Deck Painting

[jamieFL]

My project keeps drifting. Everything I do sparks more work.

I'm working on a 1988 Watkins 25. At some point in its life, the boat has been modified for single-handed sailing. Two sets of winches, blocks, and line locks have been added to the cabin top,and they have been leaking. They were mounted to blocks of teak which were badly weathered and cracking. The plan was to replace the teak and rebed the hardware. Whoever installed them used 5200 and they were a bear to remove.

In order to remove them, I had to first remove the grab rail and companionway hatch rails. I thought, that's OK because I wanted to revarnish the teak, and having it off the boat will make sanding much easier. But now, with all that removed, I decided I should probably paint the deck.

Painting was going to be next year's project. My question is coming... My boat has quite an aggressive molded nonskid texture. I'd like to paint the deck white, and at some later date come back with a nonskid product like tuff coat ut-100 in light grey. I thought I'd be able to find many articles, or blog posts on the painting process, but what I've found was quite old. The rest of what I've found was paint for sale, and affiliate reviews. I know how to paint. What I need is a primer and paint combo that will be compatible with with a nonskid coat later on. Also, I'd like a paint that sets up and is not sticky.

Sorry for the rambling for a question that could have been asked in one paragraph.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

One of my boats has Interlux's non-skid additive in the deck paint. It's ok. I wouldn't want it more aggressive. It picks up a lot of dirt. It's inferior to any factory molded non-skid

 

[dlochner]

My project keeps drifting. Everything I do sparks more work.

Welcome to Boat Ownership!

Take a look at Kiwi grip. It does require that the old nonskid be removed first. If you are just looking for topside paint, 2 part polyurethane will be the toughest paint.

 

[jamieFL]

I was thinking about Total Boat Wet Edge 1 part polyerothane or something similar. I just read up on that this morning. The two part is a little pricey and I'll be painting outside.

 

[svchickadee]

I painted the deck on my oday 25. I used kiwigrip on the non-skid. The old non-skid does not need to be removed. I used rustoleum topside from lowes on the non non-skid. This is a one-part inexpensive paint. The surface prep is easy for both paints. The rustoleum finish tends to mark fairly easily but all you need to do is clean the surface and touch up. I felt that two part paints required too much surface prep and expense for what is an inexpensive boat. Both paints were used to paint over fiberglass repairs and provide good UV protection in the Florida sun.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I've used Interlux Interdeck non skid on both my boats, very successfully. I friend used it ion his, with the diamond snonskid molti

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Previous owner used brightside on my deck. It's flaking in a number of areas. Make sure you do proper prepwork and pay special attention to areas that flex a lot (cockpit floor for example)

 

[jamieFL]

Thanks for the advice. What I'm looking to a accomplish now is to paint the non non-skid surfaces. The non-skid will be painted too with the same paint until I apply the non-skid later.

My boat has a pretty aggressive molded in Non-Skid texture. How does that area get prepped. It can't really be sanded. I used simple green and a stiff brush today which got it pretty clean. I scraped off 95% of the 5200 and cleaned out the mounting holes for the winches, blocks, and locks. These are all on non-skid areas.

I read up on rolling and tipping. Seems easy, but what is o. The tipping brush?

 

[Plymouth Sailor]

If you already have a molded anti-skid deck (like a shower or bath tub) you may not want to add any anti-skid to paint however I've purchased a Rustoleum additive that works well. Location suggestion: Don't know if you're painting outside or not but I find the best place to paint my deck is on my mooring on a calm sea. Very few bugs and nothing falling off trees (if you're outside in a yard that is).

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Im always amazed at how tipping and rolling turns out in videos. I personally would go with a foam brush since I have no practice with tipping and rolling

 

[jamieFL]

Yep. Gonna have bugs and falling leaves. I will be painting in my side yard. That is one of the reasons I am leaning towards a single stage polyerothane.

My big fear is that the paint will set up soft. I looked at a boat that the PO had painted, and from a distance, looked good, but as soon as I got on board, I could smell the paint. When I checked it, it was soft and I could scratch it off with my fingernail.

 

[jamieFL]

I've never heard of rolling and tipping before. It looks easy, but is the brush dry, wet with paint, wetted with solvent, water, thinned paint?

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I've never heard of rolling and tipping before. It looks easy, but is the brush dry, wet with paint, wetted with solvent, water, thinned paint?

Kept as dry as possible, but with paint on it. It's purpose is to get rid of any bubbles and or roller marks- NOT to paint

 

[jamieFL]

Kept as dry as possible, but with paint on it. It's purpose is to get rid of any bubbles and or roller marks- NOT to paint

X4 Thanks.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

https://www.sailfeed.com/2018/07/awlgrip-topsides-with-a-brush/

 

[ToddS]

yup... I've done it with moderate success with a one-part paint (easy-poxy)... I also added "flattener" to the paint to get rid of the glossiness on the non-skid deck itself (not to any other cabin-top bulkheads or topsides though). I like the look of flatter paint on the non-skid and it's also easier on your eyeballs when the sun is shining down on the decks. You ideally want the brush to not be TOTALLY dry, so some paint on it, but almost none... you're not ADDING paint to the surface with the brush, just smoothing out the orange-peel texture left behind by the roller. The key to roll and tip painting is moving quickly... roll on small sections at a time (a few square feet worked best for me) and tip it while it is still very wet... before it even starts to dry. Once the paint even starts to dry a little, the brush will just pull/smear/mess the paint, and will not smooth it. Weather becomes a factor here too... if it is hot or dry or sunny, the paint will dry fast, so you need to do smaller sections with each roll. I found foam brushes to work fine (though I know some swear by fancy-shmancy expensive brushes)... just have a few extra ones, for when your foam brush starts to tear, or fall apart, or harden from dry paint... you don't want to need to run to the hardware store mid-job. They're super cheap, so buy a bunch, and different sizes too... brush too small will make it hard to "keep up" with the paint drying... brush too big will be tough painting around obstacles. And yes... bugs and leaves ARE waiting out there to sabotage you... so wind is also your enemy. Only remove them from the paint if it is VERY fresh/wet paint (so you can still smooth it out with a brush), or at the very end when it is totally dry (and touch up a tiny spot if needed), but don't mess with them once the paint is starting to dry... you'll just make it worse.

 

[jamieFL]

https://www.sailfeed.com/2018/07/awlgrip-topsides-with-a-brush/

Mayhe,

Have you used awlgrip? How did it go? How did it come out?

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I've never used awlgrip. I just happened to stumble upon that article the same day that I saw this post. I never applied any of the anti-slip additives since the last owner had already done so to my boat

 

[nightowle]

I've used single part Interlux and not been too happy. I've used Rustoleum and very pleased with the durability. And, you can't beat the price. I would second the previously posted idea of using a flattener for the non skid.

 

[jamieFL]

I've used single part Interlux and not been too happy. I've used Rustoleum and very pleased with the durability. And, you can't beat the price. I would second the previously posted idea of using a flattener for the non skid.

What was it you were not happy about the Interlux? Did the Rustolium go on easy? How did you apply it?