Replacing My Teak Deck After 47 Years

If those old stanchions have cleats on them I sure would be interested!

The last section of the starboard side deck is now painted with epoxy high gloss top coat. This is the subdeck and the underside. It goes over a portion of our bed in the aft cabin and also a cabinet.

When it's installed I'll laminate the top deck sections then cover this side with glass cloth. The fat lady is warming up.

Bob Cofer said:

If those old stanchions have cleats on them I sure would be interested!

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There are no cleats on any of them. Sorry.

I primed the aft side cabinet and some of the pieces are shown here with the sliding door's back side I also primed. Tomorrow I should be able to apply the epoxy top coat and have everything ready for me to install the last piece of sub deck Wednesday.

I was cleaning the port side cabinet which is under the port side deck and I touched the sub deck to see how warm it was. It was barely warmer than the ambient temp. This is with only glass cloth and epoxy covering the deck. When it's white non skid I think it might be cooler than ambient temp.

Today ended up being a very windy day and the top coat collected some dust.

Hey, natural nonskid.

It's inside a cabinet pieces anyway.

Great job Cap, keep up the good work

Keep going man ,looks good. We are both closing in our projects . Time to go boating .

The last subdeck piece is now screwed and glued in place. At this point the deck is covered and sealed and much stronger than the original deck. I have the top layer of deck left to do and I'll have that done either today or tomorrow. Then I will lay two layers of heavy glass cloth down with epoxy.

I couldn't resist adding some grafitti

I took a much needed time off but still did some work on attaching the bulwarks. I'm in the last stages of applying fiberglass cloth over the starboard deck. When that is finished I'll start with the finishing stage of this project.

Here is where I am at the moment.
1. I purchased a 4' x 6' piece of the non skid mold that I will make the sections from.

2. I found and purchased epoxy gel coat in high gloss white. It's a two part slow cure self leveling two to one system which can be either rolled on or sprayed. This product is awesome!! I can't wait to use it to finish the deck. It can be either left as is or painted over. I'll leave it for now as the owner assured me it won't yellow or have UV breakdown for at least 11 years. Then I can scratch and paint.

I'll be working on a slower schedule as I complete the deck and possibly only three days a week. The gel coat needs three days for a complete cure and I'm working with that as well as the Admiral wants to spend some weekends aboard and it has to be spotless when she comes down.

Thanks for listening and I'll be back.

Good job, important to take some time off.

I'm back!!!

I bought an epoxy gel coat. Yes epoxy. It is amazing stuff and a real game changer. I started working with it yesterday and I'm on a learning curve but it's straightening out real fast. For one, lets start with the basics.

Fast cure epoxies are brittle and not the strongest The slower the cure the stronger and more flexible they are. This sets up rock hard in 72 hours.

I rolled some on the glass cloth I had laminated to the plywood deck and let it cure over night, the next day I rolled a second coat. It is building up nicely and after my third or fourth coat it will be ready for the next step.

I poured a small amount in a non skid mold for a test sample. It turned out excellent!!

I might just gel coat the entire upper deck-house-fly bridge area with this. It's that high gloss and easy. Just roll it. No tipping. The small foam rollers.

Brand and source for the epoxy gel please....

You're holding back on us Stretch! Anxious to see the final product!

Can you give us the source on the non-skid mold or pattern? I looks great!

Larry M said:

Can you give us the source on the non-skid mold or pattern? I looks great!

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I believe early in the thread he said he got it from Nordhavn if I'm not mistaken.

Hey guys, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to answer. I had a drama weekend and had to deal with a cat with cancer I'm trying to save. It really makes me screaming mad when people just drop off sick animals and treat them like trash. These are loving pets. They don't understand.


Back to the product.

I bought from flex mold, actually another division who sells retail, a female mold that has the same non skid pattern as Nordhavn which is their number 103. They sell the mold by the sq ft at $19.00 and a whole sheet is less which is 4' x 12'. I bought a 4' x 5' piece because there isn't and area larger than 5' where I need non skid.

