Painting the deck

[tobble]

I've tried searching for answers to the below but to no avail, so here goes...

Scenario: My Sabre 27 has 'crazing' all over the deck - small cracks likely caused by 35+years of UV on a gelcoat that was perhaps a little thin on layup. I'm now ready to sort this problem out, and want something that won't need doing again too soon. there's no paint on the deck at all at the mo. the majority of the horizontal surfaces have a diamond tread pattern like many boats.

1) What is the best stuff to use for
a. the non grippy bits - I like the idea of 2-pack polyurethane, and the premium over single pack seems worthwhile on the face of it in terms of longevity and durability - any comments?
b. the grippy bits - previous posts seem to conclude that sandtex is a cheap and robust solution.

2) depending on recommendations for part 1) - how best to apply? I have a spray gun and the yard have a tent, is it worth hiring/begging/borrowing/stealing a compressor? I guess time wise there isn't much in it if you consider spraying requires a bit more prep, but will the finish be better enough to make it worth while? I've done a little bit of spraying but am by no means an expert, although always keen to develop a new skill.

3) Where to put which paint - I mean, should I put the non-grippy paint on the whole deck first, and then put grippy paint on the grippy areas, or just put non-grip on the non-grip areas and grip on the grip areas... if that makes sense... I suppose this depends on the quality of the non-grippy paint.

4) In a similar vein, should I paint under all the deck fittings? I 've mentally allowed for removing all the cleats, winches, stanchions etc. also the mast is coming down (for a re-wire and to fit in the tent) - should I paint under the chain plates and the tabernacle or avoid disturbing these? one of the things I'm worried about is the deck-paint join under cleats etc giving up under stress and causing orrible looking bits or even leaks.

anything else I need to think about? Or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill and ought I to just slap on a few coats of Dulux?

thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Tobble,

1) What is the best stuff to use for the non grippy bits.

A two Pack polyurethane with long chain polymers has very good self levelling qualities and should do a good job of filling the cracks and last for many tears.

I would look into the good quality non slip strips or pads available, a bit easier to keep clean and look much neater, also less work and can be replaced if damaged or worn.

2) - How best to apply?

Spraying is faster despite the time needed to mask it and tent it, the finish is also better and in some cases more durable because the are few dry joints.

I'm not too bad with a spay gun myself but in this area I always get everything set up and a pro in to do the spraying only, it will be less than an hour so cost will be minimal.

It also allows you to check as you go on the coverage and finish so redicing any stress.

3) Where to put which paint -

See above the whole deck first, and then put grippy pads or strips on.

4) In a similar vein, should I paint under all the deck fittings?

Great idea, removing the fittings will avoid a lot o masking and provide an opportunity to re seal them. Make sure you remove any Silicon because paint won't stick to it.

Hope this helps.


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[gasdave]

If the cracks are really in the gelcoat ought you not to be repairing/filling these prior to applying any paint? My concern would be water ingress into your laminate/core, and coats of paint will not necessarily protect against this for very long.
As far as I know a good quality non-slip deck paint shouldn't need a base layer of expensive "slippy" paint. Appropriate priming coats should do (although the paint experts may disagree!)
If any fittings are removed it is essential to make sure they are re-bedded onto suitable sealant afterwards, the type being dependant on use. Otherwise you will have those leaks!

 

[Cliveshep]

Have a look at the Newbie thread on the Thames forum - similar problems addressed

 

[JohnTH]

Exterior paint for cement walls (goodness knows how to spell Snowcem!!) has worked for me. B&Q can do it in a variety of colours too.

Go on, give it a try on a small hatch or the like. As I have said, it has worked for me.

73s de

Johnth

 

[Quandary]

Exterior paint for cement walls (goodness knows how to spell Snowcem!!) has worked for me. B&Q can do it in a variety of colours too.

Go on, give it a try on a small hatch or the like. As I have said, it has worked for me.

73s de

Johnth

Not Snowcem, that's water based stuff, Sandtex is what I suspect you mean, available both smooth and textured. Durable but I am not sure about abrasion resistance as it is made for external walls. I would use the two pack with glass beads for longer life.

 

[mitiempo]

If you don't solve the crazing problem first it will eventually show through any coating.

 

[JohnTH]

Yes, yes, idiot me!! Sandtex. Thanks Quandary.

Both are OK. Try it first on a small bit, say a hatch top! It is not as expensive as the two pack stuff. It works.

73s de

Johnth

 

[NOHOH]

Painting the Deck

Much more expensive I know.....but if you want to never have to do it again....a well applied plastic teak deck would solve the problem. Your deck is gradually going to disintegrate...especially when the water that has seeped into those millions of tiny cracks freezes. Its ultimately a decision .... either do it properly....or effectively eventually lose your boat.

