Treadmaster - applying it

Kukri

Kukri

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 Jul 2008
Messages
15,562
Location
East coast UK. Mostly. Sometimes the Philippines
Visit site
I am staring at an expanse of mottled, flaking, grey deck paint over GRP. It looks a bit grim,to be honest. The one spot that looks good is the lazarette hatch, which has Treadmaster on it. So I thought - why not do the whole deck with Treadmaster?

There seem to be a number of threads on removing Treadmaster, but I can’t find any on applying to the deck as opposed to the companion steps, which are already Treadmastered.

I am thinking of applying it, after getting the grim grey paint off. I’d welome help on the following points:

1. Assuming that the old paint isn’t epoxy, does it all have to come off before the Treadmaster epoxy goes on?

2. I presume butt joints are not a good idea - keep the Treadmaster in patches no bigger than a sheet (1200mm x 900 mm)?

3. What’s a good durable but smooth and easy to clean paint for the non-Treadmaster areas? I’m thinking that one would want to paint before applying the Treadmaster glue, for neatness.

4. Whilst the obvious colour is pale grey, I really like the dark green - does it get too hot? with white - does it get dirty? on the coachroof.

5. What don’t I know - why is everyone getting rid of it?
 
No problem applying. When mixing the adhesive use a shallow tray to prevent it overheating and curing in the tray and then catching fire! Painted epoxy areas can be laid over but oil paints must all be removed. When painting the gasps don't paint areas where the adhesive is to go.
Have you not considered Faux teak? Not much more expensive than Treadmaster and vastly nicer looking. Also well within your capabilities to lay if you are averagely competent and careful with your work.
 
I've had Treadmaster on a couple of boats, and rather like it - although my wife complained that it wrecked the fabric of bikini bottoms! I'm sure it would look good on your deck, but planning and fitting it is a major exercise. The crucial thing to achieve is that the longitudinal axis of the diamond pattern must be parallel to the centreline of the boat, on all the panels. Additionally, the diamond pattern must line up between adjacent panels. If you get these bits wrong, it will look messy, and you'll see it (and curse) every time you go on deck.

Don't have butt joints, have lots of panels no larger than the standard sheet size. In fact you'd need to have your panels a bit smaller than sheet size, to give yourself some wriggle room to align the diamond pattern. Plan it so that joints on the coachroof line up with joints on the deck. I'd think you do need to remove all the old paint, to ensure good adhesion of the Treadmaster. As for painting the non-Treadmaster areas, you might decide that a two-pack paint would give better durability.

I think I'd start by making strong paper templates of all the panels, with 25mm gaps and radiussed corners. Each panel ought to have a line drawn on it parallel to the centreline of the boat. Then probably lay the templates out on a floor, properly spaced, and start by cutting a central panel. Subsequent panels would need cutting so that the longitudinal axis is correct, and the diagonal axis correctly lines up with the adjacent panel. It's not easy, but definitely worth taking some time.

Here's a pic of a Westerly Corsair, illustrating the importance of getting coachroof and deck joins aligned. (The Treadmaster is badly worn on this boat). I had a Corsair with Treadmaster, and the panels on the tops of the cockpit coamings were the smooth Treadmaster, for more comfort.

cid_91BA173A-FE64-4974-8EED-8457447D5CD9-1080x810.jpg


And here's a pic showing how nice it looks when the longitudinal and diagonal axes all line up.

img_3370.jpg
 
We installed Treadmaster on most of the boats we built, but the final few boats we used Kiwigrip.

Easier to apply, looked better, less 'workboat' like, just as grippy, better in the snow, cooler in the tropics, easy to refine quite how 'rough' you needed it verses wear and tear and people and clothing, etc.
 
Treadmaster decks on a Camper & Nicholson? :disgust:

I've got a small amount of Treadmaster (original) on the P & S anchor locker lid of my 1980 Nicholson 39 - presumably solely for grip at the pointy end - the rest of the decking is teak.

Treadmaster all over? No thank you.