My contact is Rhiannon Moore email
rhiannon@gibcoflexmold.com

They have every brand of boats non skid pattern however 103 happens to be used by more brands than any other and it looks great too.

The epoxy resin was a miracle find for me. I have been searching for gel coat or tinted epoxy and found a southern CA company that has been selling to aerospace and military. His epoxy is in outer space. This gel coat can withstand a temp range from -100 to 100 C. It's stronger than most epoxies, a very slow cure and after it sets up until finally cured, it has flex so it can be applied to a curved deck with my application technique.

I work with the owner, Ray

Welcome to Polymer Composites Inc.

They have videos of their product. They ship worldwide I think. It's amazing stuff.

I'm going to tell these people I posted this so they will be aware of any inquiries and please mention my name. NO, I'm not a sales rep nor do I get any kickback, just simply I am so happy with their products I told them I'd help them get the word out and I hope you mention me, Stretch, when you contact them.

I like the gel coat so much I'm going to gel coat everything from the hull up. It's actually less expensive than LP paint. Sterling, Awlgrip or Alex Seal. The shine is incredible. Just roll it, no tipping. Any sags or runs just sand with 400, 600, and higher, then buff to a shine. It's a dream to work with.

Just get a food scale and weigh accurately or use graduated cups, which I am. AND, don't mix too much at once. I did and lost 8 oz. It's thin and rolls on easy. It covers a lot more than West System which was my mistake.

As I complete more of this project, I'll post with my technique.

Cheers!!

Capthead said:

Hey guys, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to answer. I had a drama weekend and had to deal with a cat with cancer I'm trying to save. It really makes me screaming mad when people just drop off sick animals and treat them like trash. These are loving pets. They don't understand.


Back to the product.

.....cut for space.....

As I complete more of this project, I'll post with my technique.

Cheers!!

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Thanks for the info...still a few questions if you don't mind...

What's the UV protection? that's usually been the trick with epoxies...any old time project pics they have or something you have personally have seen?

Capthead said:

....I bought from flex mold, actually another division who sells retail, a female mold that has the same non skid pattern as Nordhavn which is their number 103. They sell the mold by the sq ft at $19.00 and a whole sheet is less which is 4' x 12'. I bought a 4' x 5' piece because there isn't and area larger than 5' where I need non skid.

My contact is Rhiannon Moore email
rhiannon@gibcoflexmold.com

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Thanks. Just what I was looking for.

psneeld,

I asked the owner, who is an avid saltwater fisherman and has lots of boater friends, the uV question. His answer is, all epoxies yellow in time and are susceptible to UV damage, This will go about 11 years before any noticable change in color. At that time your options are to recoat or paint.

That works great for me. I hope this answers your question okay.

He has been selling to his boater friends about 12 years from what I gather. Maybe longer.

One last post today. I got an email back from Rhiannon at flex mold. She will gladly help anyone wanting her molds.

Go for it!!

Capthead said:

psneeld,

I asked the owner, who is an avid saltwater fisherman and has lots of boater friends, the uV question. His answer is, all epoxies yellow in time and are susceptible to UV damage, This will go about 11 years before any noticable change in color. At that time your options are to recoat or paint.

That works great for me. I hope this answers your question okay.

He has been selling to his boater friends about 12 years from what I gather. Maybe longer.

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thanks...

Looking forward to seeing the photo's.

I've been busy trying several application methods and found out Home Depot and Lowes quit selling the 6" fine white foam paint rollers. Nobody has them and all I can find is the black ones which are twice if not more as expensive. I tried the fabric rollers but lint is a problem with them so for the top coat, I can't use them.

I'm finding for this product it's probably not necessary to put anything on the bare wood. I think this alone is all you need. I'll continue to lay glass cloth on my deck but as far as the house goes, sanding to wood would be best.

