Flybridge deck paint

[CharlieO.]

Looking for recommendations for a good paint or paints maybe.

We removed everything from the flybridge deck, factory benches and the P.O. attempt's at building more seating by screwing threw the deck. He also put a floating floor up there, something like what you might put on your deck at home. Now we have the deck cleared to seal and paint. Working our way from top to bottom to try mitigate any water intrusion.

So anyway I plan on sanding and scraping all the loose paint up and will paint the deck.

What would be a good paint/sealer to put on a coat or two over the top deck? Something that will not amplify slight imperfections, we've already filled all the holes with thickened epoxy and scraped most of the loose stuff.

What about a good caulk for the areas where the teak and fiberglass meet?

Product recommendation's and any tips and tricks welcomed.

Thanks

 

[mvweebles]

If you're looking for nonskid, have heard consistently good recommendations for Kiwigrip though I have not used it personally. Would definitely hide imperfections

https://www.pyiinc.com/KiwiGrip/aboutkiwigrip.html

20 years ago a dock neighbor painted their Amel sailboat with Brightsides. I saw it a few years ago and it still looked nice. Gloss finish however will show imperfections more than matte

Good luck. Pictures are always fun

Peter

 

[CharlieO.]

If you're looking for nonskid, have heard consistently good recommendations for Kiwigrip though I have not used it personally. Would definitely hide imperfections

https://www.pyiinc.com/KiwiGrip/aboutkiwigrip.html

20 years ago a dock neighbor painted their Amel sailboat with Brightsides. I saw it a few years ago and it still looked nice. Gloss finish however will show imperfections more than matte

Good luck. Pictures are always fun

Peter

I am terrible about taking 'before' pics. I'll take some of before painting though. If I remember.

I'm definitely not looking for yacht quality finish. But most anything we do is improving our boat.

 

[Comodave]

We used Kiwigrip on our last boat and loved it. It will hide small imperfections so you don’t have to make the surface perfect before painting. Layout the masking tape so you can pull it up as you go, you absolutely do not want the paint to dry with the tape still on it. You can make the nonskid very aggressive or not depending on what roller you use. We used the roller that came with the Kiwigrip for the decks. But we used a regular 3/8” nap roller when I painted the top of the sundeck hardtop. The gelcoat on the hardtop was chalky and the white would run down onto the eisenglass, after I painted the hardtop it stopped doing that. But I didn’t want an aggressive nonskid on the hardtop just something to seal the top so it wouldn’t bleed white crap off the hardtop. I did a test with a couple of different rollers before I actually painted the hardtop and deck.

When we caulked the teak toerail on that boat I used Sika 291. But I also used their primer on the teak, it is very expensive, but I wanted the caulk to stick to the teak so I would not have to redo it again. We sold the boat 5 years after I did that caulk and it was still in great shape. 291 is paintable so I did put the Kiwigrip over it to protect the 291 from UV.

 

[koliver]

Brightside, Truck bed liner, Kiwi-Grip, Gelcoat'
Really any product you are comfortable with, then add a non-skid surface.

You can press a panel of diamond texture flourescent ceiling lens https://www.homedepot.ca/product/op...ting-panel-23-75-inch-x-47-75-inch/1000101169
into the wet paint to get your non-skid surface. Spray some mold release on it and one panel will do your whole area.

 

[Comodave]

That is one of the nice things about Kiwigrip is that it is a latex paint and you roll it on and the texture is done at the same time. It is repairable and wears like iron. The only issue is that if you do a repair it is hard to sand down because it is so tough. I ended up using a belt sander with 40 or 60 grit, I forget which. But the repaired area will blend in well in a few months.

 

[jleonard]

Years ago (before pickup truck bed liner paint was around) I used vinylester gelcoat on the Mainship decks. Colored it gray, rolled the first coat with non- skid beads, the second coat plain. It was non-skid and it wasn't aggressive enough to hurt your feet or trap dirt.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

My first and only application of Kiwigrip turned out to be satisfactory but not outstanding. We put it over new plywood covered in West System. Following all the advice, we washed the anime waxy blush off the surface before applying the Kiwigrip and it adhered very well. We used the suggested roller covers and rolled it out as recommended. The random nonskid pattern is great, no slipping or sliding even when wet. However, we find that the surface does catch a fair amount of dirt and some of the rough peaks have picked up a small grayish dirty look that never will again be absolutely clean. No amount of scrubbing will ever bring it back to that new, clean deck that I was hoping to get.

 

[Comodave]

On the Kiwigrip I used Woody Wax to make it easier to clean. Wash the deck, spray on the WW, brush it around wait 1/2 hour and rinse off with a hose. Simple and very easy.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. CO. We just completed doing our upper and main decks with KiwiGrip. Awesome product. Mask your borders etc, glop on 3 or 4 cups, spread it out evenly with a 1/8" notched trowel, roll it with the supplied roller, remove tape immediately (as per Mr. C-post #4), stand back and admire your work.


IF it's hot or sunny, you can't dawdle as it sets up quite quickly. Diluted 10% with water gives you more working time.


My only beef is it's really messy removing the tape as it gets all over your hands, feet, hair, ear lobes...well, it did for me, anyway.


