Cockpit Floor Paint, Coatings

[cbadmin]

From: Mike (Original Message) Sent: 11/25/2002 8:26 PM
Ideas for restoring, improving and the care of the painted non-skid coating on the cockpit floor.

From: Mike Sent: 11/25/2002 8:29 PM
Greg -

How is the truck bed liner you applied to your cockpit floor holding up? Still glad you put it in there? How did you apply it? Got pictures?

It seems I remember you saying it was a rubber impregnated coating, and it works well for non-skid, glass protection, and noise dampening.

Thanks,

Mike

From: Redƒox Sent: 11/25/2002 9:17 PM
2nd full year in use and holding up excellent! It is the Rhino Liner product, sold at Wall Mart stores for 90.$ (whole kit including roller and stuff) It has THE best skid protection Iv'e ever seen or tried. And it has tiny rubber chunks in it that makes it work so well, I think it is urethane based, very potent! need lots of ventilation being aplied, but dries in a day.
And yes, I love the quietnes it ads, when something hard hits the floor.... no more deafening "crack" sound.
The only thing to watch would be the color, it's black and does get hot in the sun... a plus in Alaska!

From: Sundown Sent: 11/26/2002 6:37 AM
I installed Dri-Deck on my cockpit floor and find it works well. Inexpensive, easy to install and takes little care. The only draw back is that it is a little hard on bare feet. I bought mine from West Marine because I could (and did) return any unused pieces especially corners and edges. I did find it a little cheaper somewhere else by doing a Google search. What I really wanted was Teak grating but at around $600.00 found that a little hard to swallow...maybe someday. Of course I just like wood on boats and wooden boats. To see a couple of my wooden boats click here.
Larry

From: Mike Sent: 12/1/2002 4:22 PM
I was able to scrounge up some industrial rubber floor matting at work to completely cover the cabin floor and cover half the cockpit floor. It is 3/4" thick black rubber, with holes through it and ribs on the underside to hold it slightly above the floor to allow for drainage. It really works great. There are four sections total, and they can be picked up and dunked over the side for rinsing. The cockpit only gets half covered to leave some room for slapping the big fish on the floor where the slime can be easily hosed off. The exposed side of the cockpit mats have a tapered edge piece snapped on, and are just wide enough to allow all four feet of the deck chairs to sit on them. They are a little hard on the bare feet, too, but they make it a lot more comfortable for standing, and also do a lot for noise dampening. They are pretty heavy, though, maybe 20 - 30 pounds for the works. Kay didn't want any mats at first, but after she got the dog she wanted to be able to keep his feet dry. I guess the mutt is good for something after all. There is a picture of the things in this section's Detail Pics album.

It is surprising how much sand, dirt and crud ends up on the floor beneath the cabin mats where it doesn't get rinsed frequently. All that crud would be ground in and spread all over if not for the mats letting it fall thru and stay put. It does a whole bunch to keep things cleaner inside. I also put a small car floor mat (carpet) just inside the cabin door, and another inside the v-berth entry.

The painted surface of the floor is in pretty good shape still, and with the heavy mats in the traffic areas, it ought to stay that way. One of these days I will want to repaint the floor area under the splash well where the fuel tanks are sitting, but there no need for non-skid in there.

Mike

From: "Nancy H" Sent: 12/2/2002 7:00 AM
Mike,
Do you know of any place where we can buy the industrial mats?
Larry

From: Mike Sent: 12/2/2002 5:44 PM
Larry -

I have looked in places like Home Depot, and have never seen the heavy stuff. The closest I found was at Costco this summer. They had some 3' x 4' rubber mats that were pretty thick and could be cut to fit, but they just didn't look very tough. Pretty good price, though.

The mill buys the stuff from Grainger Industrial Supply, and the stuff I got costs them about ten bucks a square foot. They use a lot of it, but it took me a couple weeks to round up enough loose pieces to convince them it was scrap. If you are running a business of some sort, you can buy from Grainger. The last time I checked, you had to have a business account with them to even browse their online catalog (which is huge). McMaster Carr is the other big industrial supply catalog.

Mike

From: "Nancy H" Sent: 12/2/2002 7:31 PM
Mike,
Thanks, I do have a Graingers account, I just never thought to look there. I'll check it out.
Larry

From: Mike Sent: 12/2/2002 7:51 PM
Larry, that Grainger is a great outfit. I can buy from them using the mill's price scale, and get free delivery to my house.

I believe the matting I have is NoTrax Sure Step, Grainger No. 5W783. That info came from their 1999-2000 catalog (the latest I have at home), but their numbers usually stay the same every year. There are lots of other styles to choose from in the book, too.

Mike

From: Redƒox Sent: 12/12/2002 11:19 PM
Here is the long promised photo of the cockpit coating I use....
http://www.msnusers.com/CBratsTech/cockpitandaccessoriespics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=61

Look at both, some info is posted in one of the pix.

