Regelcoating the cockpit deck.

Cutty Sark · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:10 pm Post subject: Regelcoating the cockpit deck.

Ok hopefully this'll grab Thataway's, or oldgrowth's attention. Smile

Since I know they have alot of experience in this area. But anyone's tips or thoughts would be appreciated. So I've finished doing all my repairs of the deck and am ready to put a new coat of gray gelcoat on the cockpit floor(old one wearing down anyway) I was planning on prepping the deck by sanding lightly to increase adhesion, cleaning thoroughly and the possibly going over the deck once with a quick wipe of styrene to reactivate older gelcaot a bit, everything taped off of course. Now here are my questions:

1. To get my gelcoat to stand up a bit from being rolled on do I need to thicken it first, or on a fairly light coat will it stand up a bit on its own?
2. I have some factory gray for the floor, but it is unthickened and surely doesn't have a patching agent, I was planning on going the patching agent route rather than trying to cover the whole area with plastic, hoping to retain better non skid by doing so... I have some other gelcoat that comes with the patching agent and so far it has been pretty easy to work with, am I better going with something like that and just matching the color or trying to add thickener, patching agent, and possibly more color if ineeded to what cdory gave me?

Any advice on roller choice, use of styrene, and generally just any help or thoughts on the process would be greatly appreciated.

Sark

1TUBERIDER · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 4:44 pm Post subject:

Sark I did not know the cockpit has gel coat. I see an awful lot of weave which does not look like a gel coat finish. I also have a spatter type of paint finish below the gunnel that goes to the gray deck color. All the smooth shiny surfaces on the rest of the boat is gel coat.

The grey finish looks like a paint with a texture grit added in for grip.

I could be completely wrong, but paint for the cockpit floor would be my choice and it is a lot easier to apply and have good results. Gel coat is so temperature sensitive and it has been to cold to set off resin lately unless you have a controlled environment.

ghone · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 4:59 pm Post subject:

paint is a whole lot easier to both apply and maintain. I figure to roll on a coat every couple of years as there is a lot of wear and tear on the floor. One can get interlux deck coat and shake it up and roll it on. Easy George

Cutty Sark · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject:

I've got her in a climate controlled warehouse, it's kept at about 70 dgrees on the thermostat but feels a bit warmer due to the circulation, I can turn it up if needed but that temp has been working so far for the gelcoat repair I have done. I'm pretty sure I've asked before and the grey on the cockpit floor is gelcoat, it's just rolled on instead of sprayed. I had to replace a small piece of the core and when contacted for balsa even sea sport said the gelcoat was hand painted on the floor. Thataway did the same thing on Frequent Sea when he replaced the deck I believe. I did think about a two part paint, but they do not wear as well, seems like I've I've read they have about half the life of a gelcoat. The old grey gelcoat actually is still in decent shape. So it obviously wore well. Plus I've been doing some minor gelcoat repairs and have found the process fun to learn and not as hard as I had figured.

Sark

Sea Wolf · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:08 pm Post subject:

Cutty Sark · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:21 pm Post subject:

Wait ...I thought just the white on the inside of the hull with the splattered paint was zolatone not the grey deck. I have a can of grey from the factory and I'm almost positive it's gelcoat(though I haven't opened it). In fact I asked about it here when I bought my 22 and I swear it was confirmed it was gelcoat not paint. Crook

I'll look closer tonight. But again I'm pretty sure the guy at Seasport told me it was gelcoat hand painted.

Sark

RonJr · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:34 pm Post subject:

Sark
I used 2 coats of Durabak paint on mine.

thataway · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:28 pm Post subject:

In many cases I might say to use two part LP paint, and that is what I have done on boats which I have restored. This included mixing glass micro beads as non skid agent, in the first coat to be rolled on, then the second coat with no microbeads. This is applied over the diamond non skid and works well.

But in this case, where the interior of the cockpit is probably grey gel coat, I would stick with gelcoat. BE SURE that the Gel Coat has a SURFACING agent (wax to occlude the air for curing)--or you will have to spray on wax or PVA. (There are other ways to occlude air, but not on an open rolled on gel coat.)

What we did on the C Dory 25 cockpit was to thicken the gel coat (with surfacing agent) with silica to a modest consistancy, and then roll it on, which gave it a good non skid surface. It worked very well. The cabin floor in our C Dory 25 had a similar finish, but it was too agressive. I suspect that it was thickened too much, and that perhaps an open mesh (like the green pads) roller was used. We used a moderate nap roller (where for a smooth finish we would use a fine foam roller).

The rolled on gel coat should last the full life of the boat. I think that just cleaning the deck well, running acetone over it should be sufficient. I don't see need for styrene in this application.

Over all, I suspect that rolling out the entire cockpit will be better than just patching--there will be a better color match and non skid appearance.

Sea Wolf · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:37 pm Post subject:

rogerar · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:11 am Post subject:

Epoxy garage floor coating will work, and hopefully is cheaper than truck bed liner. I've done 2 boats with Rustoleum brand, it's great-Non Toxic 2 part water based Epoxy, very durable, comes with paint chip nonskid in the kit. Available @ Lowe's.
Roger

Sea Wolf · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 1:37 pm Post subject:

Cutty Sark · Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:58 am Post subject:

Ok, so I spent the weekend on the boat, prepping the floor etc.. I did open the can of grey that Cdory gave me and stirred it with a stick, and let the stick dry to see if it was a paint. Well it never cured so I'm guessing it's gelcoat, it smells kinda like the other gelcoat that I have but I'm no expert. I guess it could still be a two part paint but I doubt it. I also did some more research on redoing the floor, and I still think I'm going to stick with gelcoat.

Sark

lloyds · Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:15 pm Post subject:

I too have a pint can of the grey, cockpit covering. The factory sent it to me a couple years back. They told me I would have to go to Tap Plastics or another outlet as they couldn't ship the hardener with it. But I don't think it is gelcoat. Seems like it is a two part paint.

Sea Wolf · Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject:

lloyds · Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:10 pm Post subject:

Seems like I remember "mek" being mentioned. Must be expoxy then. The non skid is in good shape, mostly the paint has peeled on the port and starboard sides so I am going to get some two part paint, at least that is the preference at this point.Although the bedliner is an intriguing idea I hadn't thought of before.