Re-Doing a Deck with NON-SKID using 2-Part LPU PAINTS:
Well, it was bound to happen. There was no more ‘non-skid’ to be found on my cockpit deck. For a ’92 vintage, the deck overall is in good shape with no soft areas. I compared various methods from 1-part paints with non-skid additives, like Interlux Interdeck or West Marine’s non-skid paint (actually rated really well by Powerboat Reports), to gelcoat with sand or non-skid added or sprinkled on top, to special 2-part linear polyurethane (LPU) paints like AwlGrip or Perfection et al. Here are the pros and cons I came up with.
1-part Paint: Pros: Easy to apply, Interdeck even says no primer needed. Fairly inexpensive at $33/quart, with 2-3 quarts needed. Limited colors. Cons: Would need to be re-done every 2-3 seasons. I wanted a pretty much 1-time permanent solution, so I passed on this method.
Gelcoat: Pros: Hard finish, should be good for 10-20 years. Could tint to Parker gelcoat color, cost $70/gallon (tinted too!) when not buying Parker gelcoat. Color choice has no limitations. Cons: I didn’t want to fuss with rolling out ~100 square feet at a time. Also, to do it properly, I’d need to have the surfacing wax mixed in with the gelcoat and subsequent coats would need to be re-sanded. This is easy on a smooth finish, but impractical for a non-skid finish. Those I know that so the gelcoat with sand sprinkled on it, re-do it after 10-years or so, as the sand is not really imbedded into the finish.
There is another superior gelcoat method that is VERY technique and temperature dependant. One does 1 coat of smooth gelcoat, let harden, and sand for next coat. 2nd coat is thickened with fumed silica or cabosil and use high-nap roller so you actually “pull” tiny peaks out of the gelcoat while rolling it. In theory, these peaks will roll over as it sets, so they are not pointy. VERY critical here, even down to your gelcoat mix/brand and roller choice/brand. If the peaks don’t curl over, you’ll cut your feet like walking on coral … yet if too smooth … you won’t have any non-skid properties. Thus I passed on gelcoat.
2-part LPU Paint: Pros: Alleged to be a harder and more durable finish than gelcoat. Non-volatile fumed LPUs can be thinned and/or cleaned up with water (but once cured, they are no longer water soluble) Can add non-skid material to the paint or sprinkle it on the top. Cons: Hazardous fumes if using AwlGrip or Imron type paints, but System Three LPU can be rolled or painted with zero hazardous fumes. Note, all LPUs advise wearing respirators when sprayed. A tad expensive at $120/gallon, but it can’t be painted over bare material. LPUs need to be applied over an epoxy primer coat that costs $90/gallon.
I went with System Three products, see their link here, due to the non-volatile fumes. Their on-line Technical Support was also very responsive and they gave me some good advice on techniques using their paint/non-skid products. They also make great epoxy products. If you’re really into boat projects, download their free epoxy book, as I found it even superior to the booklet that West Systems puts out.
PREP:
Rule #1: Your finished result will be DIRECTLY tied to your prep work! In this case the deck was washed, then dried, then sanded with 60-grit paper. Then it was solvent washed with lacquer thinner. Then the border around the vertical deck transition was masked off. The System3 primer went down easily and could be re-coated as soon as dry to the touch.
Above you can see the finished 2-coats of the epoxy primer. This was sanded and then the BORDER coats of the LPU paint was applied. System3 paints use what they call a “cross-linker”, which I think of as a hardener to paint as a catalyst is to epoxy. With the cross-link added, the paint film is harder and much more durable. But you need to re-coat within 8-hours or else you need to sand off the gloss! When not adding the cross-linker to the paint, you have a 72-hour window in which to re-coat.
Here was my ‘theory’ and reasoning for my methodology when applying this special 2-part paint:
* Border coat #1 – Cross-link added
* Border coat #2 – No cross-link added
Both done on SAT, so now I could full-coat the deck on Sunday.
* Non-Skid coat #1 – Cross-link added
* Non-Skid coat #2 – Cross-link added
* Final Finish coat – No non-skid material added, thinned, but with cross-link added
This last ‘topcoat’ is done to embed the non-skid under a finished paint film, and with the cross-link, this should be a durable HARD finish.
MASKING TOOLS:
Tools of the trade. Make sure to have a sharp Exacto and try to only cut through the tape only and not into the deck. Remember with LPU paints, they form a “film” and we don’t ever want to cut through that film. In fact, in all of my prep work, the masking took the most time.
MASKING TIPS:
See the clear cup? Works great for corners so you can see where you’re cutting ;) ! To get a uniform circle around each interior deck feature, say like the round deck hatches, I put the Exacto knife up against a wood block. Put a scribe line on the block. Then run around the item with the knife against the line on the block and using that ‘line’ as a guide, keep it tangent to the item (like the second or minute hand on a clock), moving the block WITH the knife across the tape together.
