Building a wooden deck on a steel hull

[AWegener]

Hi,

Do steel hulls usually have wood decks? What other finishes are common.
I would imagine anything else being very cold.

[Wynand N]

Why build a steel hull if you want a wooden deck

Why not just keep it steel all over. Less hassle, virtually no leaks and much stronger. A good layer of closed cell foam blocks out any cold and heat

[Bergalia]

Steel hull for what ?

On a yacht or any form of recreational boat a wooden deck 'looks' nicer, 'feels' warmer, is traditional and more friendly. But for a working boat, a deck which will receive a lot of heavy traffic, then steel is preferable - with a good 'non-slip' surface pattern.

[MikeJohns]

I'm with Wynand

Go for strength longevity and watertightness over looks any day. The looks can be altered anyway with coatings and glue-on non skid patches. I use a rubberised swimming pool paint on my own steel deck and I prefer it as a better footing to a wet teak deck with bare feet.

Steel decks make the boat much stronger and completely watertight, putting wood over the steel is to invite some serious corrosion in the long run differing expansion coefficients tend to create problems.

In teak decked boats the deck is best replaced with marine ply with teak over that but I wouldn't choose the extra maintenance of wood .

Many modern light weight steel vessels are much better off with the steel deck for global stiffness.

[M&M Ovenden]

Hi Mike,

Do you have any photos of your deck ? I'm interested in this type of paint for our decks. Any details or suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks,
Mark Ovenden

[timgoz]

I third Wynands suggestion. Steel proves a much more pratical and functional deck. Both bolt on and welded on deck gear such as cleats, sampson posts, windlasses, ect... can be secured to the utmost. Mast tabernacles (if deck stepping mast) are bulletproof strong.

As stated above, watertight integrity and overall strength are best with all steel constrution.

Don't mind Bergalia, he is a sentimental geriatric who shaves (when he does) with a sharp axe, and spends part of the year living in a cave. Nice guy though, really.

Take care.

Tim

[MikeJohns]

Originally Posted by M&M Ovenden

Hi Mike,

Do you have any photos of your deck ? I'm interested in this type of paint for our decks. Any details or suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks,
Mark Ovenden

M & M
decks are one surface I don't use epoxy. Air dry single pack easy recoat and touch up.

Zinc rich chlorinated rubber base followed by acrylic roof paint then you roll the swimming pool non-slip over that. I swear by it and we've specified the same for a lot of work boats.

The alternative is another acrylic coat with sand added but it is hard on anything moving over it and is frankly dangerous in its ability to remove your skin.


I include a photo of my own deck, both the 2nd coat acrylic and the non-slip are tinted the same color but you could go for a yachty look with patches and different colors.


On the subject of pictures; some progress pics of your boat would be nice in your gallery .

Cheers

[M&M Ovenden]

Hi Mike,

We hadn't thought of putting photos in our gallery. Murielle will give it a shot tomorrow. We haven't had much visual progress - lots of welding, finishing & loose ends before sandblasting & painting (hopefully in the next couple months).

Thanks for the paint info. Do you know if anyone has applied this type of non skid over an epoxy primer with success ?

Cheers,
Mark

[MikeJohns]

Yes there is nothing wrong with epoxy and parts of my deck are still epoxied under the non-skid. In fact it will stick better to an epoxy than to an acrylic. I'd recommend a zinc rich epoxy primer on the decks first if you use epoxy.