non-skid deck surfaces

[steve brown]

Has anyone ever re-surfaced the non-skid surfaces on a CP? Mine have sort of a molded in rope texture and the surface is somewhat slippery and the paint has worn thin in spots.. They don't seem to be as skid resistant as I would like. I am considering using Interlux Interdeck non-skid paint. The people at Interlux said that I must prepare the deck carefully to acept this paint. Wire brushing the surfaces was mentioned to prep this texture. I do not want to create a mess of my deck but need to do something for the slipping problem. thanks again for your help. Steve

[spaul]

I believe this texture is molded in during the deck molding process. Both the color and texure are done during the gel coat process. Mine doesn't need repair (yet) but I've thought about how to do this.
Unless someone has a better idea (and I'm positive it's here on the forum) I would experiment this way. I'd look at careful sandblasting of the area to both clean and prepare the "tooth" of the underlying material.
Secondly, I would also experiment with acetone, MEK, or a methylene chloride paint stripper. All of these products will soften gel coat. I'm sure the effect varies as to time and temperature. Then there is the problem of cleaning this material. Come to think of it, I like the sandblasting approach.
I'd like to hear how this comes out.
Steve Paul
Nashville, IN

[B.Hart]

New textures can be done with gelcote and a heavy knapp roller. First grind the old off to bare glass, then simply roll on the new gell going in one direction and lifting the roller to pull the gell up.  I see them do this on fiberglass pools all the time. Good luck with what ever you try.

[mgoller]

Hi Steve,
I have the same texture on mine.  The paint had worn thin and I wanted it to look better.  I wire brushed the really bad spots with a brass wire brush.  I scrubbed the whole surface with detergent and a stiff bristled brush, rinsed and then painted.  It worked out very well.  Taping was the worst part.

The paint has worn thin on the cockpit seats again, and I think this time I will use the Interlux Interdek product.  This time I will just carefully roll and brush it on.  Spraying was a huge hassle and the results were dependent on the accuracy of my taping skills.  I think I could paint a better line by hand and not have the bleed unders where tape didn't stick around corners.

I looked at the information on the Interlux product and they warn that no matter what you do slipping on a wet boat deck is always going to be a possibility.  I agree.  Their product is probably the best you can do and it will look great and last.

I would hate to see someone grinding off a ComPac deck and putting some new texture on with gelcoat.  I think you could end up with a mess.

I run a chain of coffee houses and we decided to try an epoxy floor behind the counter and we wanted to prevent slipping so we added grit or sand to the mixture.  No one slipped but cleaning was impossible.  We finally had to redo it with less grit.

I have a question?  I seem to only have the tan color on the cabin top and the cockpit seats and the forward hatch but not the decks.  What is your boat like?