Some Nicholsons had teak decks some were plain non-slip.

If it was me, I'd go down the KiwiGrip route - more in keeping.

But, at the end of the day, it's obviously your choice. It's a fair bit of work whichever path you take! Good luck.
 
Tradewinds said:
Treadmaster decks on a Camper & Nicholson? :disgust:

I've got a small amount of Treadmaster (original) on the P & S anchor locker lid of my 1980 Nicholson 39 - presumably solely for grip at the pointy end - the rest of the decking is teak.

Treadmaster all over? No thank you.

Some Nicholsons had teak decks some were plain non-slip.

If it was me, I'd go down the KiwiGrip route - more in keeping.

But, at the end of the day, it's obviously your choice. It's a fair bit of work whichever path you take! Good luck.
Click to expand...

Im with you Nigel, very expensive & a great deal of work, paint for me every time.
I re-did our cockpit 3 yrs ago replacing the original treadmaster, i used s/a patches & stuck the rest down with contact Evo adhesive, Their "special" contact was very expensive & to my mine contact is contact, so far so good
 
Hi I have just removed old treadmaster from my new boat, I think PVBs looks great but the boat I got had loads of damage and chips and really dirty and then it becomes hard to keep up the maintenance to make it look good ,
I restored to removing it all of a 40ft boat took days , and went down the kiwi grip route as others above have done , this was to future proof the boat as if i needed to change it again it will not be as bad as getting that treadmaster off, a job I would not do again:D
 
Agree that deck paint is a gift from the sailing gods.

Low cost, easy to apply and touch up , and little time pinched from sailing.

The self sticky Treadmaster pads in the right places continue to work well. Difficult to keep Treadmaster clean because of the nooks and crannies .
 
In my opinion, nothing beats the looks of teak, however, the reality is that teak is expensive to buy, install and even to remove. Second, best is probably the GRP factory finish followed by plastic "teak". Treadmaster is good, relatively, easy to install, can last for many years and can be replaced like for like if need.

KiwiGrip is a paint, not cheap at all and it looks and feels good initially for the first three years or so, but it deteriorates quickly and it gets very dirty and then it has to be patched up and its very difficult to match the colour. I have used KiwiGrip on my previous boat over the whole deck.

My current boat has Treadmaster and overall I prefer it; but I agree that Treadmaster has to be installed symmetrically to look good; If not installed "properly", it looks a disaster and naturally, preparation of the surface before installation is the key.; but I have no much experience in istalling it. People are getting rid of Treadmaster because the latest fashion is plastic teak, looks great, but its much more expensive and more difficult to cut and to make up symetrical panels. Its all down to preference.
 
Last edited:
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
In my opinion, nothing beats the looks of teak, however, the reality is that teak is expensive to buy, install and even to remove. Second, best is probably the GRP factory finish followed by plastic "teak". Treadmaster is good, relatively, easy to install, can last for many years and can be replaced like for like if need.

KiwiGrip is a paint, not cheap at all and it looks and feels good initially for the first three years or so, but it deteriorates quickly and it gets very dirty and then it has to be patched up and its very difficult to match the colour. I have used KiwiGrip on my previous boat over the whole deck.

My current boat has Treadmaster and overall I prefer it; but I agree that Treadmaster has to be installed symmetrically to look good; If not installed "properly", it looks a disaster and naturally, preparation of the surface before installation is the key.; but I have no much experience in istalling it. People are getting rid of Treadmaster because the latest fashion is plastic teak, looks great, but its much more expensive and more difficult to cut and to make up symetrical panels. Its all down to preference.
Click to expand...

Teak is fantastic, as long as its on somebody else`s boat. Its a ticking timebomb that look s terrible when scrubbed out & costs a fortune to replace. New "farmed teak" is soft
 
My teak deck is a newish replacement I laid myself in 2013 and fortunately was sourced from old, quarter-sawn, teak stock (ie not 'farmed').

It looks lovely today and I expect it to last for many years (original deck was nearly 24 years old and looked OK from 2 metres away, despite being pretty thin in places).

