Using flow coat to create new anti slip surface on GRP deck - experiences please

[jwdorst]

I have received a quotation from a reputable yard to replace my worn teak side decks (lying on GRP) by a layer of flow coat (ie gelcoat with wax added in order to ensure the coat sets) mixed with some form of anti slip material. A bit like anti slip paint I suppose, but more permanent.

Has anyone on the forum any experience with this anti slip solution? Will flow coat adhere to old GRP well enough to withstand inevitable local flexing of the deck. Is flow coat really tougher than paint? How much flow coat would be needed to cover 10 square meters (= approx 100 square feet)? What is the going rate for flow coat in this kind of quantity? I believe it is relatively cheap.

The yard has quoted 3400 euros (= approx 3000 Sterling) to supply and apply the flow coat. I would have to remove the existing teak decks myself and prepare the underlying GRP. At 60 pounds per man hour, after subtracting the cost of the flow coat (?) it seems to me that they are calculating an inordinate amount of man hours for the job. But then perhaps I don't fully appreciate the complexity of the task in hand.

The boat is a Bavaria 390 and we are talking about side decks and fore deck only.

All comments appreciated.

JW

 

[CET1]

Try technical help from East Coast Glassfibre supplies they supply Non slip flowcoat.

http://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co....at-top-coatinclusive-of-catalyst/default.aspx

I would say the hard job will be removing the teak and preparing the substrate then dealing with the deck fittings which will need removing.

 

[jwdorst]

@ CET1 . Good information on both pricing and coverage. Thanks!

 

[fishermantwo]

Has anyone on the forum any experience with this anti slip solution? Will flow coat adhere to old GRP well enough to withstand inevitable local flexing of the deck. Is flow coat really tougher than paint? How much flow coat would be needed to cover 10 square meters (= approx 100 square feet)? What is the going rate for flow coat in this kind of quantity? I believe it is relatively cheap.

The yard has quoted 3400 euros (= approx 3000 Sterling) to supply and apply

All comments appreciated.

JW

First things first. Flowcoat is very heavy! Has no real strength and is very brittle. Getting it to stick to old fibreglass is not easy either, especially if there is some flex. The surface needs to be heavily abraded and cleaned with acetone. Then its just a matter of painting it on and sprinkling sand or some other medium on while its still wet. My fishing vessel has this deck finish and I can assure you its easily damaged.

My advice is seeing that you are doing most of the work yourself, remove the old teak deck, fill holes with epoxy resin and micro balloons. Smooth deck down then paint on epoxy resin thickened a bit with micro balloons. When that goes off paint deck with paving paint with non slip added.

For the area you are dealing with materials would be less than $200.

 

[oldsaltoz]

I use a lot of flowcoat when building internal and external water features in new homes.

In simple terms flowcoat is standard resin with wax and up to 50% solids added.

It has reasonable self leveling capability is easy to apply with a roller.

Flowcoat is available in poly and epoxy resins, and is prone to the same faults and failures as gelcoat.

Before converting from timber to resin you need to consider the following.

adhesion:
The new coating must be totally compatible with the prepared substrate, this means the old surface must be clean, have a good key, be free of any contaminants and be compatible in its ability to bind.

Preparation:
The old surface needs to be fared, no high or low areas and no holes or fittings, (some areas can be masked off but an edge may show).
Any high stressed or flexing areas must be made stiff enough to prevent stress cracking, typical areas include around staunton bases and fittings.

Pigmentation:
The colour and consistency of the finish can be a problem with distribution of the non slip component, 'some' can be difficult to control resulting in a patchy finish or slippery sections in areas you need more grip.

You also note that adding a grit to any coating is going to make it either difficult to clean or potentially short lived as the coating over the grit is the first to wear off.

Personally I would look at flowcoating without the added grit and adding adhesive non slip pads or stripes rather than adding grit.

I hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[Tranona]

Is your teak glued on or screwed down? The latter is likely to require more making good before recoating.

Another way of achieving a good finish is to resurface in glass cloth and epoxy which can provide a textured surface and then paint with normal deck paint such as International.

 

[William_H]

Decks

My first reaction was "Do you really want to get rid of the teak decks?" If so then DIY is certainly the cheapest approach.
Flow coat is designed for painting over the inside of a f/g molding where gel coat might be on the outside. Typically on the inside of hulls. It is intended to smooth out and cover the semi exposed glass strands.
You would not need flow coat if the exposed f/g surface of the decks are reasonably smooth and flat ie with a gel coat. As said screw holes etc will need to be repaired.
Decks get a lot of rough wear. This is shown up even more so when non skid grains are added. The grains also seems to attract dirt and it is hard to clean.
I used International Intergrip as a grains to put onto wet paint. Easy enough but never as good as original molded in antiskid.
I would suggest that you do it yourself and anticipate repainting with paint and grains or paving paint every few years. My opinion is that a good 2 pack polyurethane paint will stick better and be tougher than flow coat. I painted mine white and the glare in the sun is horrible so a beige colour is far better but then harder to match later. good cuck olewill