Shower floor and pan - gelcoat, glazing or paint?

[Andiamo2018]

I have a very tired floor / shower pan that covers the entire bathroom/head. Actually the whole bathroom is getting upgraded. I plan to use Palisade tiles on the walls (unless I hear of a better idea) but I haven't gotten a good idea for the floor or the sink. The floor is entirely visible and runs from under the toilet to the shower area in front of the sink/cabinet.

Gelcoat for the sink and floor? Paint? Reglazing? As common as this seems I haven't found much concerning refinishing the bathroom on a boat. Reglazing seems like it would be too brittle and the reviews aren't great for the products I've seen. Gelcoat seems the best to me at this point but I thought I'd run this by the collective knowledge base and see what comes up

 

[Bmarler]

There’s no limit to the options you could use.
Wet areas are the same on land or sea. What would guide my decision would be, how stiff is the existing floor? If you tiled it would the grout hold up?
I did a small head in solid granite on my last boat and it was awesome. The sub floor was really stout and I wasn’t worried about it flexing or cracking.
There are engineered plank flooring options for bathrooms too. But, is it flat? That makes a difference too.

 

[Andiamo2018]

The floor isn't flat unfortunately. The existing fiberglass floor runs up the walls a few inches and curves to the wall. Then the shower pan itself is molded and curved also. Otherwise I would happily tile.

 

[dhays]

I think I might consider using a topside paint?

 

[Andiamo2018]

I might do deck paint on the floor and shower pan but I'm kind of leaning to gelcoat to fill in little scratches and dings.

 

[Comodave]

I think that gel coat may be tough to get a good finish. We had a shower redone with fiberglass and they painted it with Awlgrip. It looked awesome and held up well. Now I would likely use Alexseal paint. They have an additive that lets you roll without tipping.

 

[Andiamo2018]

I've used Alexseal with that additive and it works great! I like how the gelcoat looks but it is pretty hard to tell the difference I guess. I have a lot to think about lol

They used just regular topside paint? It for sure would be easier.

 

[mvweebles]

I'm with Comodave on this. 20-years ago I did my shower with Brightside enamal. Held up okay. Two years ago when my refit was being done, I had the yard repaint my shower and slope the floor to drain better. I know they used Alexseal but don't know if they sprayed or rolled. It looks great.

Personally, if you have cracks or nooks/crannies, I'd fill with thickened epoxy and paint over it with a fine roller. No tipping needed.

Pictures please.......

Peter

 

[Andiamo2018]

I am out of town visiting family for two weeks but once I get back I'll start on paint prep for the floor and ceiling of the bathroom. Once the bathroom is complete I'll start back on the V-berth where the walls will get covered with the foam floor mat tiles you can see in the picture. If I don't find a 4 way stretch carpet to cover the tiles I might switch to colored tiles and just leave them exposed.

I am grateful for the advice about painting vs gelcoat! I would not have thought paint would be durable enough for some reason. I painted my hull with Alexseal 2 years ago and it still looks beautiful so I'm happy to use it inside too!