Repairing Treadmaster

[Kelpie]

My deck and coachroof are covered in Treadmaster, most of which is starting to look quite tired. In some places the edges have begun to lift, and there are some sizable pieces missing completely.
My first thought was to strip it all off and paint the deck... but google and a bit of experience show that this is a path fraught with much pain! If I am realsitic about how much time I have to spend on the deck refurb, then the Treadmaster needs to be repaired, cleaned up, and repainted, rather than stripped off.

Has anybody tried patching in sections of Treadmaster? I guess I would need to use some sort of filler along the joint between the two pieces, and make the joint run in a line between the raised diamond areas. Can't really think of anything suitable though- it would have to have similar flexibility, which rules out epoxy, but need to be something that can be scraped down to match the height of the material on either side- and this rules out, I think, most sealants.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I have some joints in my treadmaster. They don't seem to be filled in any way, but are neatly joined through the diamonds and are very hard to spot.

 

[rogerthebodger]

When I fitted treadmaster to my boat I used gray sikaflex as my treadmaster was gray.

There are no joins but you cannot see the sikaflex at the edges.

The main issue would be the fading of the current treadmaster compared to the new patch.

 

[Concerto]

When I removed the Treadmaster from my cockpit of my Fulmar after being fitted by Westerly 36 years ago, I found it had not been properly bonded and allowed water underneath. Overtime this caused some osmosis which I only found during removal. Personally I would remove it all using a multitool, fill any faults with Plastic Padding Gel Coat Filler and then paint the decks with a non slip paint. Alternatively have synthetic teak decks laid as an improvement.

 

[vyv_cox]

When I bought my GK29 the previous owner had stuck lots of Treadmaster on deck, using contact adhesive. It was lifting badly and looked terrible. We decided to strip the lot but it turned into a major job, although a long time ago multitools had not been invented. I did have access to solvents that would be difficult to obtain now. Despite all this, the finished job with new Treadmaster made it all worth while, it looked great.

This was in the early 1990s. I saw the boat for sale relatively recently and my Treadmaster still looked good.

 

[Kukri]

When I bought my GK29 the previous owner had stuck lots of Treadmaster on deck, using contact adhesive. It was lifting badly and looked terrible. We decided to strip the lot but it turned into a major job, although a long time ago multitools had not been invented. I did have access to solvents that would be difficult to obtain now. Despite all this, the finished job with new Treadmaster made it all worth while, it looked great.

This was in the early 1990s. I saw the boat for sale relatively recently and my Treadmaster still looked good.

l

Thanks, Vyv. I am looking a lot of deck paint and thinking “Treadmaster”..

 

[Kelpie]

There's a question mark over how long we keep this boat- SWMBO is pressing for an upgrade, and who am I to argue. So I'm not inclined to invest a great deal of time and money into the deck refurb- certainly not worth going for fake teak. I do want it to look smarter than at present, though, both for our own enjoyment and for eventual sale.
The existing Treadmaster is pretty grotty and faded, so I am planning on painting it anyway- hence patching in new pieces should work out OK. Unless they have made the diamonds a different size these days
My assumption was that it would be best to make the joint in the area between the diamonds- I hadn't thought of cutting right across them tbh.

 

[vyv_cox]

l

Thanks, Vyv. I am looking a lot of deck paint and thinking “Treadmaster”..

We used the epoxy adhesive. It was quite difficult as it has no grab and sheets slid down any sloping decks. I have a photo showing each panel held in place by masking tape. Nowadays I would probably use Sikaflex.

 

[pvb]

My assumption was that it would be best to make the joint in the area between the diamonds- I hadn't thought of cutting right across them tbh.

I reckon your assumption was correct. And if you're going to paint the whole lot, the joins shouldn't show.

 

[tony_lavelle]

I'm considering patching holes and broken edges with Gripfill. It sticks well and is slightly flexible. The grey colour would be wrong but Treadmaster do a special paint for renovating old decks. If the Gripfill is unsuccessful I'm no worse off.