What Color Is Your Deck ?

[Bill_E]

Well, I was just doing some work on my boat, on the hard in Ft. Pierce, Fla. Most of my deck is a very light blue but there is a section in the center that is white. By 11:00 AM I couldn't stand on the blue parts in bare feet but the white was totally comfortable. Too bad I couldn't think of a good way to measure the temperatures but the qualitative test was absolutely conclusive to me. I probably won't repaint for a couple of years but I may have to think about the deck areas. We are planning a long trip to Puerto Rico and then leaving the boat here. I'm not sure I want to dance my way down the Thorny Path!

Bill

[roverhi]

An full awning aft of the mast for use in port will keep the sun off the deck and make the boat comfortable in even the hottest conditions. After the boat and self-steering, the most important things to have on a cruise. A light color non skid and deck shouldn't be too much of a problem and easier on the eyes.

Teak decks are there own punishment. Hot in the tropics, potentially the source of a thousand leaks and require maintenance. What really hurts is the cost to replace when they age.

Aloha
Peter O.
Pearson 35 #108

[Pblais]

Too bad I couldn't think of a good way to measure the temperatures but the qualitative test was absolutely conclusive to me.

Qualitative tests really don't mean much, but this is the one test that does matter most. It also relates to pulling into the slip at the end of the day and having to turn on the A/C. It can make a 10 degree difference as far as getting the boat cooled off on the inside too.

[SoonerSailor]

You could buy a cheap infrared pyrometer from someplace like Harbor Freight and use that to make comparative temperature measurements of painted surfaces.

Even a snowy white painted surface is only about 90% reflective at best. Any tint knocks that way down and increases the solar heat gain substantially.

Other factors in foot perceived temperatures are density and thermal conductivity of the object being walked on. At one extreme are the silica heat shield tiles of the space shuttle. My understanding is that you can pull one out of the furnace glowing red, and yet not burn yourself if you hold it because it is so thermally non-conductive. Copper or silver would be at the other extreme, capable of rapidly transferring large amounts of heat to the foot. These characteristics may account for the relative coolness of a teak deck on the foot despite its dark color and high rate of solar absorption - it just doesn't transfer heat as effectively as painted fiberglass.

[stuartcnz]

Of the many decks I have laid my bare feet on white was by far the coolest. My current boat has light grey decks and is scorching in the sun. Not only that but the boat heats up to an incredible temperature on a sunny day. The fact that the deck is ferro may exacerbate the problem, as I understand that others with white ferro decks, don't have the temperature problems.

As an aside, white paint lasts longer than other colours on boats too.

[Whimsical]

There is a few suppliers of ceramic based paint and additives intended for thermal insulation.
I will try some as the nonskid areas but it may be quite some time before I get the boat in the water so don't hold your breath waiting for a report.

Mike

[MidLandOne]

That part of our decks that are painted are beige cut with 2 parts of white so ends up being a pale colour without the glare of white in bright clear sunlight. It never seems to get overly hot and is used on a number of boats around here (it is a mix recommended by a paint manufacturer). Most of the deck is covered with a composition non-skid which never feels too hot due to its low thermal capacity - but I don't think I would use it again because of its high lifetime cost (original material cost and the cost of removing it when replacement time comes round).

The boat being metal the underside of the deck is insulated with Korex (an alternative to Armaflex which is better known) so there is negligible conduction of heat into the boat.

[SVDistantStar]

My deck is painted 2 colours. The deck part is grey. This was the last owners idea and it sucks. Its freaking hot in the summer. I painted the cabin top part of the deck tan over the grey and that helped alot. Ive found a 2-part epoxy paint made for garage floors(thats what the grey part is) that is tan that im going to redo the whole deck with soon.

[Roy M]

Epoxy paints, though quite durable, have little resistance to ultraviolet rays of the sun. Within a couple seasons they begin to chalk badly. Good for garage floors, bad for boat decks. Try linear polyurethanes such as Allgrip or Sterling which will hold up at least five years or considerably more, depending on your sunshine intensity.

[MidLandOne]

Originally Posted by Roy M

Epoxy paints, though quite durable, have little resistance to ultraviolet rays of the sun. Within a couple seasons they begin to chalk badly. Good for garage floors, bad for boat decks. Try linear polyurethanes such as Allgrip or Sterling which will hold up at least five years or considerably more, depending on your sunshine intensity.

