Repairing , Modifying & Painting the Deck of Windsong

[Beersmith]

After months and months of repairing/fairing/sanding/cleaning the decks I have put down the first coat of primer. I am using the Interlux Perfection 2-part polyurethane paint system (Matterhorn white), with Epoxy Primekote as primer. For non-skid areas, I will be using Kiwigrip.

To recap, I did the following for the decks:

-Filled in large, unused holes (old instrument holes, auto-pilot control panel hole, vent hole that I plan on moving, and a few more)

-Cut out new window holes, and re-shaped the large window holes

-Sealed all exposed core with thickened epoxy

-Drilled out, routed out core, beveled and filled every deck penetration with epoxy, faired back over for smooth finish as shown at Compass Marine

-Ground out and faired minor cracks and dings (hundreds of them!)

-Repaired other areas such as the mid-ship deck drains which were badly damaged

-Sanded the entire decks smooth, including non-skid to 150 grit

I finally finished the repairs/fairing last weekend and spend Saturday sanding the entire deck. On Sunday I scrubbed and cleaned everything off for a dust/grease/wax free surface; then on Tuesday I found myself with a day off and the right kind of weather to start with the priming.

The primer and paint are a little more difficult to use than normal one-part products, but the mixing ratios are pretty straight forward. I estimated that I would need 3/4 of a gallon of base to complete the deck, and I was nearly correct on that. The Primekote comes out of the can super thick, but thins out quickly when you mix it with the hardener. After about 20 minutes of induction time, I added the brushing reducer at about 25% (as recommended by the instructions). I found the resulting mix a bit too thin for my liking since I am trying to cover over some smallish cracks that I didn’t bother fairing over. So next coat I will go a little thicker, but overall the first coat was fine.

One of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to roll it on without backing myself into a corner of wet primer, and to finish at the ladder so I can get off the boat. After much contemplation I figured out my pattern and with the help of my Dad we were done in about 3.5 hours. Before starting, however, I had to towel off the deck from the morning dew and then go back with solvent soaked rags to get rid of any leftover sanding dust and grime.

The first coat of primer was kind of underwhelming in terms of the transformation. Mostly because the underlying non-skid is light blue and it will take at least another coat to really cover it up. So I suspect the second coat will make the deck look pretty fresh.

The next step is to sand down the entire first coat of primer, re-fair any areas that need it, and move on to the next coat. I will probably do 3 coats of primer before painting.

I will continue to update this thread as I progress with the priming and paint job.

Here are some before and after pics of the work done so far:

Decks before deconstruction:






Windsong at haulout:


As she stands now:




Cockpit area:


















Cracked and damaged mid-ship drain/hawse


Repaired and faired:

[Beersmith]

Unused holes filled up:





















Vent hole that I will be moving:

[Target9000]

Its looking badass. If that first primer coat is "underwhelming" to you, I'd hate to know what it take to impress.

[Beersmith]

Originally Posted by Target9000

Its looking badass. If that first primer coat is "underwhelming" to you, I'd hate to know what it take to impress.

those pics don't really capture the blotchyness of the first coat. You can still see some of the blue non-skid and the red fairing work. This one sort of shows it off better:

[Target9000]

Originally Posted by Beersmith

those pics don't really capture the blotchyness of the first coat. You can still see some of the blue non-skid and the red fairing work. This one sort of shows it off better:

Go cry to someone that has perfect decks.

I'm jealous the job you're doing. Its going to look great after another coat of primer and when you start getting the paint on there.

[Beersmith]

Originally Posted by Target9000

Go cry to someone that has perfect decks.

I'm jealous the job you're doing. Its going to look great after another coat of primer and when you start getting the paint on there.

thanks

and I'm jealous of your ability to sail your boat right now!

[bstreep]

We are (and have been) in the same process with our boat. You might reconsider the Kiwi...

We are doing our non-skid (it's molded in) and we'll also do it with perfection with Interlux's non skid mixed in.

[Beersmith]

Originally Posted by bstreep

We are (and have been) in the same process with our boat. You might reconsider the Kiwi...

