Covering and filling old decorative ply.

[RichardPerou]

The cockpit sole of Lutra has a decorative plywood finish, looking like laid teak. It has started to delaminate and must be replaced.

I have done this kind of thing in the past and it was a literal pain. This time I intend to use tried and tested Treadmaster which I believe is the practical approach.

I want to leave the existing ply, fill and stick the treadmaster over it.

Any advice?

Richard

 

[Tranona]

Is it just the top veneer that is delaminating or the inner core? If the ply is sound an alternative is to coat in epoxy with a layer of glass cloth on top then paint with deck paint or Kiwigrip. if you do use Treadmaster make sure the end grain is well sealed - either epoxy or capped with solid timber, other wise you may end up with good Treadmaster supported by rotting ply.

 

[Daydream believer]

Is it just the top veneer that is delaminating or the inner core? If the ply is sound an alternative is to coat in epoxy with a layer of glass cloth on top then paint with deck paint or Kiwigrip. if you do use Treadmaster make sure the end grain is well sealed - either epoxy or capped with solid timber, other wise you may end up with good Treadmaster supported by rotting ply.

Treadmaster is a bit "naff"
I would go for the epoxy solution
Instead of deck paint - which has little slip resistance- use ordinary marine paint & sprinkle with sand through a flour sieve as it starts to dry
Practice sprinkling the sand elsewhere first to make sure you get it nice & even. If you do not have any fine sand get bird cage sand from a pet shop
It can be over coated with a thin layer of paint a couple of times to keep it looking bright
Clean the sieve afterwards or it will make the cakes gritty

 

[rob2]

Do you know for sure the construction of the ply structure? I'm assuming you mean the cockpit sole or seats. Often the decorative ply is a fairly thin ply glued down over perhaps 12mm structural ply. If that were the case, I would suggest removing the decorative layer before any other treatment as it may well continue to delaminate and you'll end up doing the job again much sooner than expected. Once you're sure you're back to solid wood, epoxy and scrim cloth will give the surface much greater abrasion resistance and waterproofing. There has been a lot of talk on the forum of painting with Sandtex and the like as being equally as good as marine deck paints with the plus factors that it can be repainted and is far cheaper than Treadmaster. Indeed in the case of seats and side decks it is kinder to your waterproofs.

Rob.