 

[tobble]

thanks for the replies guys, some useful bits of info.

re repairing the cracks, they are 5-10,, long, not sure if they go all the way through the gell coat or not, but must number in the tens of thousands, so I'm buggered if I'm going to scrape them all out, key them up, wipe them out with acetone and fill them... by the look of them a decent primer should fill and seal them. however, I may invest in an edible hat just in case

 

[tobble]

I did briefly consider faux teak, but a) cost is prohibitive in my curent situation, and b) that doesn't solve the problem on the vertical areas.

the lay up on sabres is over-engineered, to put it politely, so I don't think there's much risk of "loosing my boat". if it really came to it the knackered gell coat could be stripped and re-applied properly. but it's no where near that bad yet, and hasn't got any worse for the four years I've had it.

 

[captainboo]

Crazed Decks!

I am currently restoring the deck (and the rest!) of a 1974 Sovereign 32.

The deck had moulded-in 'diamond pistol grip pattern' non-skid in blue both on the walkways and coach roof. At some time in the past a teak deck was applied (screwed and glued). The teak was worn out with leaks and starting to lift in places. It has therefore been removed!

On removal I found that the deck was covered in cracks through the gel-coat, 98% of which were confined to the blue non-skid areas. Why just here I don't know. These numbered in the hundreds, between 1-10 cm in length. Some had edges that had slightly lifted, resulting in cracks that could not be enlarged and filled. A number of people advised me that if I wanted the applied finish to last then the crazed areas had to be removed.

I started to belt sand the gelcoat of but gave up due to the time it took, tried an angle grinder with a flap wheel-far to dusty and finally removed it with an electric planer - very quick with little mess and relatively easy to judge how much it was removing without planing into the laminate! Curved areas however still had to be tackled with an angle grinder/drum sander on a flexible drive shaft/dremel.

The big debate was what to refinish it with:

1. Teak again - too expensive.
2. Plastic teak - also relatively expensive and difficult doing diy on compound curves. Also have read mixed reviews on various products.
3. Re-gelcoat - cheapest but difficult to get a good finish that didn't require hours of flattening/polishing.
4. Painting - chosen way.

Having spoken to International Paints I was advised to do the following system:

1. Seal bare laminate with 2 coats of epoxy (probably West System).
2. Apply coat of Interprotect as a primer/futher sealer.
3. Fill dents/ridges/repairs (windlass repositioned) with epoxy filler (I'm using Hempel Profiller).
4. When smooth and faired second coat of Interprotect.
5. 2 coats of Perfection Undercoat on all areas.
6. 2 coats of Perfection Topcoat on non non-skid areas.
7. 2 coats of Interdeck non-skid on appropriate areas.

I was advised to use the undercoat between the primer and non-skid paint to improve the durability.

 

[late-night-lochin]

Hi Tobble

If you have tens of thousands of (is that 5 to 10 centimetre, millimetre or inches?) cracks in your deck gelcoat you may be causing yourself a much bigger problem by covering them up. I doubt if any paint would penitrate the cracks so you will only be hiding the problem. At least as it is, you can see it.

Have you sought guidance form a fibreglass professional? If regelcoating was the best solution, it would be a lot easier to do it now than after the deck had been repainted because the new paint striped off again as well.

Hi Captainboo

I've got those moulded in diamond pattern non-slip areas on my 33 year old boat, in places it is really kn@ckered and I'm going to have to go down a similar route to you. Fortunately, the shiny areas are OK so thats just been a few repairs and a polish.

I've come to the conclusion (maybe incorrectly) that the problem with that diamond pattern is that on the low parts of the diamonds, the gel goat was too thin and on the high parts it was too thick. Gelcoat is supposed to be about 0.5mm thick.

You don't seem to see it much now, probably why.

 

[oldsaltoz]

.

Items 2 and 5 above should relate to the fact that few compounds will stick to epoxy, I would have used a high build epoxy primer at this stage, might be worth double checking. It might save the cost and effort of a second undercoat.

Avagoodweekend......

.

 

[mitiempo]

Interprotect is epoxy. Perfection goes well on epoxy.

 

[tobble]

delayed response

Hi again guys

thanks for all the responses. This morning I got round to taking a photo of the problem (attached) and happened to bump in to the GRP guy based at the engineers at my marina.

He reckoned it was simply down to old age, that there wouldn't be a problem just sanding down and painting with decent quality paint (Oldsaltoz - high build epoxy primer sounds ideal). He also reckoned the cracks probably don't go all the way through so the laminate isn't at any risk of moisture ingress.

this guy was building fibreglass boats when it was the new thing, and has been in the industry since so I trust the opinion! Apparently when my boat was built (1973) UV-stablaised gelcoats weren't available, or very expensive.

If possible I'm going to try a test patch asap, and will report the results here in due course. Boat is being lifted 2nd week of march so hopefully before too long I'll either be showing of my shiney (mat/grippy in places...) new deck, or eating that humble-pie-hat of mine (I think they're a bit like pork pie hats, but made of GRP)