From: kenonBlue-C Sent: 12/13/2002 5:09 PM
That Hurculiner is nasty stuff. I slathered it all over the floor pan of the Samurai. the thing stunk for a month....is good stuff..there is some similiar stuff, "Duraliner"..not to be confused with "pantyliner" (don't use that)

From: Fun Patrol Sent: 12/13/2002 5:51 PM
I like the Deck Mate tiles better than Dri Deck. Easier on bare feet. I got mine at Boat US.

Roy

From: Redƒox Sent: 12/13/2002 6:46 PM
Wow dude, I never noticed a smell after a few days of hardening off, I have it in the cabin to. It's great stuff indeed, even the areas that are thin and wearing through dont peel! I also aplied it to my new pick-up bed under the molded plastic bedlinner, to guard against chafing.

From: Da_Nag™ Sent: 5/16/2003 3:18 PM
Just ordered some Kiwi Tile for the cockpit of Da Nag. It's similar to Dri-Dek, but the tiles are a little bigger - 13.1" square. As it turns out, the distance between my seat boxes is 26.25", so they'll lay up perfectly with no trimming in this area.

The stuff is a little cheaper than Dri-Dek - $3.49 per tile/$2.93 per sq. foot. Total price was around $125 delivered for a CD19 cockpit + cabin.

I'll post pics when installed.

Bill

From: Mike Sent: 5/18/2003 10:59 PM
It must be some pretty tough stuff, huh? It looks like it they want you to park cars on it. You'll like it. You might consider doing the cockpit floor in two locked together sections, so you can remove the aftmost piece when fishing. I only have about 2/3 of the cockpit floor covered in the TyBoo. The uncovered part is for slapping the slimy fish on. It is also handy to have small enough sections in the back that you can pick them up and dunk them over the side for rinsing.

From: Chuck S Sent: 5/19/2003 4:33 AM
Anyone got photos of Dri Dek or Kiwi to post? I've had a 16' Cruiser less than 48 hours and have decided the floor needs something to help keep it clean.

-- Chuck

From: Islandgirl Sent: 5/19/2003 7:16 AM
I have used QuietCoat on my cars and am thinking of using on my 22' Angler. Great Stuff http://www.quietcoat.com/ .

I put 4' x4' balck industrial mats in the cockpit and cabin deck...cot them at Home Depot for $20...they work great, and easy to rinse off....only problem, the mats don't interlock as advertised.


bruno

From: Da_Nag™ Sent: 5/19/2003 8:08 AM
Hey Mike,

The stuff is supposed to click together/apart fairly easily, so removing a section in the cockpit while fishing shouldn't be a big deal.

But why not slap the fish right on the covering? Wouldn't the slime rinse off fairly easily?

Speaking of which, that's the next project - wash down pump. You mentioned a while back something about a high pressure unit - did you ever get it?

Bill

From: Molly Brown Sent: 5/19/2003 9:36 AM
We've had Drydek for years. Two flaws: It gets all mushy in direct sun which caused unstable footing especially on the slanted deck of the 22; It's plain murder on bare feet. You don't notice it at first but by the time you do it's too late. We've just outfitted a new boat and like this Duragrid product. See it at http://groups.msn.com/CBratsOnline/mollybrown.msnw?Page=3 picture number one showing the door. It's not as easy to install because it a lot stiffer material but then that what we like about it. James of m/v Molly Brown

From: Mike Sent: 5/19/2003 12:09 PM
The fish slime goes through the little holes and splashes up in your face when you rinse it off. If you don't rinse it off, it stinks and the dog hair sticks to it. When you do rinse it off, the water does not drain out from underneath it very good, even though it has the raised lugs to hold it off the floor. It is so much more effiecient to dunk it over the side, drape it over the gunwale, and hose the floor with it out of there.

I have the ShurFlo Blaster washdown pump. They should call it a Squirter. ShurFlo now makes a double ended pump with greater capacity (pump head on each end of a larger motor). I will stick with what I have until it quits. Works good enough for cleaning fish and rinsing slime. They have this stupid rule in electrical stuff that says the amount of amps drawn is somehow related to the amount of work done, so a bigger pump is asking for other headaches. Otherwise, I would plumb a second pump into the pressure side of my present system and blast the gelcoat off.

You'll think "shouldn't be a big deal" when you're trying to unsnap/resnap your floor mats to rinse them and three fish poles start jerking at the same time. You'll grab one, reach for another, and fall on your but in the slime.

Mike

From: Mike Sent: 5/19/2003 10:13 PM
The stuff I have in the TyBoo is industrial rubber anti-fatique floor mat. It is about 3/4" thick, and is heavy stuff. The weight is good for the floor mat qualities, but not good if boat weight is a concern. The cabin floor is completely covered with two pieces, and the cockpit floor is covered about 2/3 with two pieces. There is some beveled edging on the exposed side to keep from tripping over it. The edging tends to trap the water under the mat. If all I want is a quick rinse, I hose it down and lift the the inside rear corner of each piece to let the water run out quickly. When it comes time to clean 'er up good, I stick my fingers through some of the holes and dunk it in the drink. The holes through it do tend to make it somewhat uncomfortable on the bare feet, but not too bad. At first, Kay did not want any floor mat in the cabin, but then she got the durn dog and was worried about his feet staying wet. The only reason I let her get the dog was so I could have the mats. Boy, did she ever fall for that one!

