Larry M makes a good point. As it relates to the Kiwigrip my friend used, his platform had a bunch of spider cracks. He did not repair them, but becuase of the consistency of the Kiwigrip, it covered them over to the point that you would never know they were there. He has since sold the boat, but it remains in a slip a few down from ours. It has been about three years since he painted and it is still holding up well. Just my observations, not advocating shortcuts, YMMV.