New non skid

[Mackenzie's dad]

I'm a first time do it yourself boat worker so I'm timid on just jumping in on this new non skid. :lol:
First off I've removed the cooler seat off my 1800 and the 40 gallon bait tank that came with the boat. Second I patch all holes with west systems epoxy. Ok so now before setting leaning post and t top I start thinking about redoing the non skid on the deck...

So on prepping the deck, am I sanding down to the glass or just taking old gelcoat and skid surface off?? Kinda of a light sanding??

Is two quarts enough to do the deck and console?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :mrgreen:

 

[Megabyte]

There have been several threads on this in the project area that you might want to search for.

Essentially, you get the deck as clean as possible, then the taping begins.
If the gelcoat running to the hullsides is in good shape, you start by using automotive fineline tape up against the non-skid area.
After that, you lay down the blue or green painters tape to protect the smooth areas.

Once all that is done, you either add the non skid to the paint and roll it on, or you roll on the paint and sprinkle the non-skid on with a home-made 'salt shaker'.
Personally I would opt for mixing with the paint before rolling, but everyone has their own preference.

You may also want to review some of the project posts on ClassicMako.com, especially Warthog5's X-Shark build.
Lots of good photos on the proper taping process.

I think Dale also posted project photos of his non-skid project here on CP. Look for that one too.
Bottom line... PREPARATION is key to a proper job.

Good Luck!

 

[Mackenzie's dad]

Thank you for the response. Tomorrow I was supose to start, unfortunately I received exterior gelcoat so I'm postponed it a week. :evil:

 

[DaleH]

If I had to do it again, I would use gcoat. But my DIY tutorial here shows you the preparation and taping.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6718

 

[Fishaddict]

I am by no means an expert on gel coat, but as you can see from my previous posts, attempted the deck gel coating twice and I can also give you some pointers.

1.PREPARATION: go over the deck with 60-80 grit sand paper after washing it with soap and good water rinsing. Any impurities will inhibit adhesion of your gel coat later. Sanding them off will rub them in.
Make sure your west system epoxy has bee well cured and use 60 grid paper over it . (there is only mechanical bond of polyester resin aka gelcoat to any epoxy resin). Vacuum and than wipe with clean wet rag the rest of your dust. Tape off the area. It shoud be 80-90% of your total time.

2. APPLICATION. Check the weather forecast and wait for low humidity day with clouds and temp in steady 75-80F. Use 3/16 nap roller (not from HD!!!!!) from marine store and cheap but good 2''brush.
I would suggest you use long pants, long sleaved short and CLEAN socks you goung to throw away. Gloves in abundance! Cover your hair if you have any . You will be surprized how much hair you will find on deck otherwise.
Wipe your deck with acetone and get to mixing gel coat. The amount of hardner(MEKP) is still enigma to me. Most places call for 11cc/ml per quart at 70-80F. This comes as about 1.1% by volume. Erick from Parker told me they use 1.9% MEKP. My personal best curing was with 17-18 cc/ quart aka 1000cc. Anyhow, when your open your jar from Parker, mix it well , then put 1Qt in clean measuring containerand put mixing sic in it to cover it with gel coat. Use x cc of FRESH hardner and mix it for 1-2 minutes. Pour it into painers tray with cleamn liner anr mix it with the roller for few more seconds. Your have enough gel to cover your front area and some of the sides by the console. Paint tight corners with the brush and than go over with roller. Use appropriate light pressure on it to minimise track marks and not to thin out gel thickness (credit card thick). You have about 20 min before it starts to gel and become non usable.
Mix another 1Qt and with NEW roller and brush go over from the back section to the other side and then paint around yourself in such a way that you can keep you tray on the rear box and jump out of the boat :lol: . Than lean over and paint your last spot. Have a beverage of your choosing.
Come back to it in 40min or so and remove you macking tape, otherwise it will become part of your boat. Take some pictures and notes and post it on this site.

Mike

 

[Mackenzie's dad]

Sorry it took so long to get back to the thread, life's distractions got me off course :roll: anyhow thanks for the responses they're very informative however I haven't exchanged the exterior gelcoat for the interior, I talked to my "local" parker dealer, about 600 miles away in Costa Mesa California and he reassured me they use exterior gelcoat on decks :| what do you guys think?

 

[DaleH]

Most definitely use EXTERIOR! That's the hardest working surface on your boat!

 

[Mackenzie's dad]

Thanks dale!

 

[Mackenzie's dad]

So I've started on the sanding process, which is taking longer than expected.... I'm smoothing out the deck but I'm running into 2 problems :x

1-I'm finding a lot of pits. Low spots that are still holding a rough surface even though its been gone over with the 60 grit 6 inch orbital sander...