If you want to see a photo of the floor mats, click away. These things cost the company I work for a couple three hundred bucks. But, I saved them a few bucks by taking them home (with the proper material removal permit) so they would not have to pay for landfill space. It's called Selective Scrapping. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see a small carpet mat just inside the cabin door. That is a rear seat floor mat out of a 1985 Camaro IROC Z28, in case you want to get one. There is another one just like it on the floor of the v-berth entrance. Great for kneeling on when praying to the Porta-Potti.

From: Da_Nag™ Sent: 5/22/2003 7:19 PM
I received and have partially installed the KiwiTile.

It's far easier on the feet than Dri-Dek. The only time I stood on Dri-Dek was in the showers at the Oly gig. I've got wimpy feet, and hated the nubs...

The Kiwi Tile is very smooth - felt fine in the few minutes I stood on it. However, it is not soft - it's a hard plastic, with very little give. One would think this would make it slick, but I didn't get that impression - bare feet and shoes stuck to it well, and it didn't slip around on the deck. Haven't had a chance to try it wet yet.

It does not stick up very far - maybe 3/8". It may keep you out of a small puddle, but it doesn't raise you up very far.

All in all - it's OK, nothing I'd call remarkable. If any of you are thinking of it, I'd suggest ordering a couple of tiles before commiting to the whole enchilada. You'll only be out $10 if you don't like it...

I'll post photos after I'm done with the install. Still need to cut several of them.

Bill

From: Redƒox Sent: 5/23/2003 1:31 AM

Anyone installing a "floor" in the cockpit area should make sure whatever it is does NOT float. that could be a real pain if one had to get back there and bail it out in an emergency situation.

From: Ole Leo Sent: 5/25/2003 6:37 AM
I will be ordering a boat in the fall. The factory options list has floorboards. Are these boards that make the cockpit floor level? If so what is the material? Would the water drain underneath? Any associated problems? Anybody have them?

Chris

From: True Story Sent: 6/4/2003 8:58 AM
Ole Leo, I went with the floorboard option on my 22 last fall and believe it was a wise choice. They provide for a flat surface which lends to stability when it gets sloppy, keeps the feet and gear dry and they don't impede water flow to the bilge pump. I installed a redundant bilge pump in the back of the boat because the stock location doesen't allow for pumping while underway, requires weight shifting for pumping at a standstill unless there is quite a bit of water in the cockpit and still doesen't remove all of the water.

They floorboards are made out of fiberglass with a gel coat surface. My only gripe is that they are a little slicker than I care for. I installed some coarse grip tape along the edges because we hang over the boat quite a bit in the process of fishing but have decided to remove the tape and coat the top of the floorboards with a non-slip paint surface. Haven't decided on which product to use yet. Hope this helps. Tim

From: Jim F Sent: 6/4/2003 10:38 AM
Tim - I just got through coating my cockpit with the same Hercu-liner truck bed liner that Greg used on his Angler, except I spent some more $ to get it in gray because I figured the black stuff would cook in the lower latitudes (lower than AK anyway.) So far it seems to be great stuff, very durable and skid-resistant.

Jim F.

From: Redƒox Sent: 6/4/2003 10:37 PM
Holy cow! I did not realize Hurculiner was available in grey! It's the best stuff I have ever seen and certainly the safest as far as traction goes. Going on the 3rd season now and no peeling. Back when I rolled it, I only did one coat, even the areas that the material was too thin did not peel! I may recoat with grey. I like the black for the appearance and the heat, the floor dries fast But I may recoat with grey now, as I need to recoat those thin areas.

From: Ole Leo Sent: 6/5/2003 6:11 AM
True Story: Thanks for the level floor information. They sound like an item worth having. I assume they are two panels that meet at the center line? How tight do they fit the cockpit? Say from front to rear? Do they but up against the door sill and fuel tanks? Stay inplace pretty good? Would a cooler or portable fuel tanks still slide under the transom? Or are the panels shaped to form around the fuel tanks and go clear to the stern? Aside from the slick surface, do you think they could handle the pounding/abuse of two large dogs? Yellow Lab and a German Shepherd. A posted picture would be awsome, if possible. I don't think there is one on file. Thanks again.


From: True Story Sent: 6/5/2003 8:28 AM
Thanks Jim F. for the information on the bed liner material. I took a look at the product at the parts shop and think it will work great. I was happy to find out that it comes in gray and it looks like it would clean up easily. I will take you up on your suggestion.

Ole Leo, I don't have a digital camera so I can't post a picture but imagine someone else could. The two panels do meet at centerline, fit nicely from the cabin bulkhead to the front of the gas tanks, don't move around and are sturdy. I don't think they would effect placement of extra portable tanks but they do effect the size of cooler you can fit completely under the splash well. The panels raise the floor level about 1-1/2" at centerline and 1/4" at the cockpit edges.

From: Ole Leo Sent: 6/6/2003 6:34 AM
True Story: Thanks for the detailed discription of the floor boards. I can make good use of them, I think. Add them to my ever growing list of options when I order this fall.

Chris