Sanding/prepping deck for gelcoat

[advgaia]

The deck on my 32 footer is ugly, with lot's of chipped/missing paint in many areas. I don't know whether it was a 1-part or 2-part paint that the PO used, but I'm leaning to a 1-part. The deck is molded with molded non-skid and you can see where the paint has clumped together in areas, due to wrong roller/too thick?

Here's the crux of my question...If I sand the deck area to remove all traces of the molded non-skid, can I be comfortable in knowing that all paint has been removed for laying down fresh gelcoat?

[capt jgw]

I've done this. I ground off the non skid texture and all the gelcoat. The fiberglass underneath will be a very different color so you'll know when you're there. All the paint will also be gone so you can go ahead with your gelcoat or paint replacement. I used paint with a grit additive on mine.

[advgaia]

Originally Posted by capt jgw

I've done this. I ground off the non skid texture and all the gelcoat. The fiberglass underneath will be a very different color so you'll know when you're there. All the paint will also be gone so you can go ahead with your gelcoat or paint replacement. I used paint with a grit additive on mine.

I believe I'm down to the original gelcoat, since added sanding shows the bare fiberglass. I need to know if I'm safe with laying down fresh gelcoat. This is a one piece molded deck. I guess it's a question for Totalboat.

I wonder if there's a way to tell when brushing gelcoat, whether the substrate is gel or paint.