2- I'm finding some of these small hairline cracks are not sanding out so I'm basically havering to sand down to the fiberglass surface,, something I didn't want to do..

On the deeper cracks I'm taking my drimel multi tool and just slightly getting into the glass to take out the crack... Am I doing too much here :shock: i was planing on going over some of these grooves made with formula 27.... Getting my flat surface back then going on to my gelcoat.

So any feedback would be appreciated. Not to sure if I'm "overdoing" it with the cracks or the sanding...

Plus the exposed glass would simple spray can primer be enough or should I use a heavier, possibly the parker gelcoat as a primer?? Thanks

 

[Mackenzie's dad]

Hey everybody.

Well I put my parker and project on the shelf since last time I posted on this forum. Within the last week I finished off my sanding and just a couple hours ago I ATTEMPTED :shock: to get the front half of my 1800 finished.

First off there's spots of glass exposed on the deck, I was reassured that the gel coat would cover and as I rolled it on I was finding the thicker I laid it on the spots were covering up :lol:

This is where it goes bad

As I read it,the hardener I added called for 9 cc per quart so I roughly put just shy of 18 cc for the 90 plus weather that I'm dealing with. Prior to this I added the 8 oz of petite non skid deck which was nothing more than sand :roll:

It literally started to harden within minutes!

I got it on the front of the floor nice and thick and towards the battery box by the time I'm on the right hand side of the console my buddy's telling me it's "starting to harden up" I'm rolling off a pan and not seeing it with what I got so it really didn't concern me but by the time I get up and walk to the other side of the console I look at the bucket and it's goopy.

HOLY SHEEP SHAT!

Obviously to much hardener but is the hot weather a factor as well? Does that sound right... 18 cc for 2 quarts??

The pettite brand of non skid is junk. Not nearly aggressive as I would like. Tomorrow I going back to my storage and evaluating how it sets up.

Any info is appreciated?

 

[DaleH]

Ouch, typically one doesn't mix the entire batch, but only the amount that can be used in 10-15 minutes, after stirring for 1-minute. Ensure you scrape the entire insides of the container too, to get all of the goop mixed.

Such a mixture will begin to harden in about 20-30 minutes at ~75, you had high temps! Some gelcoats make a high temperature catalyst for temps > 80-degrees.

Scrape off as much of the uncured gel coat as you can, using acetone (wear gloves!) to clean the surface of any residue of uncured gel coat. Follow with an application of properly mixed gel coat.

A friend did the same once with a bucket full of epoxy mix ... it cooked off and started a fire in the bucket! For large volumes, stir then pour into a disposable aluminum cooking pan, 9" square or even bigger rectangles. Still mix no more than you can use within the time and temps. Once even practiced with a dry run to determine how much area I could possibly cover.

 

[Fishaddict]

I had to redo mine once. You are in for real PITA to sand/ wash it down to the base. Do it early in the morning when the temp is lower. Have 2 people with rollers( do not use HD rollers, use special oil/ acetone resistant from WM. Mix it and pour in HD disposable painters liner tray. Have 2 people to roll it on both sides simultaneously and then one finishing off back area. I cannot stress enough importance of good prepping and taping. After sanding wash off the deck with water, than acetone with frequent rag changes, tape it off, one more acetone wash and than gcoating in the morning. Be prepared to spend up to 3/4 Ga of acetone on washing. Make sure it evaporates fully before gcoat is applied. Wear clean socks and glows during last wash and gel application- oil from your skin will affect your adhesion. G coat should cure in about 1 hour to hard consistency and ready for waling/ fully cures in at least 24 hours. If cures to fast the polymerization will trap wax of exterior gcoat inside of it. If it is to slow- it may never cure. If it is slow but curing- spraying PVC on its surface will cut off oxygen and it should accelerate polymerization. Remember that it only cures without presence of oxygen. Good lack and take your time.

Mike

 

[Mackenzie's dad]

Well this morning I attempted to scrape out as much as I could. Then I put the sander on it... Still to wet. :x

I believe I had the ratio from paint x nonskid x hardener were correct. Just too damn hot

And to be honest the nonskid I used was not aggressive enough!... So when I go at it again I'm going to use the awl grip "coarse"

What a disappointment! Never the less going to get the boat together come hell or high water

 

[Brent]

What is the difference between exterior and interior gelcoat?

 

[DaleH]

What the shops near me do now is roll w/ epoxy, tinted to match gelcoat, then sprinkle on fine beach sand, then vacuum off excess sand and top spray or roll w/ 2-part polyurethane. They say it lasts the longest.