Boat Deck Nonskid Surface

Boat Deck Nonskid Surface

Sailboat decks and many parts on a power boat need to have or should have a nonskid surface. Getting a uniform grit surface is not as easy as one might think. There are many ways to get it but the easiest way is use a nonskid paint. I just read an article about Durabak Paint, and the article said the paint was the best DIS nonskid paint they had tried. I want to try it. 

I have the perfect boat to try it on. This little boat has had its deck redone some time in its past and the job was botched big time. There is one section that has spicules of pointed particles that will take the skin off your feet like a food grater shreds cheese. There are 3 different types of surface that all need to be matched to one. There are also many stress gel coat spider cracks that will need to be taken care of before the deck is re painted.

The first thing we will have to do is sand most of the deck surface to get a surface that will, when repainted give a homogeneous coating. The original non-skid deck was laid out with or in panel sections with a smooth gel coat boarder around them. We will have to decide whether to keep these or just non-skid everything. Doing it all non-skid would be the easiest, but that will be up to the boat owner on what he wants to do.

We have a lot of spider cracks to deal with and that will be the first order, then sanding before we can paint anyway.

The article said that Durabak was a tough, flexible polyurethane coating that is pre mixed with specially treated rubber granules. These gave good resistance and traction when moving on it and the article said it was easy to clean. It also said you can a uniform grit surface just by painting it on. The article said it was “effortless”. I liked that claim and I want to put it to the test. I like the fact that the paint is flexible and that should be good over areas that there were gel-coat spidering. 

I went to the Duraback web site (link above) and was not overly impressed by their site. A few of the things I gleamed from it was:

1.      Prep of surface was super important. The surface has to be roughed so it will stick well.

2.      You have to use Zylene as a solvent…If you use lacquer thinner or alcohol it will not stick.

3.      You need Duraback  18 or M26 if it is to be in sunlight.

4.      You can get a smooth coat for areas that do not need a grit surface.

5.      There are about 8 or 10 colors to pick from.

6.      The accessories needed to do the job are not cheap.

7.      Doing the job in a well-ventilated area is a must…both the Zylene and Paint stink and can be toxic.    

We will take before and after photos as we do the project and show you the results. It will be a good project for the New Year.  8-)