Treadmaster

[John_N]

I am considering fitting Treadmaster to the deck of my Sadler 32 and would welcome reports of such an operation by fellow forumites.

1) Is it practicable to obtain a good result by DIY?

2) Is the operation temperature and moisture critical?

3) Where is the best source of the materials?

4) Did you experience any snags?

5) Plan B: Can you recommend a professional fitter in the South-West?

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[Violetta]

1. Yes. I fitted Treadmaster to the decks of our 32 footer some 26 years ago. It looked, and still looks, very smart. It has never lifted or given any trouble, is hard wearing and superbly non slip. BUT, its a long job. I made a template of stiff brown paper for each section. Port won't do for starboard - most boats are slightly asymmetrical. This was taped to the deck to draw lines to position the sections and also used to cut out the sections with a Stanley knife. Corners were rounded and all edged were bevelled with sandpaper - vey important. I was careful to line up the diamonds so that the joins were as unobstrusive as possible. Naturally, these edges were not bevelled and its essential to cut them cleanly and vertically. Also, its important not to get the adhesive bubbling up too much between joins, as it is very hard to clean it off and that looks mucky. You can, however, clean marks like this (and paint spots etc.) to some extent using fine wet and dry sandpaper - very gently.

It has been relatively easy to put in a new piece of Treadmaster when we wanted to alter the gear on the foredeck. Chiselled a section out, sanded down and made new templates for the patch. Looks OK except that modern TM has slightly larger diamonds than the older stuff.

Also, it is essential to keep it clean. Nothing looks worse than dirty TM. I scrub it regularly. Oil and grease won't come out with "normal" cleaners but GUNK works a treat. I always keep some on board. If you use a pressure washer, be very careful, as that can leave lines where the surface colouring is faded by the jet.

2. I don't know. I suppose it depends on the adhesive, but the TM material itself is very stable. If you use contact adhesive, you have to be quick and careful. We nearly ended up with a small, inquisitive kitten as an integral part of our boat's deck furniture.

3. Our local chandler stocks TM and TM adhesive (two kinds) so I expect yours would - or could order. I would only use TM adhesive. We did and its been a complete success.

4. No snags - but we didn't hurry and did everything very deliberately.

5. No, but for a HUGE sum of money I'll come and do it for you! I consider myself something of an expert.......("My" deck is my pride and joy - the neighbour boats laugh at the care I take of it)

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[Violetta]

PS

If you decide to DIY the job, I would be happy to discuss further my long love affair with Treadmaster. I am a rare visitor to forums, but will try to remember to look at the messages if you want to PM me at some time. You won't necessarily get an instant answer though.

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[PaulJ]

I helped a friend apply Treadmaster to his 33ft flush decked boat and the experience caused me to change my plans for my own boat...... To answer your questions as they come:-

1. Yes I think it is possible for DIYers to do a professional job but it is certainly not a quick and easy job. It took the two of us three days simply to apply the panels. My colleague had previously spent a week planning, marking out, cutting the panels and trimming/smoothing the edges. I think it looked pretty good when we had finished but it took a LOT of work.

2. Treadmaster's preferred adhesive is an epoxy and all epoxies are temperature/moisture critical though not so much so as to make it a big problem unless you are in a real hurry.... you must always be prepared to just wait for a better day. We were applying it in a big shed and our problem was that the weather was very warm..... we found that unless we worked quickly the adhesive started to go off in the pot.

As with any job, preparation is everything. Temperature and moisture are not the only problems... My cohort had previously cleaned and degreased his decks and then we wore clean socks for walking on the decks (changing them a couple of times!) in order to keep the surface clean and grease free.

3. I don't know.... I think my friend bought his at the Beaulieu Boat Jumble.

4. Apart from those already mentioned, the adhesive as it comes out of the tin is very thick and we found it almost impossible to do a "part mix". Therefore you have to mix a whole tin each time and we planned the panels to use a full tin of adhesive each time.... ie. one large panel or 2 smaller ones.


You have to plan the application sequence so that each panel can be applied without treading on panels you have only just stuck down...... 'not always easy!

All but the very smallest panels have to be applied by two people, ensuring that it touches in the middle first so that you do not trap air under it. Then it has to be rolled out using pastry rollers or even just short lengths of dowelling (broom handle cut into short lengths). Quite a lot of adhesive oozes out at the edges and needs to be cleaned off and of course the surplus inevitably finds it's way into the tread pattern and is the devil's own job to clean out! We used Methylated spirit for cleaning off so as not to attack the paint on the deck. Cleaning up after applying each panel is a messy job and uses vast amounts of paper roll.

5. I can't recommend a fitter but I would certainly suggest that you do not use anybody without first getting a recommendation and seeing his work because there is plenty of opportunity for short cuts..... and I have seen some pretty shoddy looking jobs over the years!

One final warning..... My friend used the mid/dark grey shade and he tells me that in sunlight the decks get extremely warm and the inside of the cabin is noticeably warmer since applying the Treadmaster. The dark shade absorbes a lot of heat so choose a light colour.

Hope this helps.

Paul.

<hr width=100% size=1>I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.....

 

[Rubberman]

There are two types of Treadmaster on the market today. The genuine one made by James Walker Tiflex and copy versions that are made in the Far East.

The genuine one is of excellent quality and is made from a cork/rubber blend and will last for years. The copy one tends to have very little cork in it and quality and colour does vary from sheet to sheet.

Even though the genuine one is about twice the price of the copy it is well woth paying the extra for it. You do not want to relay your deck in a couple of years time. I would avoid buying at boat jumbles as these are copies 99% of the time. Go to a good chandlery and make sure that they are a Tiflex distributor. Alternatively you could try Seals + Direct at
http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/bbCMS/shopping.asp?intDepartmentId=9

Hope that this is of help


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