam4321 (18 February 2010)

kick on - thanks for the advice, its not going to be a top of the range box and would cost as much again (as the box) for me to get the pro's to do it. box will be for myself, not to sell

it will be in an industrial unit in summer, and i certainly wont be expecting to do it in an afternoon! 

thanks


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## stencilface (18 February 2010)

We did ours in 2008  We did the sanding down and filling in and then just rollered on some dulux outside gloss paint.  It took two weekends to do it, we did it outside, and luckily it didn't rain!  We also painted black hammerite on all the metal parts on the partitions inside which worked well too. 

I don't know about de-valuing the box, but it was a B reg (1986?) wagon so not really worth spending alot of money on tbh.  The paint survived the 2008-2009 winter fine and then we sold the box in May 2009 to upgrade to a newer one.  Don't know how the paint is going, but I can't imagine its deteriorated that much?


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## sam4321 (18 February 2010)

i can see that it would devalue a really good box to have a diy paint job, but i cant warrant the cost either for an old box, but i do have lots of spare time to do it myself


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## kick_On (18 February 2010)

sorry but an cr*p job will devalue even a older wagon, , but if you going to do i highly recommend you do get good compressor(one that ia man enough to do job!), face masks, and google about different paint types. Plus if your going to try and sort rust out, you do rub back to bare metal and then treat, as again, otherwise your paint job with look poor in no time at all.

If you think of your man hours plus material and plus having to learn skill, i'm know it would be cheaper to get done by paint shop, what about doing at prep work yourself and then get shop just spraying.............

I do speak from experience.......... we done home spraying with all kit and in time and money it's no comparation to a professional job. Unless you are a prefectist


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## sam4321 (18 February 2010)

kick on - thanks for the tips, i will certainly do my research before diving in


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## luckilotti (18 February 2010)

We repainted our old trailer quite a few times - mainly as i desired it to be a different colour!  
It worked well and didnt look hand painted at all.
My old horsebox i redid the cab with a small gloss roller that i believe someone mentioned above and that worked really well.  
My current box, i think i am going to send to a pro though as i havent got the time and it is a newer (though not that new lol) box.


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## Flashbacksj (19 February 2010)

Hi i dont have any photos here but my grandad re painted our ifor williams horse box (the ones on a ford transit chasis, not a trailer) 

it had been sprayed when we had it which was fine on the metal but the wooden pannels had orignally been varnished.. so metal paint over varnish= peeling!!! 

So my grandad took on the task of re painting it... the Vehicle itself was fine... so we matched the paint colour and just painted the wooden pannels on the body of the box... 

Sanded down... filled in holes... 
basecoat x 2, primer x2, top coat x2 etc etc.... took forever and was damn hard work but looks great now...

He used marine paint... the stuff they use on the boats! expensive but will look neat for ages... looks smarter now than when we brought it.. and we could sell it anywhere we go...given its a 3.5ton ford transit and ifor williams! 

if i find photos i will post them later! x


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## *hic* (24 April 2014)

Blimey, that went quickly


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## PaddyMonty (24 April 2014)

Yep. To two different lorries.
This (with full conversion to horsebox)






To this....






and this....






to this...






Both sprayed with decent spraygun and compressor.


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## turnbuckle (24 April 2014)

If you're hoping for a glossy, smart-new-lorry look, you will probably be disappointed, even with lot's of practice with a compressor and serious time spent preparing. If you're going to be happy with an agricultural, old-hunting-trailer type look, I think you will do just fine brushing on tractor enamel.

But you still need to put serious effort into rubbing down the old paint, filling any imperfections, rubbing down, priming, rubbing down again and then painting!

All actually quite fun, in an odd sort of way.  I say go for it!


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## wench (24 April 2014)

I've had my trailer repainted twice, both times done by hand, as it means you can get a thicker layer of paint on, and it should last longer.

The first time it was done was the first time it had been painted for years, so there was a lot of old stuff to come off and sort out, but was done in car paint.

Second time around it was just starting to look scruffy, so had it re-painted, this time with tractor paint (cheaper than car paint), and did the job just fine.

However I did get someone who had the knack of doing trailers like this, so the finish on it is very good. It will probably be due a coat of paint over the next year or so, and I will be doing the rubbing down of it, and my brother, who is a decorator, will be painting it for me.


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## angelish (25 April 2014)

i did mine (7.5 lorry) by hand and it has added value 
i did it with a gloss roller and it looks like a pro has sprayed it , but it did take a lot of time and patience 
pics are on here somewhere


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