Possible Non-Skid deck solution

[Woodonglass]

I been thinkin' and I Know this is a Dangerous thing!!! I would really like to hear from anyone/everyone with their thoughts and opinion. Since Poly Resin is significantly less expensive than Epoxy, what if you Tinted the Resin and then applied it over a layer of CSM and 18oz. Woven roving. It would yield a "Grid" like texture to the surface any any color of your choice. Where is my thinking off. CSM is cheap and 18oz WR is not to bad either. A 16 foot fishing boat witha 5 ft beam could use this to texture their deck for about...$150 bucks. If you're frugal with your resin and don't allow it to "Pool" you will be able to get a grid texture as shown in the pic. If the resin is tinted white I'm thinkin it would look pretty good. I also think this could be a good solution for Bilges and transoms. Instead of painting with bilge coat just Tint the last batch of resin and be done with it.

Am I missing something??? :noidea:

 

[ondarvr]

It works, I used the texture of 2408 with pigmented resin (gel coat and resin mix) to create the non skid in my jet boat, that was 15 years ago and it's holding up well.

I'm not sure if roving will have enough texture to work well when wet, but it might.

 

[tpenfield]

I used 24 oz woven roving to create non-skid areas on my fiberglass dinghy that I made a few year back. 18 oz might be OK too. I did give everything a final coat of gelcoat . . .

 

[proshadetree]

I think regular poly isnt very UV stable. One of the big reasons you need to paint or gelcoat it. Rolling gel with a thick nap roller will get a good nonslip without the pattern.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Since you guys have way more experience than I with this stuff......if you add surfacing wax to the last layer, does that make it UV stable?

 

[tpenfield]

The wax just isolates the resin from air exposure so that it cures. Not going to do anything for UV resistance.

 

[ondarvr]

If you add enough pigment the UV resistance is OK, but not great, so if using this method I may tint the resin, then apply gel coat as the final coat or layer. This way even if the gel coat wears down the resin under it is about the same color.

​Wax doesn't add any UV resistance, but there are UV stabilizers you can put in resin to make it more UV resistant.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I'm looking to use Rhino Liner as non-skid on the Rogue

 

[proshadetree]

It will take quite a while to wear down gelcoat. Especially if you keep it covered. My houseboat is going on two years on the fresh gel and was almost 10 on the one before. Cracking was the worst issue. Wear never played a part, but that was roofs and decks.

 

[Teamster]

If I ever redo another boat I think I'll spend some money and just get this for my floors,...

 

[mickyryan]

I used ?10 restore so far so good, not so for covering fiberglass, does not like to stick to glass so stay away from that but quite good on primered wood.

 

[Red Herring]

Interesting idea! Especially if one would tint the resin first and then add some gelcoat as Ondavr mentioned. I wonder how this would work on already existing even gelcoat, really doesn't unless one would grind the gel out I guess?

 

[EricT71]

Hi guys I think a textured floor is a good idea. My 75 Slickcraft has a checkering molded into the floor from the factory. The floor looks to be gelcoated fiberglass. It is a really nice feature and I fear losing it if I ever had to rebuild my boat. The checkering is very similar to what you see on gun stocks. My boat is 41 years old, almost 1800 hours on the meter and the floor does not show any signs of wear except in the spots where a metal boarding ladder contacts it, so I'm sure it can be made to hold up.

 

[ondarvr]

Hi guys I think a textured floor is a good idea. My 75 Slickcraft has a checkering molded into the floor from the factory. The floor looks to be gelcoated fiberglass. It is a really nice feature and I fear losing it if I ever had to rebuild my boat. The checkering is very similar to what you see on gun stocks. My boat is 41 years old, almost 1800 hours on the meter and the floor does not show any signs of wear except in the spots where a metal boarding ladder contacts it, so I'm sure it can be made to hold up.

It can be reproduced, it's a little bit of a hassle, but can be done.

 

[mickyryan]

you can get stencil patterns for concrete decking that you can use to re pattern your floors with also there are many choices then you just spray and afterwards you can have patterns, I have seen the 1" diamond pattern before in a concrete deck so I know there has to be a stencil out there, it was at a handicap facility .

 

[proshadetree]

I have seen skins made for swim platforms made with the checking in it and then bonded to the base and glassed at the sides. Then the complete unit gelcoated and polished. It is an expensive process that I have never tried but looks excellent when done right.

 

[Woodonglass]

My experience with the Restor x10 product has NOT been good. It peels off easily if water gets between it and the substrate. I'll be very interested in your opinion after a few years.

 

[mickyryan]

yeah wood on the bare new wood its perfect, on the fiberglass floor , nope has 2 spots already wanting to peel so I'm going to cover in carpet and that will be that , but rest is holding up nice where it was good wood, maybe it just needed that extra bite?

 

[Pusher]

Nice idea Wood.

I imagine the gelcoat top coat would fill in the "corners" of all the fiberglass pattern not already smoothed by resin. That would just make it easier to clean and add some substance to the decking.

I went with kiwi deck and it's nice, but doesn't do well if over poly resin and water's pooling. Maybe I didn't do the prep well though.
It took about a gallon of material to do my 17' boat. So the price is about the same.