OK, having removed the old teak a more rational person would have replaced it with KiwiGrip or some such. Trouble is, I love the look of my teak decks so for me there was only the one option.

Just don't scrub it - grey is good ;) .

sailorman said:
Teak is fantastic, as long as its on somebody else`s boat. Its a ticking timebomb that look s terrible when scrubbed out & costs a fortune to replace. New "farmed teak" is soft
Click to expand...
 
And white gets dirty very quickly. Once it gets worn it looks really carp and I"m looking at replacing mine, albeit after 12 years. It's a big job and not lightly to be undertaken. If you're an amateur, as I am, take care getting the paper patterns right first time. if you are replacing it, you'll need to remove the old adhesive before putting new on, which will require a lot more elbow grease. I use multi tool (like the Fein) first then a small triangular sander.

As an amateur, avoid Awlgrip like the plague for painting the spaces in between. I suspect this applies to 2-Packs in general.
 
Is there much wrong with Interdeck?
Cheap, easy to work with, very very easy to touch up.
You will need to touch it up a little more often than the other options, but as with many of these choices it seems that there is a correlation between durability and ease of maintenance...
Real teak survives for decades untouched, but when it finally gives up, you need to remortgage your house.
Treadmaster lasts ages but gradually starts curling up at the edges, and when you have to remove it you are left wishing that the stuff had never been invented.
Two pack paints are hard, but touching up requires a fair bit of time set aside to do it properly.
One pack (like Interdeck) can be touched up in seconds... just keep a can handy and buy a pack of cheap disposable brushes... spend a few minutes at the start of the season patching any worn bits, and then forget about it for another year...
 
When I bought Concerto, my Westerly Fulmar, she was 36 years old and had smooth Treadmaster in the cockpit. I removed it as it had become chipped at the edges using a Fein multitool. However you can easily damage the gel coat unless very careful. The big surprise was I found some small patches of osmosis as the adhesive bond was not perfect and allowed water to remain trapped. I refitted the cockpit with teak panels that were made to my templates by KJ Howells in Poole. I had considered using faux teak, but there was little cost difference.

If you do decide to fit Treadmaster then to get a good bond you need weights to hold it down. I used buckets of water as the panels were rigid, but heavy duty polythene bags partially filled with water are very good to get an even weight loading.
 
I think I might give KiwiGrip a try next time I paint my deck.

As a guide to how much to order, does anyone have a formula for working out the approximate deck area of a monohull yacht? I appreciate it will only be an approximation.
 
Kelpie said:
Is there much wrong with Interdeck? Cheap, easy to work with, very very easy to touch up.

Real teak survives for decades untouched, but when it finally gives up, you need to remortgage your house.

Treadmaster lasts ages but gradually starts curling up at the edges, and when you have to remove it you are left wishing that the stuff had never been invented.

Two pack paints are hard, but touching up requires a fair bit of time set aside to do it properly.

One pack (like Interdeck) can be touched up in seconds... just keep a can handy and buy a pack of cheap disposable brushes... spend a few minutes at the start of the season patching any worn bits, and then forget about it for another year...
Click to expand...

Wise words. After a career sorting out the decks on other people's boats, Interdeck is the route I have always gone with my own boat.
But somehow simple, cheap and easy makes people suspicious, so it was always easier to sell far more expensive options.
Funny old world, the boat world.
 
Poignard said:
I think I might give KiwiGrip a try next time I paint my deck.

As a guide to how much to order, does anyone have a formula for working out the approximate deck area of a monohull yacht? I appreciate it will only be an approximation.
Click to expand...

I did my deck on a 31ft boat; the coverage stated on the tin is a bit optimistic (i can't remember the figures). It will peel off within months if you don't prepare the surface; I cleaned it using thinners before giving it an undercoat, let it dry well, wipe it with thinners again then ready for the KiwiGrip. The big tin doesn't go far, you will be surprised how much you will need to give it good coverage and it is not cheap at all. The price for a tin has almost doubled over the last 5 years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top