Deck Paint

[fkittson]

I'm looking at re painting the deck of our Formula 31SC Express Cruiser this spring. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good quality 2 part sprayable paint. Do not worry I have a certified spray booth and about 10 years spraying 2 PAC paints. I just don't know what is the best products are out there. The boat is in Canada Lake Ontario. Please no (you need a pro to spray your boat.) I have allot of experience spaying I just don't know what's good and what's not anymore.
PLEASE HELP

[neilpride]

If you are a Pro and money is not a isue:: AWLGRIP.....
Cheers.

[McGinnis]

Originally Posted by neilpride

If you are a Pro and money is not a isue:: AWLGRIP.....
Cheers.

+1 on AWLGRIP

I went with Perfection though because it was an easier system to work with and was much cheaper.

[HopCar]

I had my deck sprayed with Awl Grip and two years later it still looks great.

[TFrere]

PPG makes a product called Ameron PSX 700. Self priming used on offshore oil platforms. Has the adherance of epoxy and shine of urethane. Painted my boat (2 years) and previous boat (5 years) and still looks great. Cleaned my deck with scotch brite pad and Comet. Sprayed smooth areas and rolled the non-skid. Best paint I ever used.

[fkittson]

Bump!!!

[cabo_sailor]

Twelve years ago I painted my deck with Awlgrip using a 6 in and 2 in roller along with a small chip brush. It took some care but was not difficult and today looks as good as new. The problem, as others have mentioned, it is very, very expensive.

Rich

p.s. I only repainted the non-skid because the deck had turned into an ice rink.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Twelve years ago I painted my deck with Awlgrip using a 6 in and 2 in roller along with a small chip brush. It took some care but was not difficult and today looks as good as new. The problem, as others have mentioned, it is very, very expensive.

Rich

p.s. I only repainted the non-skid because the deck had turned into an ice rink.

I'm contemplating the same project using awlgrip. More expensive & difficult, but extremely durable if done right (from what I've been told).

Rich -- Did you paint the awlgrip over gelcoat (after sanding, prep, & primer)? Did you also use the awlgrip non-skid material that mixes with the paint for the non-skid?

Tks. for any insight. From my ltd. research thus far, awlgrip could actually be easier & more durable than trying to re-gelcoat.

Dan

[nhschneider]

Our boat originally had teak decks but the teak had gotten thin so we had it removed and painted. We went with Sterling paint and added Interlux Grip-Tex to provide some slip resistance. The pro who did our project did a great job but 13 years of hard cruising and it needs to be done again.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[svtrio]

A Sherwin Williams variant of the PPG coating previously mentioned is XLE-80 (an epoxy/polyurethane coating). These are two-part polysiloxane coatings that were created in the 90s for U.S. military ships and claim some great benefits including self-priming, color retention, 10+years of gloss, no-sanding between coats during reasonable time periods, etc. Retail pricing is about the same for XLE-80 and Interlux Perfection. Although I don't have the experience of TFrere, my results thus far are in agreement with his.

Without a doubt, in my experience application of XLE-80 is dramatically less work intensive than Interlux Perfection and Awlgrip.

I've been experimenting with it during the past several months with some very good results. I've wrestled with dry times and reducing (which is not recommended), but the coating has proven tougher than my two-part Interlux. The Interlux lost its shine years ago (but nonetheless the paint has survived on deck for many more years); my "home-brew scratch tests" comparisons dramatically favor the XLE.

In my experimentation, the XLE isn't an acceptable coating with brush or roller, as a presentable on-deck finish, but spraying is great. A thorough Google of these coatings, including various government contracts, will show that they are used successfully on fiberglass vessels (USCG) with no extraordinary preparation despite the coatings being aimed at metal.

If any other forum folks have used these coatings, I would be interested in knowing how they have fared in your applications.

My current plan is to use XLE-80 on the topsides this spring.

Roger

[DSDman]

Roger,
Where are you located. I am anticipating doing the same thing and am very interested in your research. Having read many of the same articles I think you may be on to something and I would prefer taping and spraying over rolling but I am concerned about overspray.

[David M]

Given you are a professional....Awlgrip. That is what the best boatyards spray with. I just had the hull sprayed on my research boat...it turned out really nice, as always.

Overspray is not an issue if you do it indoors (hauled out) where there is zero wind and you cover everything in plastic. Awlgrip ideally should be done indoors because it cannot get wet from condensation for I think 24 hours. If it gets wet the paint dulls. It also needs to be sprayed and cured in temperatures over 55 degrees.

[svtrio]

DSDMan,

I sent a pm.

Roger