We are doing our non-skid (it's molded in) and we'll also do it with perfection with Interlux's non skid mixed in.

why do you say that about the kiwi? I've read and heard nothing but positive things about it. I already bought a gallon so its too late now, but I'm curious as to why you would say that.

[Samantha ann]

I just did the same as you. Lots of work. The pay off comes with that first coat of paint, you'll really see progress them! I used Kiwi grip as well, love it!

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by Beersmith

why do you say that about the kiwi?

At some point it's going to be time to repaint. Can't imagine what that job will be like, grinding an acrylic paint off of the deck. Just like a house paint, complete removal will probably be a brutal task. And, I haven't heard of anyone having it on their deck more than 2 years so far. If it doesn't last 10, I'm not interested - it takes too much work to put on what so far hasn't been shown to be anything other than a short term solution. Just my opinion - it probably hasn't been around long enough to prove.

[Beersmith]

Originally Posted by bstreep

At some point it's going to be time to repaint. Can't imagine what that job will be like, grinding an acrylic paint off of the deck. Just like a house paint, complete removal will probably be a brutal task. And, I haven't heard of anyone having it on their deck more than 2 years so far. If it doesn't last 10, I'm not interested - it takes too much work to put on what so far hasn't been shown to be anything other than a short term solution. Just my opinion - it probably hasn't been around long enough to prove.

I understand that. But re-coating is described as pretty painless. Don't need to sand it all off:

Pachena LLC - KiwiGrip - How to Apply

Re-coating:

When maintenance or re-coating is required, remove all surface contaminants with boat soap to ensure the surface is completely clean. No sanding is required - you simply need to apply the coating as you have done previously. If you are competent with the brush and roller, it does not require any further masking. If you are uncertain of your technique,
re-mask the surface to the edge of the previous KiwiGrip coating and then proceed.

Clean Up:

[Beersmith]

This Sunday Jenny and I rolled on the second coat of primer, and oh man….the change is incredible.

As I mentioned before, the first coat was a bit underwhelming in coverage as most of the repairs and fairing work were still visible through the white. But the second coat made the deck unrecognizable. I guess I was just in a haze of work and I had to paint myself off the ladder, but I didn’t realize how different it looked on Sunday when I finished. I went to check it out yesterday and just stared at the deck in awe for some time.

Today I went back and started sanding it down in preparation for the third and last coat of primer. It is surprising how many little things you miss until you see the deck in a uniform color. I did quite a bit more crack filling and ding repair after the first coat., but only have a few tiny ones left. But after this coat the deck looks completely reconditioned.

The boat has had a great transformation so far, but it has mostly been backwards…as in I’ve pretty much only taken it apart. As for transformation moving forward, this is the most profound so far and has injected a lot of excitement.

In the pictures I have already sanded half the deck from the bow backwards. You can sort of see the difference, as the sanded part is much smoother but shows some dark spots as well. Check out the full gallery of before and after pics here.

[Beersmith]

This past Sunday we laid on the third and final coat of Interlux Epoxy Primekote on the deck. I didn’t bother going over the non-skid areas again, as they will be covered by new non-skid and don’t need to be super perfect. The white areas got the third coat and seem to be covered pretty well after this one.

Here are some pictures after the last coat, and if you check out the full gallery of before and after pics you can see how the repairs are now nearly completely covered. I started sanding this last coat, which needs to be completely flat before I apply the paint. There are a few spots where I’ve sanded through and and are darker than the surrounding areas. I might spot prime these areas again, but most I hope the paint will cover well.

Here is the general condition of the primed deck right now. I tiny bit of texture, with various drips and bumps:





Using 220 grit paper, I’ve started sanding it completely flat and smooth:





Other pictures:

[Beersmith]

This Sunday Jenny and I laid down the first coat of Interlux Perfection on the deck. This is the 2-part polyurethane paint that will cover all of the non-non skid parts of the deck. For those not familiar with this paint:

Perfection is the ultimate performing, 2-part polyurethane gloss finish. It provides the longest lasting, ultra high-gloss finish that has superb colour retention, together with excellent chemical, impact & abrasion resistance. It has been formulated specifically to enable amateur users to achieve professional quality results with ease on topsides, superstructure & decks. Ultra high-gloss finish with exceptional colour & gloss retention. Longest lasting results – contains a unique package of UV absorbers together with a chemically cured polyurethane resin system which protect against premature ageing. Exceptional durability – gives prolonged impact & abrasion protection even on the highest wear areas. Resistance to a wide range of chemicals including fuels, mild acids & detergents.

