Advice on deck paint

[robertsapp]

Our '95 H336 has a gray paint on its molded nonskid deck surfaces. Or at least, it used to. It's getting pretty faded and worn, and the white gelcoat is showing through in places. We'd like to repaint these areas to spiff up the boat. Does anyone know what type and color paint was used to paint the nonskid originally? Or maybe have a good suggestion on what would work well and look good? Also, does anyone know if it's possible (or wise) to add a little grit to the paint to make these molded in nonskid areas a little more grippy? The original diamond nonskid pattern is still crisp, but it's not the grippiest surface when wet. We're really not interested in going through the trouble of something like Kiwi Grip.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

The original was a part of the mold and it was gelcoat. If you want to freshen up your deck nonskid, it is not such a daunting job as you think. Just sand the area and clean it. Neatly mask off the nonskid part (make nice corners, etc like the original) and then roll on Interlux' deck paint called Interdeck. It comes in gray and has a matt finish to it so it is not slippery underfoot. Your deck will look great, it can be applied with a simple roller (and maybe a brush will be needed to go around certain masked off fittings) and two coats is recommended. When dry, pull off the tape and go sailing. Super easy and that paint is not very expensive either. And, it holds up really well underfoot.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

re: Nonskid paint

I agree with Bill in recommending Interdeck. A second choice would be to choose a nice Brightside or Perfection color and to add the nonskid compound to it.

The caveat with Interdeck is that during application the paint sort of settles, in the can and even in the roller tray, and the gritty stuff doesn't go on evenly. This can be solved by adding a little nonskid compound to the first coat as you go-- or by stirring very frequently, both can and roller tray. For the second coat, really meant as a sealer, this is less crucial.

The worst choice would be to buy some garage-floor paint or something from Home Depot, under the mistaken belief that one has found some 'secret' that the chumps buying expensive 'marine products' haven't thought of. I have seen this on boats some years after application and it's awful-- does not stand up to UV, is murder to sand and overcoat and even worse than murder to remove when one realizes it's time to start over. Interdeck is $40 a quart. That's not costly enough to gainsay. :naughty:

 

[tomgrigsby]

I'm getting ready to paint my H30 with interlux paint. I don't want it as dark as the standard gray comes, so I'm going to mix a quart of gray with a quart of white so I'll get a light gray. It'll take the better part of 2 quarts anyway since there is so much deck area that is non-skid on my boat.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Tom's gray deck

Be careful with gray colors, Tom! A wise mentor advised me that any shade of black will still retain its heat-trapping qualities in direct sun. The best, he said, is some shade of cream or off-white.

I'm going with Interdeck cream (a pale yellow) on mine. :dance:

 

[tomgrigsby]

Thanks John, that's my concern too. The standard Interdeck Grey is way too dark IMHO. I'm not sure if a 50/50 cut with white will get me as light as I need/want.

 

[Dalliance]

Tom,
You are right to want to lighten the gray. I put on a coat (two coats in the cockpit) of the standard gray WM SeaGloss Pro Non-skid Paint in 2007. It has held up well and still looks nice but it scorches bare feet on warm sunny days. If I were doing the job again, I would start with a quart each of gray and white and do a few small test mixes of various proportions to find the right shade. Add enough white to the gray and it effectively becomes a grayish "off-white".