Non Skid Paint

dotnmarty

New member
Lots of fishing stuff has been removed on our boat. The downriggers and other stuff were on the non-skid part of the gunnels. Does anyone know what color grey will match and what kind of paint I should use? Thanks.
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We faced this problem on several boats we restored. First be sure that all of the non skid is faired. If not fair, you can use epoxy with filler to build slightly over the height of surrounding diamond non skid--and then use a fine Dremal tool bit to match the non skid. Clean with soap and water, then acetone. Finally use the two rag method and either alcohol or the Decto cleaner.

See http://www.detcomarine.com/index.html

This is web site of DectoMarine which makes Sterling two part LP paint--it works very well for tip and roll on decks. Read all thru the site; It is full of good information. You can send for paint color samples.

You will put a coat of high build primer (94-1000), and then lightly sand it. Mix micro glass beads with the Sterling grey colored paint, and roll it in thickly. The second coat will have no micro beads in it, and will help to seal the first coat. This gives you a good non skid surface, and preserves the diamond non skid pattern, but filled in somewhat. Don't use too coarse grit or sand--it will ruin foul weather gear and clothing. The fine glass beads are enough. Lacking the glass beads, you can use one of the products at West Marine.

There are a number of other ways to approach this problem--but we found that Sterling Paint, rolled on, tipped out in corners (of course lots of masking) makes a durable and long lasting finish, easy on the feet and behinds.
 
It's hard to tell from the images but it appears that the through holes were simply filled with epoxy. Either Bob or perhaps Scott at Triton showed us some patterned silicon that could be applied during the gel coating or epoxy process that reproduced the diamond grid in the filled holes. E.g. the final layer of the filler was thickened and applied (I believe a grey colored gel coat) and the silicon patterning device was overlaid on top. It interlocks with the previous diamond pattern and pushes the new fill into the same pattern. After the filler dries, the patterning device is peeled off leaving nice diamond non-skid behind. Maybe someone else (Bob?) can provide more details. I believe the grey is a gel coat and you can contact Scott at Triton (call, it seems to be more effective than email), to get the color or it might be here on the C-Brat site someplace.
 
Roger is correct--but It was not I who gave this idea. I have seen the pattern mold done--and done a few pieces of it. I have found for small holes that re-making the pattern is easier.

Yes, the grey is gel coat--and it is a Cook Composite so the colors should be available. Depending on how much needs to be done, I have found that painting is easier than gel coating--in this case it appears that the entire deck would have to be re-gel coated or painted It it was just a small amount, then the gel coat would be definitely the best way to go. With time gel coats do fade, and at times the original may not match....but will eventually fade out to the same as it is now.
 
We had 18 holes filled on top of the gunnels where a poorly built railing was installed. Tern Boat Salvage matched the gelcoat color and reproduced the non-skid manually. I believe it involved a layer of gelcoat to the height of the surrounding non-skid 'peaks' and then it was filed down using the surrounding pattern as a guide. It's impossible to tell the pattern was matched by hand. But then again it was done by professionals!
 
Not having all the knowledge displayed above at hand, several (~8-9) years ago, I had some non-skid to match on the foredeck.

So I simply mixed some Marine Tex epoxy up, tinted it to the grey color, and applied it to the spaces.

My wife then added the x-hatch/diamond pattern with a pop-sickle stick.

Very hard to find the miniscule amount of pattern miss-match and the original openings.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
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