Deck paint problem

Greetings,
Mr. PM. I bought one of these and a friend borrowed it it remove a deck coating. Seemed to work better than sanding or paint remover+scraping.

6 Piece Pneumatic Scraper Kit

An air compressor is a given. 3HP or better with a larger tank. Borrow? Rent?

"If we do decide at some point to strip and repair the surface smooth to start over"

Great idea . When the deck is clean and smooth purchase some cotton mosquito net from A northern supplier.

You want as course cotton weave as you can purchase..

Pencil the no skid pattern on the deck , lay on the cotton after ironing it flat (spray starch helps) and transfer the deck design to the cotton.Cut it out.

A thin layer of 2 part epoxy paint is rolled on the deck, the cotton laid inside the pencil guide and another thin layer of 2 part is rollled on top.

The cotton sucks up the paint so the weave is accuentated.

As strong as the quality of the epoxy used , as fancy as you chose to layout and best of all when someone drags a anchor and makes a grove , you sand cotton , not sand for the next repaint.

Get it right and it looks like the bottom deck of a Boston Whaler .

Cheap too,,,,,

Single part polyurethane paints are not really polyurethane. Usually they have some PU as an additive in an enamel base, or any other one part base, acrylic etc. Kinda like EasyPoxy is not even close to being epoxy, marketing BS. On a deck, especially one that is a little rough, I use a polyurethane rubber coating. Sanitred is good if you cant spray but is labor and knowledge/experience intensive. I've been using ExtremeCoatings a lot lately. Sprayed with a suction gun. It comes in several colors and is very easy to apply. The nonskid (rubber granuals) can be had in different textures, course to fine) and it covers a rough surface extremely well. Not terribly expensive.

You could also try a concrete grinder. They look like a disk floor sander. I have seem them used to remove swirl and trowel marks. Some have dust collectors. I have never seen one tried on a deck though.

Ok don't panic . This is a separate issue from my deck paint but same area . I noticed a crack a few weeks ago and the area started to pop up around the crack. It got worse and water was getting in . I thought it was the fiberglass delaminating and had planned on working on it soon . After fireworks last night and a bunch of family on the boat I notice a piece about 2" in diameter gone . So after everybody left I started digging in and this is about 8" in diameter now . It's not fiberglass it's thickened epoxy paint . Evidently the PO used that garage floor epoxy product on this deck and it didn't adhere in this area and developed a crack . It's about 1/16 to 1/8 thick . My plan is to take it back as far as it takes to see good adhesion ,clean with acetone and float it out with epoxy fairing compound,prime and paint.
Ok let me have it guys . I'm sure some would say rip it all up and start over but that ain't happening. But I woul like to here suggestions .

Your plan sounds just fine to me.

I'm not sure what this material is . It might be kiwi grip that wasn't put on very well . We pulled up some more today . I hope I can get back to some area with good adhesion before tearing the whole thing up . It's not pretty .

I don't recall Kiwi Grip coming in a splatter finish.

Capt.Bill11 said:

I don't recall Kiwi Grip coming in a splatter finish.

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Thanks Capt. Bill .We finally got back to good adhesion today . I believe it is that garage floor stuff . We'll start repair tomorrow . Now I have about an 20" diameter area to repair .

"The house floor sanding operators use vicious machine mounted drum sanders for stripping old timber floor finishes"

The sand "paper" they use is fantastic for sanding most anything .Sold at most rental places.

It is silicone carbide , and the #16 or #24 looks like rocks stuck on stiff cardboard.

It does not gunk up, even on fresh GRP with no wax , or old bottom paint 1/2 in thick.

I use an auto body grinder with a thick (2 inch) Bear Manning pad and disc sanding glue to stick it in place.

DO not cut the material round ( 2 -4 ft will do most boats) , just cut or snap it square so the corners are intact , and will help not creating wavy surface.

VERY light pressure is required a light weight sander is easier to control than a big 15A,, 15 lb monster.

A 100 sq ft area just being cleaned for painting should be 20 min ,after you get the hang of it.

Sounds good FF. I like an orbital.... This modification work of the pads work ok with an orbital, perhaps gluing to orbital loop pads?

The first coat two part System Three Quick Fair. We will sand and second coat tomorrow then prime and paint .

An orbital sander is for trim and tiny spots.

The use of a grinder with floor sanding paper is for cleaning large rough areas very quickly.

A Dutch friend borrowed my set up and wooded the bottom of a 50 ft deep draft sailboat with ONE piece of sanding sheet, took much of a day, I did say he was Dutch tho.

Done

We also added small rug .

BruceK said:

The house floor sanding operators use vicious machine mounted drum sanders for stripping old timber floor finishes incl 2 pack, and for leveling floors for refinishing. You could explore that, you may be able to hire them from DIY equipment hire places. They use smaller hand machines for corners and edge detailing, they may not be aggressive enough for your job.

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As an aside, many of the wood floor finishes (prefinished flooring) now contain aluminum oxide powder to add to their toughness. I am told these are extreamly difficult to refinish as they dull the sanding belts almost instantly. There are many stories of refinishers just packing up and leaving the job when they discover what they are dealing with.

Great picture in #45 Marty.

If you recall our afterdeck is much smaller but the Willard 30 Voyager is smaller yet.

"As an aside, many of the wood floor finishes (prefinished flooring) now contain aluminum oxide powder to add to their toughness. I am told these are extreamly difficult to refinish as they dull the sanding belts almost instantly. There are many stories of refinishers just packing up and leaving the job when they discover what they are dealing with."

This is the reason deck no skid is ground walnut shells , and only on the budget jobs is real sand used.

On my launch epoxy and shards of flint (carrier deck material) requires a hammer and chisel for removal.

After a few decades ,of wear , bare feet do not bleed..

Brooksie said:

As an aside, many of the wood floor finishes (prefinished flooring) now contain aluminum oxide powder to add to their toughness. I am told these are extreamly difficult to refinish as they dull the sanding belts almost instantly. There are many stories of refinishers just packing up and leaving the job when they discover what they are dealing with.

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Brooksie,

You are right, those finishes are tough. I have done several not because the finish was worn but because the homeowners wanted to change the color.

Start with 36#, 60#, 80#, 100# then a 120# screen on the buffer. Slow going but it comes off. Under the radiators and in the corners is the hardest. Stripper will not touch it and the scraper just skates over the finish. A heat gun and lots of patience is needed.

Rob

Sounds like a poor prep problem, don't sand above 220G and male sure it's the right primers & they have cured fully, with everything degreased properly etc. My Boat deck is done with Inter deck paint. Took a few days to fully cure, but hard as a rock now.