Boat Builders, How do you add Non Skid to a deck?
 

I want to sand down the cockpit floor and add new anti Skid. How do you do that? I have tried to add salt and sugar on top of the gel coat (used to do that when I fixed the windsurfers) with some success but I am wondering if there is a better way?

Thanks
Jon

You can buy a non skid material embeded in paper. After gel coating put the paper on the wet gel coat and roll over it, than remove. Fiberglass supply houses should sell it and I can get you some if needed. It comes in different designs of non skid.

I tried surfing in Rio.... all that surfboard wax pulled out the hair on my chest... the surfboard looked like it had fur on it... gross!.....:p

I believe that it is sprayed in the IMRON.

I'm going to let this go on for a while before I reveal the real method (used by west coast custom builders)...

audio i thank the patternis in the mold but i v'e seen a rubber mat with the pattern on it

Ok Spit it out will ya :D:D

You got the name of a company by any chance?

Jon

You are correct that is how it is done with Imron but I am going the gel coat method on this boat.

Jon

HEY Burger BUM BLASTER you know you have to actually get the boat wet AND put it up on Plane to win this!!! So keep yappin it up bro you know you will not know what to do when you get to the ramp. You recon you even know how to trailer a boat? :D:D

The sand stuff is no good. The real way is in the mold but I hear you can get the same diamond out of the mold. I would say make a mold and glass the "patch" down. it can't be easy, spill the beans dude. Too Old, those look new, are they. Man this is a keeper for sure.

Yes you are correct but there has to be a way for me to add a nice non skid after the fact????

Jon

Ya that is what we said about the Cig, Sonic, Skater, and on and on and on :D:D

Best glass shop in town uses this method for small areas. I guess it can sorta be tweaked to work on larger areas.

Find a section of flat glass that has the desired nonskid pattern. Clean it and then shoot mold release on it. Make a little dam with modeling clay to contain the area you want. Pour liquid urethane on the surface and fill to about 1/8" thick. Let it set up and peel it off.

Shoot gelcoat on your new surface pretty thick. Spray the urethane with mold release and start at one end and "roll" it onto the wet gel. Let it set. Peel it off.

Presto.

I understand that method however the problem is that I do not have any non skid on there that is good enough for me to get a mold off. Also on this boat there is not really a pattern it is just a rough surface. I can put back anything that I want so the sky is the limit...

Jon

go to any auto body shop that does spray on bed liners... your done:D :D :D
problem it usually black.. maybe you could paint it..:p :p

just joking.....

No, I got colored bedliner from a place for my Whaler. They made it a light blue for $25 extra. Bought it in a kit. I sprayed it in. That crap gets everywhere...

as far as the nonskid, I kind of had in mind that you might get a pattern off a center console boat or something.

Jon,
Could you possibly have the Line-X guys spray it on your floor? They do a nice job and it would be definately durable. They spray their product on alot of other things besides truck beds.

Jon,

Spray or roll with Awl-Grip, "US Paint". They have coarse plastic bubbles that can be added to the paint. If you spray, be sure to have a large enough tip for your gun. Rolling may be easier and you'll have a bit more control over the areas you're covering.

Forget any diamond shapes and such designs. Adds too much weight to the boat. Besides, this isn't for a fishing boat now is it? ;)

Audiofn,
There is a fiberglass dealer here on the Island that had what you need. I do believe it was rolled on and forgot the name of the product. If you haven't found what your looking for e-mail and I'll get you his ph#. I've tried the additive from West marine that I had mixed into Imron but wish I would have known about this other stuff. Stan

Jon, my glass buddy uses a trick little method that works well. Spray the gel on. Wait until it just starts to thicken ( kick ) then roll the desired area with a "GOOP LOOP" paint roller. The kind used to apply texture paint or plaster made of little loops of rubber instead of bristles on the roller. Its a less aggressive non skid than the sand type finnish but very effective.

Jon, I don't know if this is the kind you are looking for, but we install epoxy flooring, and I called the makers of the material to find out what I could to to make it non skid. They told me to get aluminum oxide like is used to make sandpaper and broadcast it onto the sealer before it dries. I couldn't find any aluminum oxide, so I bought some bead blasting media in a five gallon bucket from Grainger. It was like $30/bucket. I bought the fine stuff so it wouldn't sand peoples feet off. I imagine you could do the same with gel. Broadcast more than you think you need, because about half of it won't stick.

This is a good method, just practice on a sheet of plywood before so you get a feel for how much pressure to apply and what patterns you want.

Slap some Perelli Rubber flooring in there

Jon, we added a non-skid substance (looks like very fine sand) to clear coat and used a paint roller to put it on the center front strip on my Cafe. It turned out very well.

The material I'm talking about is called Gibco Flex-mold. Go to www.spectrumcolor.com. I also have info I can fax you if you get me a fax number. This is the way the boat manufacturers repair non skid. You can get it for any brand of boat, formula uses part number 315.

The link didn't work.

That Flexmold looks like something that I should use when we do my fathers boat. Thanks for that link. I got some other ideas from Minicraft that should work.

Jon

Sorry, I fixed the link.