PAINT:
Here’s all the essentials you need, the paint, a cordless drill and mixer blade, some non-skid material, mixing buckets, brush, rags, roller & pan, and some disposable gloves. In this case, I used “Whidbey White” as the primary color and it is more of a warm beige color than any white I have ever seen. It is a tad darker than my existing Parker gelcoat. So I mixed it with their bright snow-white paint at a ratio of 1-part white paint to 2-parts beige (Whidbey White). It came out great!
Again, you need to think ahead about how many coats you can get down in a day. If there’s no way you can get another coat in after the one you are working on, DO NOT add the cross-link additive to the paint. Each coat went on fast, say 30-minutes to do my ~9’ by 13’ cockpit.
COAT #1:
Here’s what she looks like after one coat. You can see a faint line where the 2’ border of beige matched up against the gray primed surface, but this will covered in subsequent coats.
Here’s the picture of the final result, along with comments about the non-skid grit I used (and just how much), plus some thoughts about ‘Lessons Learned’, and then about other non-skid deck products like Durabak.
NOTES on DURABAK:
I didn’t even consider this thick rubber-like deck non-skid, i.e., think of DIY truck bedliner material, as I have heard many mixed reviews about it. Now please understand that while I myself haven't used it, nevermind have seen it installed by my own eyes, from emails I’ve received about it plus from what I read on the net ... I didn't want it. Some reported problems applying it down, even to where Warthog (on his X-Shark Mako project) had to remove their first attempts and re-do it. To me the biggest negative was the cleaning and cleanable factor, as I am told it holds dirt and it a bitch to clean and to keep clean. And, some say it needs to be recoated every season with hard use. Forget that ... !
NON-SKID GRIT:
I used the non-compressible polycarbonate micro-balloons from SystemThree. A few benefits of them are that they are a uniform size, which should be more stable (and permanent) in the finished paint film and that the density of them is darn closer to that of the paint, so they stayed in suspension after mixing and when applying.
My finished floor feels like 120-150 grit sandpaper. It should be an excellent non-skid surface with the durability of a traditional gelcoat finish. Only time will tell !
PAINT/NON-SKID MIX/RATIO:
The spec sheet for the system3 LPU says it covers anywhere from 350 to 400 square feet, so for my roughly < 100’ sq-ft deck, I knew I’d get 4 good coats down. Plus I had a quart more paint on hand, as remember, I mixed their white to their beige color at a ratio of 1 to 2. I mixed 48-ounces (16oz white, 32oz beige) at a time and added ~1/3rd of the non-skid container to each of the non-skid coats.
LESSONS LEARNED:
ROLLING TIPS: - Make sure to use even pressure on the roller, otherwise you will leave ridges or lines in the paint film, especially with the non-skid material added. I found that if I worked out a 2’ wide by 3’ long area at a time – it went well. I rolled the bulk paint on in one direction and feathered it out in the other.
REMOVING TAPE or DE-TAPING: - This is CRITICAL! A key point to know when using 2-part linear polyurethane is to remove the masking tape while the paint is still wet or else let it dry and then score the edge with an Exacto knife. Otherwise, the tape can peel off the paint as the paint film is not fully cured! Two-part paints develop their ‘tensile’ strength very quickly, but it takes several days to develop ‘peel’ strength.
The only place I had an issue is when weather threatened and I decided I just couldn’t risk putting down a 3rd coat in the same afternoon. But, I had used hardener in the previous coat. So I took the next afternoon off and completed the last coat. I did have the ‘score’ the edge between glossy paint and the non-skid in order to remove the blue 3M tape that had been laid down in the previous afternoon. See the tip below though, in case you ever get a paint ‘pull’.
CURING PAINT “PULLS”: - This is where water-based (ONLY while ‘wet’) LPUs paints shine! While pulling the tape, I got the idea to have a tiny cap full of paint on hand. I did get a few pulls, as remember, LPUs get their strength from the integrity of the entire paint film. I simply dipped my finger into that tiny cap I had of paint, touched the surface under the pull, and then wetted the same finger to smear the ‘pull’ back onto the deck. You CANNOT tell I had a pull in those areas! Plus, if you see a rough edge where the non-skid meets the gloss paint or un-non-skidded surface, just wet your finger and smooth it out. This really worked slick! The transition of gloss surface to non-skid looks totally professional on my install!
Other Lessons: - I painted in clean boxers and clean white socks … it wasn’t a pretty sight ;) , but it sure kept dirt down on the floor for the coats in-process, haha!
IMPRESSIONS:
I’m totally thrilled! The picture attached doesn’t do it justice, but the final product is amazing. It looks better than brand new! As you see this picture, I had walked on the deck for the entire day and yet no dirt or anything imbed into the non-skid. The grit feels like you’re walking on sandpaper, yet is not bad on bare feet at all, since it is so uniform.
I had one place where I missed a “drip” onto the previous coat. Since it was in a place you won’t see it, I tried to remove it. This LPU paint dries so hard that I had to use a sharp knife to even remove any of the paint! The best I could do was to knock the top off the dome of the droplet. Again, you won’t see it, but I was thrilled to see the hardness of the finished product.
Now to see how it lasts through the next many seasons!
