Would you paint the GRP deck?

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retsina

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My 38 year old boat deck looks tired; its white GRP (gelcoat??). I will try to bleach it with Oxalic acid; however, would I be better off painting the deck and cockpit using two part epoxy white paint? Does it peal off like ordinary paint?
 
No. But it chips if a sharp object falls on it,ie anchor flutes. It last well and is worth the effort. if painting white I find the Ivory to be more pleasing to the eye.
 
When you paint the decks you will inevitably smooth out the anti skid roughness that is molded in. I had to add additional particles to avoid the deck being too slippery.
Having said that if the deck has been damaged or had holes filled etc like mine eventually painting is the only thing to do.You can make it look good once again.
I painted mine in bright white and that was a mistake as a duller color is lees glaring to the eyes. Sunglasses are mandatory on my boat. Best is to paint it the same color as it was so any worn paint doesn't show through so clearly. I have to repaint the floor of the cockpit each winter. Even though it is 2 pack urethane paint it wears through. good luck olewill
 
Many on the forum have reported good long lasting results with water based exterior masonary paint. Provides good anti-slip and sticks extremely well to clean GRP. Can be bought in an infinate range of colours, and can be tinted to mix a colour of your choice - add a touch of black which can be bought in small tins to a large tub of white to make whatever shade of grey takes your fancy. Looks smart when the non slip areas are carefully masked off - best to initially use two coats and apply with a stippling action. Even the most expensive exterior grade masonary paint is considerably cheaper than so called purpose made deck paints from the likes of Blakes and International.

As an alternative try Treadmaster stick / glue on cork based decking. One or two threads on Treadmaster on the go at present. Google Treadmaster Marine. Many comment that they do not like the raised diamond pattern of Treadmaster, or the pattern of Treadmaster smooth, this being the case have a look at TBS. This is a French made equivalent supplied by www. proboat.co.uk has a small grain based pattern that many prefer to a raised diamond pattern etc. In all cases of stick on decking, make sure all edges are well stuck down, as mentioned on Treadmaster threads.

Stick on decking also adds a fair bit of extra weight, needs to be taken into consideration on a small boat, as opposed to low weight gain of deck paints.
 
My decks were Blakes Blue Non-skid. Faded and the tin of spare paint handed over with the boat when I bought it dried up long ago.
So I scraped up a chip .... took to local DIY paint mixing stand ... girl looked ... compared to chart ... selected a few numbers on dials on her machine ... 12 litres of exact match later for 26 quid...... all she said was don't use in cold weather - don't let unused paint freeze. So I masked off ... painted it on - Brilliant. No additions to give non-slip, it is already without too much roughness. Kind to feet which some non-slips are not.

Only comment - it takes 2 days to harden off. Couple of hours to dry but it's 'soft' and film can be broken on first day.
I have loads left over to touch up at anytime, actually enough to recoat my decks maybe 4 - 5 times again !!

Marine non-slip ? Why ? Classic boys have been using masonry paint for donkeys years.
 
I had the same problem with my similar age Halberdier.. In fact it was additionally complicated as the decks had been painted before but the paint had sort of 'weathered' ...so although still sound it was very thin.

In short I considered putting down a barrier coat and then using a 2 pack system, but eventually when for single pack International Toplac.

All in all this was a good choice... basically it is difficult enough painting a deck and superstructure in the UK outside with out having to worry about applying a finish that was designed to be used by experts in a laboritory !

For my 36 ft center cockpit ketch the job took about 6 weeks of weekends which boiled down to about 13 long days. This included removing all the fittings that I could get to without destroying the interior.

The Toplac was great to apply...I used the opposite method to the recommended way...ie I applied the paint with a brush to get it onto the surface then spread with a roller.

For some reason best known to themselves Int dont supply Ivory in big cans ..they only do white in the big'uns...(cheaper) I used a suprising amount of paint and really like the Ivory colour but may consider White as a cost saver if I ever did it again..

Re your point about peeling .. you shouldnt have any problem if you prepare the surface correctly....hopefully no one has tried to bring back the gloss with silicon polish which i understand is very hard to entirely remove ..but if not will stop the paint adhering.

International have a good technical dept.



Regards Nick
 
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