While I agree with the sentiment and always recommend linear polyurethanes for most situations a common strategy on decks is to use an epoxy paint for the non skid areas. The epoxy and the non skid additive generally seem to last about the same time - the epoxy chalking through UV and the non skid additive through wear. It is a much easier job to prepare back for repainting the weathered epoxy/non slip additive than it is to do so with a long lived glass hard polyurethane in which the much shorter life non slip additive has worn past its usefulness.

Ideally, the rest of the deck should be painted with polyurethane. As I mentioned in an earlier post we have a composition type non skid with the rest of the deck polyurethane. When coating renewal is required we will likely paint the whole deck with polyurethane and overcoat the non skid areas with epoxy/additive along the lines above.

If a good epoxy is used it should last considerably longer than the couple of seasons mentioned with respect to performance against high UV. Of course wear and tear if the deck is treated roughly, such as through chain being laid out on it when anchoring, etc as some do, then cosmetic life will be short.

[Roy M]

Common strategy? Dear fellow forum folks, is this your observation? I've been in this biz for over thirty years, using LPU, epoxy, acrylic, rubber based and many other surface finishes. Epoxy is great for bilges and rotten for exposure to sunlight. Am I blowing smoke or is this a statement based on little actual experience with others? Since these paints cost some money and even more expenditure for removal after failure, isn't it appropriate to explore the longevity of a deck paint before actually suggesting its widespread use? Epoxy paint is a bad idea for this application.

[MidLandOne]

Originally Posted by Roy M

Common strategy? Dear fellow forum folks, is this your observation? I've been in this biz for over thirty years, using LPU, epoxy, acrylic, rubber based and many other surface finishes. Epoxy is great for bilges and rotten for exposure to sunlight. Am I blowing smoke or is this a statement based on little actual experience with others? Since these paints cost some money and even more expenditure for removal after failure, isn't it appropriate to explore the longevity of a deck paint before actually suggesting its widespread use? Epoxy paint is a bad idea for this application.

So you are calling me a liar.

If you know more about my observations and knowledge of successful practices in my (and some other) parts of the world then so be it. It may be different where you hang out, I would not be foolish enough to make a judgement on that. I would have thought that a sensible person would have approached my post with interest, whether positive or negative, rather than with scathing churlishness.

[Roy M]

Please don't overreact, Midlandone. I believe any one reading my comment will find it is not an attack on your credibility. It is, however, a challenge. It may be that in New Zealand, you have lower levels of Ultraviolet rays beating down on you, where you live, but for the majority of folks, it's the UV that causes them to refinish their paint, varnish, or other topcoatings. Epoxy simply doesn't have the edge that LPU has on surface coatings in severe environments (in this case, mainly sunlight, but also expansion/contraction stresses). I have used epoxy paints in engine rooms, bilges, and areas that don't get much sunlight. I tried it once in the head/shower, and found it only survived a couple years because of the light that streams in through the overhead hatch. In the protected areas it was superb and inexpensive and easy to apply. But on deck, it lasted only about three years before beginning to severely chalk. Chalking is unacceptable to me because it means that I'm now carrying white dust on my shoes or bare feet, and the surface can then be easily stained and hard to clean by drops of mayonaisse, suntan oil, skin contact, etc.

I remember a test we made using it to paint a mast. It was tough and durable for a couple years, then, when climbing the mast to do some service, folks descended with white thighs, legs and shoe tops. We changed to LPU and resolved that problem.

Now, if you're looking for scathing churlishness, ask me about something I can sink my fangs into, maybe my predisposition to Lavac toilets, Pulsetechs, or multihulls. And, if we can do it over several mugs of cold, dark ale, then I can wax rhapsodic and make a complete fool of myself, defusing this nonsense about passing judgement on personal opinion. I just can't get too worked up about what you personally care to apply to your boat, since you get to live with the consequences and enjoy the blessings or suffer the tribulations yourself.

[Fishspearit]

Sorry to interrupt the petty back and forth bickering, but back to the topic. While looking at the colors offered in Kiwi grip, I noticed that they have a light green color for the non-skid. I'm having a real hard time picturing what a boat with light green non-skid might look like. Anyone have pictures of such a thing? I see lots of gray, creme, and even light blue tint, but never green.

[GordMay]

The standard KiwiGrip colors are all pastels; and were selected for being as cool as possible underfoot in direct sunlight.

Left to Right: white, grey, cream, blue and green