Eva foam faux teak

[HunkyDory]

I have read 3 or 4 reviews on here where Eva foam (as seen on Ebay) seems to last satisfactorily but I am wondering if Eva foam will stick well to old painted surfaces of boat deck without having to use paint stripper to get it all off before fixing the Eva flooring, thanks in advance

 

[Tzu]

If its smooth well applied paint then yes, it will stick. If a non-slip I suspect not. I do know that once its been down for 5 minutes or more its staying down! Did mine onto well prepared and chemically clean cockpit seats and hatch covers 4 years ago and no sign of it moving. (or from the saloon floor three years ago) Take your time on the details, you will see every flaw for a long time

S

 

[HunkyDory]

If its smooth well applied paint then yes, it will stick. If a non-slip I suspect not. I do know that once its been down for 5 minutes or more its staying down! Did mine onto well prepared and chemically clean cockpit seats and hatch covers 4 years ago and no sign of it moving. (or from the saloon floor three years ago) Take your time on the details, you will see every flaw for a long time

S View attachment 141968

Many thanksTzu for your really helpful advice, we had a rethink and may paint for now, as we have the chance to move her to a new mooring in 2 weeks to time favorable tides (about 21nautical miles away,) then apply the Eva foam next spring with much more confidence, ps was yours self sticking and/or did you use additional adhesive please?

 

[Tzu]

Many thanksTzu for your really helpful advice, we had a rethink and may paint for now, as we have the chance to move her to a new mooring in 2 weeks to time favorable tides (about 21nautical miles away,) then apply the Eva foam next spring with much more confidence, ps was yours self sticking and/or did you use additional adhesive please?

Self stick.

and additional caulking for gaps and edges where necessary was a pu40, only place I could source it in black was toolstation iirc.


sort of the process, or 2 minutes 18 seconds you are not getting back:

 

[HunkyDory]

Self stick.

and additional caulking for gaps and edges where necessary was a pu40, only place I could source it in black was toolstation iirc.


sort of the process, or 2 minutes 18 seconds you are not getting back:

 

[HunkyDory]

So blown away by your brilliant transformation and even more by your filming and soundtrack, really enjoyed watching that, sadly I can't compete with that, but I might be able to post a few before and after photos perhaps in time to come, very many thanks again.

 

[Yngmar]

Meh, we tried a sample in a well abused location (step to the cockpit - we wear shoes and liveaboard in winter) and it did not last long. Some photos here.

By now I've removed it (the glue is nasty to get off by the way) as it had fallen apart completely. On cockpit seating I would maybe us it, but cover it with something where we step on. Also absolutely do avoid the stripey stuff. Due to the way it's constructed (the stripes are gaps in the top layer), it's much more vulnerable. You can get solid sheets of it without the stripes which should fare much better!

No issues with sticking to patterned non-skid gelcoat.

 

[HunkyDory]

Thanks for sharing this Yngmar, glad we haven't rushed in, hubby painting deck right now, no time until the spring, I rather like the look of the silly stripey stuff ?, but I will bow to better judgement when we start this project. Think I will try to get samples of the unstriped as well as sounds sensible..... My next question is was it on ebay?

 

[Yngmar]

It was straight off AliExpress, but the material seems to be all the same. The mechanical separation of layers was most likely because this is a spot where you pivot on tiptoe when entering the cockpit, so the material is really stressed. Also worth noting that this was in south Sicily and Greece, so it got hammered with UV and that seemed to cause rapid decay of the material itself. I thought it was cleaning up really easy until I realized that the dirt was just coming off with a layer of brown EVA foam every time I scrubbed it After two years there wasn't much left of the top layer.

In a more sheltered area with less abuse (cockpit seating), I would give it another try. With the unstriped one. The stripe gaps also catch a lot of dirt, dust and water. Maybe you can paint on stripes afterwards. It's what Amel does!

The expensive custom made sheet suppliers actually buy the unstriped sheets and then cut the stripes in with a CNC router (with all the downsides of that, but hey, stripes)

 

[LONG_KEELER]

The stuff transformed my cockpit in a couple of hours for very little money. Great to both sit on and kneel on.

As mentioned above, I have a small "kicked up" bit only where you first plant a foot to enter the cockpit. That was after four years and is very easy/cheap to replace.

Kind to both feet and knee down below also but seems fairly easy to dent and show the dirt. I would still use it there again though. I don't have a problem with it on the companion way steps but I'm not a live aboard.