It is widely regarded as the best paint you can use on your boat, Awlgrip being the only other name to compare it to. However, after a ton of research, the consensus is that Awlgrip is best for a professional spray application and Perfection is best for an amateur roll and tip application. Since I fall into the latter category, I went with Perfection.

Everyone always describes this paint as difficult to use and apply. I find descriptions like this interesting because one person’s difficult is another person’s “not so bad”. After 2+ years of a total boat reconstruction, my definition of difficult has drastically changed. How hard could it really be?

The difficulty arrives in attempting to get the “Perfect” finish. This paint has the capabilities to go on with a roll and tip application and end up looking like a professional spray job due to its amazing self-leveling properties. However, to achieve such results, you need a lot of things to be in line, which with my circumstances might be nearly impossible.

First off, you need to have done all of your prep work as good as possible. This was accomplished in the past few months of filling, fairing, and priming my deck to the best of my ability. After the last coat of primer, I had sanded the deck completely flush to have a perfectly smooth surface to apply the paint. If you ask me, this paint isn’t the true difficult part, it is all of the prep work. I don’t even know why they call it “painting”. Much like 99% of surfing is paddling, 99% of the painting work is actually sanding and cleaning.

With prep work complete, you need to find the right conditions to apply the paint. As I’ve mentioned before, this is why I am now on a tight schedule to get the paint on as soon as possible. In a month or two it will be too hot and too humid here to get optimal results from this paint. The temperature range is from about 50 to 95 degrees F, so I have some wiggle room till the high end of the temperature range, but the higher it goes the more difficult it is to achieve the good results. In addition to the right temperature and humidity you can’t have much wind, or things like dust and bugs will make your finish less than perfect. To top it all off, they say to avoid direct sunlight. So optimally I need a day of mild temperatures, no wind and overcast. As someone who has to work for a living, it is difficult to hope for these conditions to just happen to be on a weekend.

None of these things would be too much of an issue if the boat were inside a shelter, but it is wide open in the boat yard and I have to deal with what I have. This Sunday was a day of temperatures around 80, 5-10 knots of wind, and very sunny. I took my chances and laid down the first coat.

I had originally planned on using the roll and tip method, but have found that many people have achieved good results just rolling. Even the instructions say the same, but only for white colors…lucky me, I am using Matterhorn White. Also, rolling and tipping on the deck is nearly impossible in the first place. There are too many contours, turns and places you need to stop and move. For a good roll and tip job you need a constant wet edge, which is impossible on the deck. Rolling and tipping is much easier on the hull sides than the maze of surfaces on the deck. So as an experiment, I planned on applying this coat just rolling and see what happens.

I also experimented with the thinner ratio. One of the difficulties people describe is getting the optimal thinner ratio for the given conditions. Since I had no experience and there are no charts to describe the right ratio for any given conditions, I had to experiment. I started off by adding only 3% thinner to see what happened. The instructions say to not thin more than 10%. My experience with varnish is that at higher temperatures, it flows out thinner than lower temps. I figured this was the same case, but I was wrong. To help out with the high temperatures and pot-life of the paint, I kept it in a cooler filled with ice. This was a great idea, but next time I’ll actually put it in a ice/water bath to make it even cooler.

We started applying at around 9 a.m after toweling off all of the dew and wiping the deck down with solvent for a super clean surface (a laborious job in itself). At that time, the temperatures were in the mid-low 70′s and rising. The first few areas we applied the paint to leveled out quite well and I felt like I had achieved a good thinning ratio. However, the temperatures rose quickly and the paint stopped leveling out as well. I tried to tip after this point, but the paint dried too quickly to bother. After about an hour of painting I decided to add more thinner to 5%. This helped out some, but by the time we were about finished I needed more thinner. I just said screw it and kept applying what I had until finished.

