Painting molded in non-slip

[mike_kelly]

How do you get rid of the old paint without destroying heavy, and effective, molded in non slip?


If you sand you would have to sand it all down to truly remove the paint in the crevasses.



Some kind of chemical stripper? How do you handle that when you can't wash it off and capture the toxic waste? Without I suppose dabbing it off and collecting all the paper towels



Thanks

[cpisz]

Originally Posted by mike_kelly

How do you get rid of the old paint without destroying heavy, and effective, molded in non slip?


If you sand you would have to sand it all down to truly remove the paint in the crevasses.



Some kind of chemical stripper? How do you handle that when you can't wash it off and capture the toxic waste? Without I suppose dabbing it off and collecting all the paper towels



Thanks

I am facing the same problem and was looking at belt sanding down past the non skid and painting over with a non skid paint product. The only other thing would be using some very nasty chemicals. And even with the chemicals it would still be alot of dirty work to get it clean enough for painting. I all curious what others have to say about it though.

[mike_kelly]

I've searched the internet but not found an answer. I sure don't want to sand off my non-slip and I don't really want to mess with a chemical stripper but maybe those are the only options?

[Hudson Force]

Is the current non-skid molded into the deck as a uniform geometric pattern or a random distribution? Of course, it's easier to make it pretty if your not trying to match or keep a geometric pattern like the commonly seen diamond grid. If the old paint is worn, but not flaking, then you might have success without attempting the total removal of all the old paint. You might test the option of wire brushing the existing surface and applying a primer that bonds well with the old surface. If you're working with an amorphous surface you might consider fine quartz sand sprinkled on your final wet coat to increase any lost non-skid quality. I always liked the quartz sand non-skid over the uniform patterns because deck repair spots can be made "invisible". A salt shaker and a little practice can insure a very uniform sand application on the wet paint.

[mike_kelly]

The paint on smooth sections around the non-skid are flaking. But the non-skid itself is not bad. I will have to look carefully.


I guess the trouble is that I will not know until after I try and it then fails pre-maturely. But on the other hand the other two options are not really options. So it is worth a try. Thanks


Wire brush it is....

[Hudson Force]

Maybe you could sand the smooth areas to more fully remove the old paint and wire brush the non-skid. I kept an appealing deck pattern with my smooth areas white and the non-skid a light beige.

[mike_kelly]

That is what I will do but it will make the sanding more tedious because I will have to ovoid scratching the gel coat and ovoid destroying the crisp lines between the gel coat the non-slip.

[mabowers]

https://gibcoflexmold.com/ has flexible mold sheets in an array of pattern. Laid over gelcoat or polyester resin it can match original nonskid for repairs, or replace with new.

[somanyboats]

we had the same issue and decided on kiwi grip.
cleaned the deck and applied.
have been very happy with the finish

[Emptynest]

I pressure washed my deck (3100psi) then applied Interlux non skid with roller very easy on 30 ‘ Catalina!! Very happy with results

[duefocena]

Years ago sanded deck of an old pearson smooth. Laid a coat of monopoxy then while tacky, applied cut pieces of window screen to deck where non skid was needed. Applied second coat over screen and lifted/removed screen material before dry. Light wet and dry to knock down a bit and it looked like it came out of a mold.

[jen1722terry]

Yeah, we used Kiwigrip also, after cleaning and going over the molded-in nonskid on our old Cape Dory 31. Went on easily and holds up well after 5 years in Maine and Nova Scotia. It is not quite as rugged at the molded-in, but easy to touch up the occasional chip.

Good Luck

[Uncle Bob]

If needing to remove paint from non skid areas there used to be a paint stripper product that was a gel like consistency that was brushed on thickly and then overlaid with cloth and left for 24 hours, or thereabouts, the cloth lifted taking most of the underlying paint with it. I cannot recall the name however I have seen it used and while not perfect it did a bloody good job with minimal mess. A bit of searching may find it.

[MartinAdelaide]

You can get citrus paint stripper. You'll still have to collect the waste but it isn't as nasty.

[Defeverboat]

I had this problem 6 yr ago. Just hit with 80 grid just rough it you don’t have to make it smooth then acetone. Kiwi grip you may still see some diamonds come through. Another coat will cover. Love this cover I used two gallons blue