Leveling the deck on a 16"

[zuunami]

We have a 2006 16' cruiser, and the ceiling, walls, and deck are very bumpy and striated. I don't care about the ceiling and walls, but it would be nice to flatten out the deck by screeding some product in, in at least the aft bilge area for easy cleaning, but without raising the height of the deck so that water is impeded from flowing to the bilge, and something that's paintable. Anyone have product suggestions for doing this? thanks!

[zuunami]

I was thinking maybe just a couple of layers of elastomeric paint, we could then do the sides and ceiling as well, and add some insulation by doing so. Not sure that would do it though, just trying to get rid of all of the small divots that collect dirt, without making the deck slippery

[thataway]

I am not sure what you are wanting, but many of us have used "dry Deck" these lock together are flat, and can allow water to flow under. Also American Floor Mat, Pool vinyl loop mat is flat, allows any material to flow to the bilge and is easy on the feet. These raise the floor by about 1/2" to 5/8".


Here is an assortment of American Floor mat material like dri deck.. You can link to other products there.

If you want to 'Paint" out the floor--you can sand, then paint with a deck paint and add some non skid to the paint. I usually used glass micro beads. Sand or ground walnut shells are too abrasive . You don't want any boat deck to be slippery. Some folks have sprayed or rolled in truck bed liner. There are deck paints which have non skid which is very rough--and I suspect you may want to avoid that.

In some C Dorys the floor non skid is thickened gel coat (using Cabosil) which leaves peaks and valleys and can be hard to clean..My guess is that is what you may have.

So there are all sorts of ways to treat the cockpit floor

[zuunami]

We have dri deck that we are going to lay down, but I'm wanting to do away with the majority of the "peaks and valleys" underneath as well for cleaning. I'll take a look at deck paint, maybe with enough coats it will even out a bit

[hardee]

[zuunami]

Now that I look more closely, it's not all that bumpy, maybe 1/8 inch, but that 1/8 holds a lot of dirt. Maybe just a good coat of deck paint will even things out enough. I looked at both Kiwi and Awlgrip, mostly good reviews, but a lot of people said it was very hard to clean and/or didn't adhere well. I like the flat look of the current paint, maybe I should just use some good latex flat, and call it good until it needs to be repainted Here's a pic - excuse the hair

[hardee]

That looks pretty stock. Think I would try some Non-Skid cleaner. Spray on, let it sit then hose it off. Will get ride of 90% of that dirt.

Harvey
SleepyC

[zuunami]

thanks, Harvey. The deck, ceiling, and walls are all an icky beige color, so we want to paint it all - would regular latex paint be a no-no on the deck? That's all that seems to be there now, and it's very non-skid - I'd rather not add any other non-skid particles.

[zuunami]

Although I'm starting to FINALLY realize that I probably can't have it both ways, i.e., something very easy to clean, yet non-glare and non-slippery - but I can dream!

[thataway]

What you are seeing in the photo is 24 Oz woven roving with a minimal of gel coat over it. That is part of the structure of the boat--so don't sand it down! You can lay in any number of products or you can give a good deep cleaning periodically. Best to just lay down the Dri-Dek.

[zuunami]

What do you think about putting another layer of gelcoat down, with a filler like cabosil, or I have some glass microspheres. Would that be paintable afterwards? thanks!!

[thataway]

[zuunami]

I'm resigned the peaks and valleys, but I'd really like to get rid of the ugly beige

[thataway]

[zuunami]

thataway, thanks, as always, for sharing all of your expertise. Looks like we'll be looking at a one-part poly. I was hoping to get away from that on the cabin walls and ceiling, but so be it thanks again!