Floor paint for fiberglass boat?

[Waterfish]

My 1964 Glasspar Seafair Sedan has a fiberglass-over-wood floor. A previous owner glued indoor/outdoor carpet to the floor. This is a big hassle because the carpet gets fish blood, slime, and water on it and its hard to dry off. I want to remove the carpet (would a heat gun get the carpet off?) and put some kind of new surface coating on the floor. What kind of floor surface do new fiberglass boats have?

[tomictime]

Cool boat :smile:

Most new glass boats w FG floors have a molded in non-skid pattern. They vary greatly in agressiveness and in effectiveness. IMHO, Pursuit has one of the best and most agressive diamond point patterns. WhileI cannot comment on carpet glue and heat gun..I think that would work. You will then need a pretty good solvent to get all the old adhesibe off. Then you will need sand and prime the floors. They do make floor paints, I like Interlux brand. They make crushed walnut sheels you can add for non-skid. Othersa may recommend sand for a finer but less aggressive non-skid.
Many people refurb older floors this way.

Jim

[Eagle-day]

I have done this in the past, let me tell you it's much easier to start fresh with some marine plywood and use the old floor as a templet, then do as tomictime says with the interlux paint and some shells or sand. That marine carpet is one bugger to get off, depending on the age of the carpet once you start removing it you'll find "bad spots" in the floor. This happened to me, so with less work you get a new floor.
Good luck

[Waterfish]

This old boat is pretty solid, including the floor. It would be a major job to replace the floor. In the five years since I've owned it, and with countless days on the water, I've never felt any soft spots on the floor. The way it was constructed at the factory; the floor is fiberglassed to the hull where the floor meets the sides of the boat, and the transom. Also, by 1964 Glasspar had (luckily for me) changed from wood stringers to hollow box fiberglass stringers. Those stringers are fiberglassed to the bottom of the floor (and to the hull). This makes for a very rigid floor, however if you did need to replace the floor it would be hard to separate the floor from the stringers. So when I start this project, after I get the carpet off I will remove any of the remnant carpet adhesive, then sand and apply the new surface paint. By-the-way, older Glasspars with wood stringers are way harder to restore because you do have to cut the floor out to replace the rotten wood stringers.

[tomictime]

down to wood on old floor should get exoxy resin first, use a paint and primer compatible w the resin chosen.

sistering (overlay) in over rot, while fast is not the best solution as rot migrates...

post pics of your project and finished boat, lots of us enjoy that :smile:

JD

[Hoosier Daddy]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...&id=0021475

WF: I was planning on putting this stuff on my Seafair someday.....dunno how it seals, but you can get an epoxy-based primer that might do a good job of sealing things up before you coat.

[Mark Mc]

You want to make sure to use a 2 part epoxy paint aka 2 part polyurethane paint. Do not...I repeat do not...use a single part paint for decks....it just will not last.

With the epoxy paint, you put the first layer on (after all the proper prep work), and add (sprinkle) the non-skid. TomicTime mentioned walnut shells....I have done that on my dory and several other bigger boats. They work really well.
You get a tin can, and poke a few small holes in the bottom. You sprinkle on the shells (or whatever granules you choose) while the first coat is still wet. The trick is...you paint a section of deck, then sprinkle...paint some more, sprinkle some more. You let that first coat completely set up / dry. Then you come back with a second coat, so the non-skid is locked in.

edit: well by golly I found a couple pictures....

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[image][/image]

[suckerfish]

I believe Morton makes a two part Thick urathane coating(similar to bedliner). I would remove all the carpet adhesive, rough up with 220 orbital sander. I would wash the surface with some hot soapy water(dish soap) and rinse well. I would then use a degreasing agent for fiberlass and and apply it as directed. Then I would spray a two part expoxy primer down. After the primer has flashed I would sparay the the Morton Bed liner. This stuff comes in many colors including white and has a very appealing texture that would look great on the deck. Stuff is also very plyable and wears great. I used to seal RV roofs with this stuff, apply it as custom colored bed liner and use it on floor pans on off road vehicals. I have also sandwiched floor pans on complete restoration as chip protection and sound deadning agent.

suckerfish

[Chinookjinxd]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...&id=0021475

WF: I was planning on putting this stuff on my Seafair someday.....dunno how it seals, but you can get an epoxy-based primer that might do a good job of sealing things up before you coat.

Can you just roll it on if you have solid fiberglass underneath ?

[STGRule]

We are in the middle of a boat rebuild and after a lot of research we decided to use Durabak by COTE-L. It will seal your deck and is non-skid. It rolls on and will stick to fiberglass with a primer. Google it up.