Gel coat instead of deck paint?

[unbusted67]

Why don't more people repaint their decks with gel coat? It seems like it would be prefered over the finicky expensive paint systems since it's ultimately a lot tougher

[Patrigo]

Just wondering whether you are for real. or some kind of nut?

[GordMay]

He's always seemed mostly real, to me. You might consider making your point directly.

[UNCIVILIZED]

It would be worth reading Sujin's thread on re-gelcoating the decks on his Valiant 40. Albeit one needn't necessarily remove all of the deck hardware prior to doing such a job, as he's chosen to do. Though it sounds as if the boat was due for it.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

Why don't more people repaint their decks with gel coat? It seems like it would be prefered over the finicky expensive paint systems since it's ultimately a lot tougher

That is exactly what I did.

My hull is Awlgrip, because the Admirable wanted dark blue, and I didn't want to have to spend a lot of time in spring with gelcoat maintenance.

My deck gelcoat was thin out of the factory. This is good to prevent crazing, but after 40 years of sun, one could see through it in spots. So I regelcoated the decks.

Why?

1. Gelcoat is much thicker and more durable.
2. Done properly, it will last 40 years, whereas paint typically has be done every 5 for single part or every 10 for two-pack.
3. Gelcoat damage is much easier to repair than 2-pack.
4. Gelcoat is way less expensive than 2-pack.
5. Gelcoat needs no priming.
6. Gelcoat does not flow (fill valleys and smooth non-skid texture) like paint.

The one drawback to gelcoat, is that smooth surfaces require sanding and polishing to make them smooth. Then again, for decks, many want a matte finish to avoid glare so it is not so much an issue.

PS, applying, restoring, and maintaining marine finish is about 25% of my business.

Here is my personal boat...

[Suijin]

Instead of looking at my thread, you should look at Minaret's thread about regelcoating his deck. He's a professional, and it's where I got the idea from. His thread, Nauticat 52 refit is stickied here.

Ultimately I decided to go with paint, largely because I did a lot of repairs with epoxy and gelcoat does not adhere reliably to epoxy. I would have preferred gelcoat for a number of reasons, but was not will to risk a future failure given the amount of work involved.

If you have the time to do the work yourself, regelcoating is much, much cheaper. You perform whatever repairs you need to the deck with polyester resin, spray the gelcoat, and then the hard work begins which is fairing and polishing. Minaret's thread has a lot of information and pictures on this, and he answered a whole bunch of questions on my thread. Gelcoat fills any imperfections, and you can fill flaws with it, so it essentially becomes your fairing material.

Conversely, with paint, all of the hard work happens before you spray. The surface has to be perfectly prepared because once the paint is down, it's down and any flaw will be revealed. So you have to prime first, which allows you to hunt down any imperfections you missed, finish your repairs and fairing, and then the topcoat goes down.

Advantages of gelcoat: longer lasting, can be polished to a higher shine, more damage resistant, easier to repair if you have the skills, less expensive to apply. Advantages of paint: less annual maintenance, easier to touch up (but not necessarily make invisible).

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Advantages of gelcoat: longer lasting, can be polished to a higher shine, more damage resistant, easier to repair if you have the skills, less expensive to apply. Advantages of paint: less annual maintenance, easier to touch up (but not necessarily make invisible).

First of all please never direct me to that Minaret page again. That gave me nightmares. You have to be a sick person to want to tackle that kind of project lol.

Second, if I ever gel coated my deck I would want it to be as matt as possible so all of the fairing etc pretty much goes out the window. It's tough stuff!

[Patrigo]

I must be missing something! To me gelcoat is what glass boat owners spend most of their, on the hard time, polishing to a mirror finish. My deck is painted with non skid, and is non skid. How do you achieve standing up on gelcoat?

[Terra Nova]

Gelcoat generally makes for a very poor nonskid.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

Second, if I ever gel coated my deck I would want it to be as matt as possible so all of the fairing etc pretty much goes out the window. It's tough stuff!

If it's matt it's going to be less UV resistant and will absorb moisture unless you wax/treat it. If you fair and polish it its going to last a lot longer, for sure.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by Patrigo

I must be missing something! To me gelcoat is what glass boat owners spend most of their, on the hard time, polishing to a mirror finish. My deck is painted with non skid, and is non skid. How do you achieve standing up on gelcoat?

I mean most power boat decks are non skid gel coat aren't they? Most production sailboat decks are gel coat as well. Correct me if I am wrong here....
There is polished gel coat that you see on top sides and there is matt gel coat you see on decks often pressed into non skid patterns. Am I crazy?

[sv.antea]

I have done my topsides with gelcoat 30 years ago. Still in perfect condition. Not shiny, but uniform white and smooth. The deck I regelcoated in stages over the past 25 years, the oldest section is now showing some wear. I have done a large repair to the topsides in the bow after a collision 4 years ago, using the same recipes off-white from local fiberglass supply shop. At first you could see slight difference, few years later you could not find the border. When I gelcoated my top sides, most of the gelcoat was sprayed over west system epoxy repairs, fairing and sealing. No issues with adhesion. I would go with gelcoat if you are thinking long term. There is this additive called Duratec, that makes sprayed, even brushed gelcoat go on smooth, let's say much smoother, and with the same effect as wax additive. It kicks hard and not sticky. Spraying a large area is a little hectic, you need to keep mixing and cleaning the gun and mixing and cleaning, can't stop until done. Two people job minimum. Small repairs are easy with Prevall sprayers.

[David M]

I have owned boats in both gelcoat and an LPU such as Awlgrip.

As far as maintenance goes, an LPU is so much easier to keep looking glossy. Gelcoat is thicker but an LPU is tougher.

With an LPU, some SoftScrub and an hour is all you need to bring back the gloss. You can spend a few days doing the same with gelcoat to bring back the gloss and the gloss is never as glossy as an LPU anyway.

If it a choice between the two, pick the LPU paint.

[valhalla360]

Paint is far easier to keep shiny.

Gelcoat is popular with manufacturers because it's cheaper. They spray the mold before laying up the hull and when it pops out, it's already gelcoated. If they paint, they need a separate process to paint the hull.

Painting is popular for refinishing because it's easier. We did 1 part and 3yrs on with zero buffing and waxing it was perfectly shiny. Repairs were stupid simple. We had a spare quart and a cheap foam brush. Wash, dry and dab a little on the damage. From 3ft away, we couldn't see the touch up.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Patrigo

I must be missing something! To me gelcoat is what glass boat owners spend most of their, on the hard time, polishing to a mirror finish. My deck is painted with non skid, and is non skid. How do you achieve standing up on gelcoat?

It is not wise to polish gelcoat areas that are to be non-skid surfaces. Smooth, wet gelcoat is slippery unless treated with no-slip wax.

Gelcoat non-skid surfaces can be created by any of the following:

1. Uniform gelcoat texture pattern (moulded).
2. Gelcoat spray (unwaxed), sprinkle GripTex, respray with waxed.
3. Mix with Cabosil, apply with roller.

Existing non-skid gelcoat surfaces can be re-sprayed with a thin coat of gelcoat with little non-skid property loss. Re-sprayed diamond pattern gelcoat will still tear the hide off ya.