This is a picture of my aft sliding hatch that I applied two coats of white gel coat on with the fabric roller. The picture doesn't give it justice. It is a higher gloss than any LP. I've seen them all. It has something paint doesn't have, Depth.

My friend who is a polyester fanatic is raving over this. I think he is a convert,

Sorry about that picture, here is the hatch.

A lot of catching up to do. First, let me say the white epoxy gel coat is kicking my arse. Getting it applied and having no fish eyes is a HUGE problem.

I took my hatch to a friends shop along with my air compressor and a new HVLP gravity fed spray gun. This was supposed to be my answer since Lowes, Home Depot and my other sources have quit selling the "best" quality 3/8" foam paint rollers. They now only sell the fabric 3/8" best and that leaves tiny fabric hairs in the finish no matter what you do. Tape it, vacuum it, shake it, blow it. Nothing keeps it from shedding.

The fact that it's such a slow cure, three days to walk on, it collects dust in the finish because it is tack hard in about 4 hours.

The spraying idea took over a week with the end result I needed a super clean room for that. The fish eyes were whale eyes after spraying and just fine eyes if I rolled it.

My deck is finally laminated with epoxy and heavy fiberglass cloth. This concludes the waterproofing and final strengthening component of this project. I am now starting the fairing and preparation for the non skid which will be gel coat and very possibly not needing painting for many years. This will be the white gel coat over the deck now.


I've come to the conclusion to roll or brush it and buff it out after the three day cure time. Simple as that. I'm going to get dust and fish eyes but they sand and buff out.

Another fact which I was mislead on is, do not recoat until at least a 24 hour cure has happened. I tried a 4 or 5 hour recoat and it went on like glass. Oh man, I was grinning....then as the smile was wide I saw the gel coat turn to cottage cheese and cure like a waffle iron.

well, the hatch looks great so you've nailed it in the end! Thanks for the info.

Capthead said:

I've been busy trying several application methods and found out Home Depot and Lowes quit selling the 6" fine white foam paint rollers. Nobody has them and all I can find is the black ones which are twice if not more as expensive. I tried the fabric rollers but lint is a problem with them so for the top coat, I can't use them.

I'm finding for this product it's probably not necessary to put anything on the bare wood. I think this alone is all you need. I'll continue to lay glass cloth on my deck but as far as the house goes, sanding to wood would be best.

This is a picture of my aft sliding hatch that I applied two coats of white gel coat on with the fabric roller. The picture doesn't give it justice. It is a higher gloss than any LP. I've seen them all. It has something paint doesn't have, Depth.

My friend who is a polyester fanatic is raving over this. I think he is a convert,

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You are OK, Amazon has a vast selection...hope you kept a wrapper so you know which one u want...

Time for a followup report;

Yesterday was a rain day here with a total about 1.5" at the boat. I had to go down to pump out my dinghy and runabout. I also went aboard to check on the boat and I was totally amazed!!

The boat was dry. No wet saloon floor. No wet head cabinets. No water anywhere. I have a dry boat and the deck job did it!!!

WOO HOO!!!

Time for a celebratory cocktail.

Cheers!

I will give an in depth report soon on the epoxy I bought. A quick summation is, it isn't what he said it was.

What it is, a great wood or polyester sealer and sandable to a fine finish, but NOT a permanent gel coat. I think it has to be painted over and can be painted directly with LP top coat. No primer needed.

I'll post more soon.

Capthead said:

Time for a followup report;

Yesterday was a rain day here with a total about 1.5" at the boat. I had to go down to pump out my dinghy and runabout. I also went aboard to check on the boat and I was totally amazed!!

The boat was dry. No wet saloon floor. No wet head cabinets. No water anywhere. I have a dry boat and the deck job did it!!!

WOO HOO!!!

Time for a celebratory cocktail.

Cheers!

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That must have been an awesome feeling. Congratulations. Your boat will thank you, and reward with many more years of service.