The problem of direct sunlight was evident. I believe that the paint would have leveled out much better had it not been for the direct sunlight causing it to dry too quickly. But given that it may be impossible to hope for a mild, windless, cloudy day…I’m going to have to adjust for it. Next time I will thin it to the maximum ratio and hope for the best. If it still isn’t as good as I hope, I will tip the last coat.

After letting it dry for a few hours I came back to check it all out. I was very impressed by the color coverage, the sine and the overall toughness of the coat. You can just tap on it to know that it is tough as nails. One coat almost seemed enough, but you need a minimum of two. The first areas we applied it to seemed very smooth and glass like, with the other areas after the temperatures rose had a bit of orange peel to them. There are a few drips here and there, evident that we applied too thick of a coat. No worries, a good sanding will “reset” the surface for the next coat.

There are some imperfections that I’ll definitely have to live with though. Small dust particles and bugs are going to get into the paint, I can’t avoid that with an outdoor job. The best I can do is hope for as little wind as possible for the final coat, and maybe fog the area with bug repellent.

So this weekend, if it doesn’t rain, I will apply the second coat with more thinner, a cooler ice bath, and a bit more experience in how to apply it. If I can just improve over the first coat a little bit I will be happy with the final results. But I think I can make the third and last coat much, much better.

Here is a picture of an area where we first applied the paint. Much smoother than other areas, but still too thick and has a bit of orange peel.



This is a section that didn’t level out as well, right as the temperatures got to their max. As you can see though, it is still a nice finish:





Here is an area that got a lot of bugs and dust, as well as a good amount of orange peel. This was the last bit of paint thinned only to 3%, but applied at the highest temperatures.

[Beersmith]

I laid down the second coat of Interlux Perfection on the deck this past weekend. I did it solo as I didn’t have available help, but I was fine with that as I really wanted to dial in the application process and get a lot of good practice for the final coat.

The day was similar to the first coat, except about 10 degrees cooler and more breezy. Looking back on the day, it seems the humidity was a bit higher as well, and that had some implications. The only other difference was that I started around noon and worked until about 5:30 p.m., as opposed to the first coat where we started at 8 a.m. and went until 1 p.m. This also had some implications. My idea with starting later was to be working when the temperatures were at their highest (only around 75), so I wouldn’t have to adjust the thinner ratio of the paint as temperatures rose in the morning.

Instead of only thinning 3-5%, I went straight for the max of 10%. The first coat had way too many sags, runs and drips; implying that I laid down a too thick coat. This time, with a thinner coat, I also rolled on much less paint to be sure the thin coat was able to level out. I also tried tipping with a solvent soaked roller near start of the job, but soon realized that the paint was drying too quickly and tipping was ruining an otherwise good finish.

The application went smooth and I was learning a lot of good technique to get it on there without any sags, drips or runs. This thinned out coat didn’t have as good of color coverage as the thicker first coat, so areas that were dark or where I sanded down to the primer weren’t covered as well.

When I came back to check out the paint the next day, I found a curious thing happened. All vertical surfaces looked fantastic, if I could get my last coat to look like that I will be ecstatic. However, all horizontal surfaces ended up with a matte/flat finish…no gloss. The finish was very smooth and well laid out, but the gloss wasn’t there at all. I found it curious why the vertical surfaces would be glossy but the horizontal ones wouldn’t be.

I spoke with Interlux and they believe it was due to the higher humidity in the air, and the time of day that it was applied. It didn’t have enough time to dry before dew hit it, and that will ruin the gloss of this paint. So next time I will be sure to do it in the morning again, and just keep up with the thinner.

I took some pictures but when I finally loaded them onto the computer I found that the memory card had been corrupted somehow. By then I had sanded the whole coat down so unfortunately I don’t have any photo evidence of the second coat.

I am keeping an eye on the weather for final application this Sunday. The temperatures and lack of rain are spot on, but I am worried about the amount of wind. If all goes well, the wind won’t be that bad and I’ll have this part of the paint job finished up by the end of this weekend. After that I need to figure out what color I want the non-skid to be, then apply that. That will be a much less stressful endeavor as I can do it sections at a time, and the paint is much less fussy.