Painting New Plywood

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colvic

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Will shortly be using some marine ply for a deck extension and to be honest don't know the best procedure for painting it so that it becomes waterproof and anti-slip.

Thanks in anticipation


Phil

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you get what you pay for with non-slip coatings.

at the top of the range is teak strip, then various proprietory materials you stick on (just seen some in the compass catalogue at £35/sq m), there is a cork-based imitation teak, then you get down to various paint finishes like interdeck.

cheapest is to add a grit to a gloss surface, either by mixing in the can or sprinkling afterwards. these tend to come out a bit uneven and trap dirt but generally work well. silver sand is traditional but very hard on oilskin knees etc. an alternative is sold by blakes under the name 'non-slip pearls' or at a fraction of the price from glassfibre suppliers as 'fillite'

i have heard that awlgrip market an added-grit system which uses extremely low concentrations of grit so it looks like gloss. i haven't seen this one.

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For a recent gas locker, I used the international system thus:

1 Coat Universal Clear Primer
2 Coats Pre-Kote
2/3 Coats Interdeck

The finish looks nice and even, and is quite non slip. Word of warning - allow PLENTY of time for the finished article to cure before use.

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At the very least you need to use construction grade waterproof plywood obtainable from builders merchants however if they are the primary deck material and not an overlay I would recommend marine ply. Unfortunately it's a good 3 or 4 times the price of waterproof graded ply. I have grit decks on my grp Colvic decks which came with the boat when I bought it. I have found it excellent as a non-slip surface even though it has been applied a bit too liberally. As some is now peeling after many years use I will remove it and do the same. Your plywood should be treated all over including the edges and should be fine sanded after making good, dusted off properly then treated with a coat or 2 of sanding sealer. Do not sand this surface again before appling the primer. Then prime, undercoat and apply finish in a good quality deck paint specifically made for the job. After all this is done and dried properly mark off and tape up the area's to be painted with non-slip paint and apply as per manufacturers instructions. If you decide to buy the paint seperate to the grit there is a special fine grade of sand to use especially for decking obtainable from chandlers. Whatever you do don't use builders sand it's completely the wrong stuff. Done properly it should outlast you!
Wish you well it's a lot of work but probably worth it.

Roy

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I recently did some deck repairs on my boat and painted the ply with several coats of epoxy diluted with meths on both sides, paying particular attetion to the edges and then glassed over the exterior after fitting.
There is an expensive proprietary product called everdure which does pretty much the same thing.

I used a marine primer that was part of the total paint system I was using, and then the non skid. Manufacturers provide pamphlets with all this info.
In my opinion you cant go far wrong with thinking of painting as a 'system' and sticking to it.

Good luck with the project.

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Yes, this would be my choice too. Epoxy is great, but unnecessarily expensive for this application. Proper non-slip paint looks a lot better than sand added to conventional paint and comes in colours that don't show the dirt so much, yet costs little extra.

Where I would spend the money is on proper marine ply, not exterior grade plywood. The latter will not stand up to a marine environment, will take in water and begin to delaminate by 3 years. It's a shame to paint mahogany-faced marine ply though, as an alternative how about varnish with some strips of Treadmaster or similar glued on?

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I refurbished one of our launches last year which meant new decks and floors. I used marine grade ply throughout.
On the decks I thinned the primer to 50%, then 25%, then full coat. Finally I added a normal non slip deck paint. On the floors I used Wests Epoxy, then deck paint, both have stood up very well. The reason for using Wests on the floors was that they tend to hold more water before it gets into the bilges where as the decks just run off and because of the foot traffic it provides a harder surface.

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