Refinishing deck?

[Wizard]

Ok, I have this two page list of things I want to do to the boat, but I have decided to do maintenance, install a new fish finder, maybe a flowscan I already bought, and misc woodwork and pace my two page list out.

That said, one thing I would like to accomplish is to redo the nonskid on my cockpit. I have the 83' model boat with the wood section between the house and the engine hatch/lazarettes. I originally wanted to tear all the wood out and put in that honeycomb fiberglass stuff and redo it 110%, but I'll settle for a new coat of nonskid for the next 3-5 years instead if someone can tell me if there is a product out there that is worth a sh*t? How well do you have to prep to do this? I don't want anything that will just show rusty screw stains through in a year or peel off with wear and tear. Rather tear it out if that is the end result from a marginal job?

Thanks in advance.

[NoSlack]

I'm coming to the same crossroad with my deck. Three or four years back I touched up a soft spot with some Get Rot, them gave the deck a fresh coat with some cream colored gel coat.

As far as non-skid goes, I didn't add anything to the gel coat. When the gel coat started to go off, I ran the roller back over it to raise the surface up a bit. The deck doesn't have the grip it did before, but I've never had a problem keeping my footing in the puddles of halibut slim.

Mike

[Wizard]

I've never had a problem keeping my footing in the puddles of halibut slim.

I've never had that problem either, but I think it's not because of my non-skid! LOL

[Old Blue]

Glenn, I also re applied the non skid to my deck.

Mike suggested that I
use hammer to carefully push rusting hardware back down
saturate soft spots w gitrot

Then I used the technique recommended by Steve at the shop.
scuff deck w 80 grit
wash w acetone
roll on gelcoat
coat w sand and let gelcoat fire off
sweep
roll on cover coat of gelcoat

I think its a bullet proof non skid coating. I also think that if you have some hardware below the surface that is rusting, that it will continue to rust and lift, crack and stain.

I also think that depending on how bad your hardware is rusting that you will probably get at least several years more out of the deck.

If you go this route, I would recommend that you stop by the shop and have Steve add the "wax" to your gelcoat. It makes it cure nice and hard. Steve can tell you the place out in La Mesa to get the gelcoat at. They have the Blackman biege recipe in their mixing computer.

Happy resurfacing.

Brian

[Wizard]

Thanks Brian... needed that info. Gets my interest up in doing it right and matching the color. Just need to get an introduction to Steve one of these days soon.

[Knot Now]

We did deck repair on my friends Stringari - same type of construction as your boat. After the repair, we used the West System epoxy, then 60 grit sand, them more epoxy, then color. Years later, no problems.
Phil

[Secret Spot]

I believe I posted on my deck project some time ago. However, I was unable to find it. In any event, I replaced my whole deck approximately 3 years ago. I have a 1983 23' Billfisher and while about 50 mile south of the point I had my center aluminum fuel tank (original) give out. When I got the Secret Spot home, I removed the bait tank and could see alot of corrosion everywhere. At this time I also had areas on the deck where rust was coming thru and a couple of pretty bad soft spots. In addition to the previous discoveries, I found that the underside of the deck was bare plywood and delaminating in spots. I made the decision to remove the old deck & fuel tanks and replace with new. Once I removed the deck and the tanks I replaced damaged deck joists and coated with resin (original wood was left bare?). I installed a 105 gallon center tank and elected for much needed storage instead of the saddle tanks. The new deck was made in two sections and scarfed at joint. Before installing, I glassed the underside. The deck was installed by first applying glass mat wet to the joists and then immediately setting the deck with counter sunk marine stainless steel wood screws. All screw locations were faired and the top of the deck was topped first with mat followed by cloth. Sanded, taped channels around bait tank, engine cover, and deck edges. Applied Proline Epoxy High Build and sprinkled 80 grit sand from a coffee can with holes. Swept off and vacumed loose sand and applied three coats of two part LP.

Because the culprit with the fuel tank corrosion was the foam in which the original tank was set, I elected for another method of installation outlined in an article by Dave Pascoe (boat designer and builder).

Larry - Secre Spot

[yellowfin1]

Good morning Glenn,

Sounds like there a few guys who have a lot of experience in this area. I too discussed this with you some time ago. Secret Spot has really gone into detail about his experiences and I appreciate that. I have not replaced the fuel tank but, I worry about it often. No visible signs of rust or corrosion but, the other stuff also was apparent on Tenacious (soft spot on deck, etc). I was also surprised to find that the soft patch over the tank was just bare ply wood. I also ripped that piece out and replaced it with a new piece of marine grade plywood and, just as Secret Spot did I also coated the entire underside with epoxy resin. Additionally I applied two thick mats of fibergalss and one thin F/G cloth to the top of the patch. I also completely stripped the old fiberglass off of the other wood deck areas around (and in front of) the tank. I then let the entire deck dry our well for a few days before re-fiberglassing it using the same process as the soft patch.
Unlike Secret Spot and No Slack, I primed, then painted the deck with Linear Polyurethane, and added non skid material. The LP is really abraison resistant and looks good too. I was kind of scared to use gelcoat because of the concerns I had about getting a good mix and mold release, as well as just unfamiliarity working with it.The deck seems to be sealed very well and looks pretty good. Let me know if you have any questions or want to check it out.

Scott

[Wizard]

Thanks guys. I'll have to pick one of those processes and move on it someday soon. I just know that it's going to snowball on me, since I won't stop until it's done right. That's my fear. LOL