We went for an aggressive finish. No danger of slipping is much more important than difficulty cleaning, IMO. I WILL try the Woody Wax, though. Thanks for the tip Mr. C.

 

[CharlieO.]

Would rolling out the kiwi grip could I use a standard roller like 3/4 inch nap to have the texture without the sharper looking grip that the kiwi roller appears to have?

Do you use the woody wax every cleaning?

 

[Comodave]

I have not tried a 3/4” nap. But you can always do a test. I used the Woody Wax a couple of times during the summer. It is easy enough to do that you could do it more often but I wouldn’t do it too much as wax can yellow if you get too much on.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Dave, thanks for the wax tip. We will try it when we get back to the boat next January. Meanwhile, as we watch the temps dip into the 20's, yes, 20's tonight in Wisconsin, we are dreaming of cruising Door County this summer in our recently purchased Bayliner 288.

Chomping At The Bit...

Joe

 

[Comodave]

Yes, I am ready to launch and try out all the new stuff we put on the boat this winter but the new tops aren’t finished yet. They were supposed to be done mid April but the fabricator had Covid so he is somewhat behind. Now 9 to 14 May is our projected launch date.

 

[mike66]

For a different opinion, I used Total Boat non skid paint. Came out fine, but some imperfections showed through. Easy to apply but the color choice is limited. Has held up well for three years.

 

[CharlieO.]

I would like to put a base coat down first before applying the non skid so that I will be able to mask the areas I don't want or need the non skid.

Is there something suitable that I could pick up from my local paint store that I could paint the deck with and be able to apply my non skid over that?

This weekend is going to be perfect weather for applying paint to my upper deck and I'd like to get a base coat on while I decide which direction to go with the top coat non-skid. I don't have much options for marine specific stores around me.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. CO. Rustoleum makes a marine coating. Perhaps their "regular" paint is similar enough to suffice. Maybe a quick call to Rustoleum technical department would provide an answer.
https://www.rustoleum.com/en/pages/help-and-support

 

[CharlieO.]

RTF, thanks for the tip, I had not realized all the products rustoleum has now. They've come a long way since I used to spray paint bikes as a kid.

 

[colemanb]

Non-skid paint

Valspar Paint (Lowe's) makes a great latex based non-skid paint that can be mixed in virtually any color. Used various colors for years on fiberglass and aluminum boat decks and it's held up great...and less than $35/gallon. Quick build-up and fills in crazing and small holes...

 

[CharlieO.]

Thanks colemanb, I'll take a look at that too. Looks like there is a Lowes about 15 minutes away from our boat.

 

[Nepidae]

Deck paint

We first painted the top of our deckhouse fwd. I think we used this (https://www.pettitpaint.com/products/topside-paint-finishes/non-skid-deck-paint/). We like Pettit paint and usually use it for bottom paint.

There was a non-skid surface there already, from the manufacturer, and that was broken up by non, non-skid surfaces, a stripe of sorts. We taped the plain areas and then painted the non-skid with a light grey paint. IF i knew how to post pictures here I'd show you.

We have a sundeck boat so no painting there, but we did do the same thing on the bridge.

We believe it came out great, so much so that we did paint the sundeck roof as well, with the same product. Actually, added some additional non-skid to the sundeck top as a safety measure and found that it was hard on the knees if crawling on it.

IF you want some pictures, PM me and we'll work something out.

 

[Portage_Bay]

IF i knew how to post pictures here I'd show you.

How to post pictures sticky
https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50850

 

[Ken E.]

Also use Kiwigrip, very good product.

 

[CharlieO.]

First coat done. Tomorrow will do second coat with 3/4 nap roller.

 

[Andy G]

We have used KiwiGrip and agree with all the previous observations about the product.

We found the cleaning process to get an 'as new' look was nigh on impossible. Our solution was to put up with it and do a quick re-coat every year or so. The prep and paint time is minimal, in our case literally 15 minutes all up.

 

[Pcpete]

Plus one on the Kiwigrip. You should do a quick test regarding texture. The roller that with the kit has pretty tall crowns and there’s not much leveling that happens as it drys. It’s kinda hard on my geriatric knees and feet, so we are going to sand it level and go for the slightly dimpled finish. It’s been on the deck for a couple of years and looks new, so, as these things go, the Admiral has “suggested” that the cockpit needs the same treatment.
I bought the white and it’s really really white. I’m going to tone it down with the new application.

 

[CharlieO.]

Before and after

Picture after we removed everything from the flybridge deck but before scrubbing and sanding and scrubbing again. The PO had done some not so good quality attempt at building additional seating that we removed and had some hokey floating deck flooring up there.

One picture first coat, second picture finished with two coats.

Went with the Valspar anti skid. It took 1 complete gallon, $42.00. First coat applied with 3/8 nap roller, second coat with 3/4 nap roller.

Happy with the results, shall see how it holds up during the season.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. CO. Looks pretty good to me. Well done!

 

[CharlieO.]

Thanks RTF, now just to clean up the bench seats and reinstall.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

From the pictures, it appears that the new paint also solved your horrible list. Bonus!