Treadmaster on Deck?

Zed Nivel

Zed Nivel

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I am projecting for exchange of teak deck eg teak plywood deck.
Boat 18 years and deck is finished.
Am not prepared to put on teak again.
I have heard only good of Treadmaster.
Anyone with experience and want to give an advice?
Is it a Dutch Product - Best buy?
 
Treadmaster...

Treadmaster is excellent stuff, available in diamond pattern non-slip for decks and smooth pattern for cockpit seats, etc. It's very durable. It must be carefully fitted using the proper adhesive. I had it on a Westerly Corsair and it was a great deck finish - although my wife said it was a bit unfriendly to bikini-clad bottoms!

There's a similar product with an oval stud pattern available from Vetus.
 
Re: Treadmaster...

Hi thanks!!
my list is besides Vetus (which i didnt know)
• T B S
• Treadmaster
• Polygrip
• Norament
• Marine Deck 2000
• Anti-slide
• Lay Tech
• Nautoflex
Did u do the fitting/bonding job yourself?
 
Re: Treadmaster...

That's a fairly comprehensive list! I didn't fit it myself, it was factory-fitted by Westerly when the boat was made. For the finished result to look right, it's vital to plan the "panels" of decking very carefully - remembering that the direction of the grooves needs to be consistent.
 
Re: Treadmaster...

I've twice fitted Treadmaster. It's an excellent product for non-skid and durability. Feels OK to walk on in bare feet, but it is quite abrasive so not so kind to clothing.
You need to carefully dry fit the panels before sticking down with epoxy, being sure the edges are tight and that there are no dry patches within any panel or you can get a bubble forming.
 
Re: Treadmaster...

Fantastic product ,but the hardes job i have ever done and would not do it again,epoxy has no stickyness and if laying on an uneven surface the treadmaster just slides away with its own weight,fantastic result BUT never again Kieron
 
Re: Treadmaster...

I agree, very difficult job to do well. I found every panel needed to be stuck down with tape to stop it sliding once the adhesive had been applied. I also found loads of divers' weights to be useful for holding down some panels. A vinyl wallpaper roller was excellent for ensuring all air bubbles were removed.

Having gone through all this, the final job was excellent, looked good and was very long lasting. Don't make the mistake of using an alternative adhesive, despite these problems. The reason I did mine was that the previous owner had stuck his down with impact adhesive. Water got under it and all the edges peeled up, with extremely negative effect on appearance.
 
Re: Treadmaster...

is British - when last I enquired Vetus (a Netherlands firm) had stopped supplying their variant.

There are two finishes, an aggressive (to bare bums) diamond pattern and a kinder swirl pattern.

When fitting it is essential to use the correct epoxide adhesive, and plenty of it - if it doesn't exude from the sides and seal the edges they'll curl up in time.

Life for Treadmaster is slightly less than teak and more than the Vetus (which used to come in an imitation teak finish), at about 15-20 years.
Getting it off, when it needs replacement, can be a major challenge.
 
Re: Treadmaster...

[ QUOTE ]
Fantastic product ,but the hardest job i have ever done

[/ QUOTE ]You haven't tried removing it yet then? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Brilliant stuff.... very comforting when going forward in a breeze.... superb grip...

Also, to add to some of the above comments..... It can be wonderfully rejuvinated by the application of treadmaster paint.... gives it another 5 years!
 
I replaced the teak on my boat this summer and after much research opted to finish of with an American paint system called " AWL GRIP " not cheap but WOW . Undercoat then gloss , then they masked up a two inch border around all deck fittings, toe rails etc and painted again with special grains of different sizes added to the paint to make it non slip. Its not to harsh and with the two textures looks fantastic and should see me out, and I'm not that old. My last boat had Treadmaster so I do have something to compare it with.
 
Vetus...

[ QUOTE ]
...when last I enquired Vetus (a Netherlands firm) had stopped supplying their variant.

[/ QUOTE ]No, they still supply it, in 2 colours - a sandy colour called Safari and a grey which is bizarrely called Happy Elephant! Details in the Vetus catalogue. One advantage of the Vetus product is that it's available in 90x240cm sheets as well as 90x120cm sheets, which might allow for less wastage.
 
Hey!
Do u mean its Awl Grip as material replacing the teak?
this is really interesting as my hull and GRP deck surfaces are indeed painted AWL Grip in year 2005.
 
Re: Vetus...

It's on page 165 of the Vetus digital catalogue - click here for the English version, or here for the Swedish version. The main Vetus website has links for the price list and dealer information.

I've no experience of the Vetus non-slip, only Treadmaster. In general, though, I'd say that Vetus products are good quality.
 
I have used TBS on a number of yachts over the years and my experience was that it requires a huge amount of planning. I did a couple of yachts with the impact adhesive variant and then switched over to the peelabale self adhesive type. The decks had to be mapped individually and a set of templates made prior to cutting. Decks had to be a gloss finish with all occlusions taken out, spirit wipped and the TBS applied within a specific humidity and temperature (no gaurantees otherwise from manufacturer) we were putting down 5mx1.2m panels with cutouts around hatches deck hardware etc. All the panels where then edge finished with a specific type of silkaflex. End result looked great and the boats would do at least the equivalent of two circumnavigations before it required replacement. My opinion looked much better than treadmaster and less agressive. Be very wary on these Teak alternatives, I was at Mets a few weeks ago and the Bostik guys say there can be a lot of problems. Flexiteek I believe have been around the longest.
 
When we replaced our teak decks we substituted 2 thicknesses of 9ml marine ply staggered joints with epoxy resin, then 2 layers of fibreglass matting and resin, with the Awl grip on top, so yes I would have thought it could go straight on your fibreglass. Hope this is of use.
 
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