Treadmaster, so pleased it's gone.

Praxinoscope

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The last of it has gone, so pleased to see the back of it, TekDek on the way.
Had treadmaster on my previous boat, but present one came with TekDek, it's sort chalk and cheese, the TekDek is so much more comortable and is still non- slip, my only comment is that on a hot sunny day Don't go bare foot you'l end up like Rizzo the Rat in the Muppets Christmas Carol,,,,Ouch Ouch Hot Hot Hot.
 

Kelpie

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It's terrible stuff.
Our first boat had a fair bit of it, we says we'd never buy a boat with Treadmaster again.
We're now on our third boat and they've all had it. I don't think we're ever going to escape.
Fortunately on the current boat it's just held down by contact adhesive, so it's been easy enough to remove where it's been curling up. Previous boat it was epoxied down, which should be a capital offence. Weeks of work with chisels to remove it.
 

Kelpie

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It's got its uses. You can chuck chain down on it, or happily sit the leg of the outboard on it, without worrying about causing damage.

But it's the chipped and curling edges that drive me nuts. Traps dirt and just looks horrible.

It's also a bit like having your decks covered in the stuff they make cheese graters out of. Not great on bare skin.
 
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john_morris_uk

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Golly. We’ve replaced all of ours. I wish it was a bit kinder on the knees and i sometimes wonder whether I should have explored the options of the fake teak s bit more but overall we’re happy with the durable and very none slip qualities. IMG_3409.jpeg
We’ve got acres of it.
 

Tranona

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Me too. Not on the same scale as yours. Just the area on the coachroof where the reefing lines etc and winches. Now replaced with 5.5mm wide 1.5mm thick teak strips bedded on CT1 and caulked with sika 290. finished today. Like the Treadmaster on the deck and particularly the heavily cambered coachroof so won't be removing that even if it is ugly. Will however do the cockpit in the same way next winter.

The teak strips are structural veneers which I cut to size with my bandsaw. Enough to do this bit of coachroof, the cockpit and a hatch garage (when it gets made!) under £200.
 

KeelsonGraham

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Loathe it. Hot in the tropics and always uncomfortable to walk on In bare feet. Our Catalina 34 comes with its own, much lighter pattern, of non-slip but it still does a good job while looking good and being comfortable to walk on. I can’t understand why Treadmaster has to be so agricultural.
 

Tranona

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Because it was originally designed for use on commercial boats such as pilot boats and life boats. Migrated to yachts because of its grip properties that were superior to moulded in GRP antislip. only popular for a short while until sticking teak on GRP decks became affordable on (mainly) larger cruising boats
 

KeelsonGraham

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Because it was originally designed for use on commercial boats such as pilot boats and life boats. Migrated to yachts because of its grip properties that were superior to moulded in GRP antislip. only popular for a short while until sticking teak on GRP decks became affordable on (mainly) larger cruising boats
That would explain it!
 

NormanS

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Because it was originally designed for use on commercial boats such as pilot boats and life boats. Migrated to yachts because of its grip properties that were superior to moulded in GRP antislip. only popular for a short while until sticking teak on GRP decks became affordable on (mainly) larger cruising boats
For many years, I had a large old wooden boat with a real timber deck. (Think caulking oakum, payed with molten pitch). When we downsized to a conventional modern GRP yacht, one of the absolute conditions was no laid deck, either real or glued/screwed strips. I have never regretted this decision.
The nonslip safety of Treadmaster is to me far more important than any subjective desire to have something that might look like a laid deck.
 

FairweatherDave

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Over the winter I removed the original 1979 treadmaster plus some non diamond pattern stuff on the cockpit seats, pretty sure a type of treadmaster. Just the cockpit floor and seats and it required the Bosch power chisel and plenty of time. We didn't want original treadmaster and much though synthetic teak such as tek dek appealed on our boat it would have looked out of place, and anyway was too costly. Compromise was a fake teak look treadmaster, this one ................ Treadmaster Atlanteak
No doubt some would hate it but we are really chuffed how it has transformed the cockpit. And it is nice to sit on / kneel on. Managed to do a Konsort cockpit with a single roll, 2.5m by 1m, so over £400 including the 2 part glue. Having been used to a manky old cockpit with dark blue treadmaster we now have something that does show the dirt (particularly in the boat yard grrrrr ). But no regrets, should have done it a long time ago.
 

Tranona

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For many years, I had a large old wooden boat with a real timber deck. (Think caulking oakum, payed with molten pitch). When we downsized to a conventional modern GRP yacht, one of the absolute conditions was no laid deck, either real or glued/screwed strips. I have never regretted this decision.
The nonslip safety of Treadmaster is to me far more important than any subjective desire to have something that might look like a laid deck.
Could not agree more about sticking teak on modern boat decks. The methods used were often appalling and stored up trouble only 10 or 15 years down the line. I can sort of see it from an aesthetic point of view on modern interpretations of traditional designs but not on today's minimalist designs. The only exception is for cockpits where its practical characteristics are of value and I will be replacing the Treadmaster with teak strips next winter.
 

DownWest

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Fortunately on the current boat it's just held down by contact adhesive, so it's been easy enough to remove where it's been curling up. Previous boat it was epoxied down, which should be a capital offence. Weeks of work with chisels to remove it.
Epoxy softens at 110°C well before the gelcoat gets damaged, so a heat gun+chisel would have been much easier than plain chisel.
 
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