Help Removing Anti Slip from Deck !

[Miss Calypte]

Can anyone give me some suggestions on the easiest way to remove anti slip from the deck of our fibreglass boat? I am thinking sanding.

[frank_f]

You are probably thinking correctly.

I'm sanding down mine this week. I'm using a RO sander, 60 grit velcro paper and a nuisance mask. I cleaned the area first with a brush and acetone to remove any wax.

This is my first time doing something like this as well so I'll let you know how it works out

[cburger]

You can try using a good chemical stripper to see if it will work for the material that is on your decks. My tool of choice for sanding would be a large belt sander with 60-80 grit paper, way faster than a random orbit and will pay for itself with paper saved. The random orbit has a very good chance of dishing the surface, the belt sander will allow a nice fair flat surface if kept moving.

[captain58sailin]

I once used a large grinder with a wire wheel with satisfactory results. You do need to be careful because you can put dishes in the surface.

[David M]

I use a 7 inch disk sander for fairing out large flat surfaces. Once you get the feel for it you will not cause depressions. No offense to others but you cannot preserve a flat surface with a belt sander or a wire wheel. Neither cover a large enough surface area to keep the abrasive surface level with the deck or hull or whatever you are sanding.

Is this gelcoat non-skid as it came out of the mold or something else? There are all kinds of non-skid surfaces.

[aquarian]

I'll be sand/soda blasting mine. Plan to test superfine sand first. It might be too abrasive. If it is, I'll down size to soda.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by David M

I use a 7 inch disk sander for fairing out large flat surfaces. Once you get the feel for it you will not cause depressions. No offense to others but you cannot preserve a flat surface with a belt sander or a wire wheel. Neither cover a large enough surface area to keep the abrasive surface level with the deck or hull or whatever you are sanding.

Is this gelcoat non-skid as it came out of the mold or something else? There are all kinds of non-skid surfaces.

I too use a 7" with a soft pad. For decks sometimes I use a special soft pad that has a piece of doorskin bonded to the face, but you have to be careful with that one. I've removed the non-skid from dozens of decks this way. Triple tape so you dont blow through the tape around the edges, do big areas with the 7" softpad and edges/corners with a DA or detail sander. Start with 36 grit. By the time you have taken off all the skid you will probably be into bare glass. I like to prime with gelcoat afterword, it seals everything up and provides a good sanding surface and a very hard durable substrate for whatever you are going to redo your decks with. I like a Makita buffer/sander for the softpad.
Quote is correct, it is impossible to acheive good results with a belt sander or wire wheel. And it would take about 10 times as long. Try the 3M Imperial Stikit 36 grit Purple disks. If you prime with gelcoat you dont even have to go to a finer grit because the gel will fill in the grit profile nicely, allthough you'll want to use 60 around the tape edge for a clean edge and to save your fingers from 36 grit bleed. Some practice with a softpad would be wise, you can really damage your boat or yourself if you aren't careful. It's all in how you feather the trigger...

[frank_f]

Originally Posted by cburger

You can try using a good chemical stripper to see if it will work for the material that is on your decks. My tool of choice for sanding would be a large belt sander with 60-80 grit paper, way faster than a random orbit and will pay for itself with paper saved. The random orbit has a very good chance of dishing the surface, the belt sander will allow a nice fair flat surface if kept moving.

I bought a stripper that doesn't contain methyl chlorate (?) It's not supposed to attack the gelcoat, just the paint. The great thing is that it didn't harm the gelcoat at all, the bad thing is that it didn't touch the paint either . I knew the stuff wasn't Evian, but wow. I think I could have taken more off with a bottle of water and a scrub brush.

That's what put me down the sander path.

[rognvald]

Calypte, Do not use anything other than a random orbital sander if you want a good job. The belt sander and/or wire wheel are too difficult to control and were never intended for this type of job. You will never see them employed in a professional yard. Last year, a fellow boater at our marina hired a novice to do his bottom and used a belt sander and completely destroyed the shape of his bottom. It cost him $3000. to hire a professional to repair the damage and, unfortunately, it will never be perfect again. Good luck and good sailing, Ron P.S. 60 grit with a soft pad should do the job.

[witzgall]

Nobody asked - is this paint you are trying to remove, or molded in texture/anti-slip?

Chris

[CharlieCobra]

Somebody asked, she just didn't answer...

[Miss Calypte]

Thank you all for your help. Limited access to internet, hence my tardy response. Will take all the info "onboard" and discuss with my partner. Cheers!

[Miss Calypte]

Hello All and WOW what a response! Thank you all so much. I am not often able to check the internet so sorry for not getting back to y'all sooner! I really appreciate all your advice and I will let my partner read all of these BEFORE we do anything! Unsure as to whether the deck is gelcoat or something else. My partner will know. Cheers