Deck Work????

ok i have a searay cuddy...my deck is carpeted but i would like to remove the carpet and paint the deck...the plywood underneath is in good shape i think...i need step by steps on how to do this....what materials do i need? sealers? gelcoat? epoxy? paint? im unsure on what to use.. if the deck needs to be repaired....what kind of wood do i use?

 

i use 'skid-no-more' by Evercoat on the epoxy-over-wood interior of the Good Skiff. It is a rubberized nonskid that is water based and very durable. It is thick and covers imperfections very well. I use a scotchbright pad to etch the innitial coating into the surface. The nice thing about a rubberized nonskid is that it is skin friendly. It comes in basic light grey, but can be tinted.

 

ok so now i have bare plywood down....what goes on next?

 

Dawgs,

You need to follow the directions on the product you intend to paint it with.

No doubt you need to clean the surface thoroughly, and make sure the plywood is dry.


I'm sorry, I can't be more helpful, but it's rather difficult to give you a step by step, when we don't know what you intend to do.

But, as I said, you need to follow the directions on the product you intend to cover the plywood with.

 

what do i use to seal the seams of the plywood?

 

I would coat the plywood with West epoxy before applying the non-skid if that's what you want for a finish.

 

A few links for further education. Use the tech supports also.
http://www.epoxyproducts.com/4_epoxypaint.html
http://www.epoxysystems.com/12.htm
http://www.hydropoxy.com/
http://www.corrosion.com/madison/polyurethane7.html
http://www.corrosion.com/
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/wrapper_pg3.asp?L=prod&K=indcoat&groupid=32&productid=209#article

And poke around here, http://www.bertram31.com/proj/tips/index.htm
You don't say what "look" you want. Utility/safety, Fancy/shiny, original/tradisional. I use truck bed liner, but I crab & shrimp and am always washing things down. I have carpet on my gunwales because it keeps things cooler for kneeling & sitting during the summer.
I used a grinder with a wire wheel to remove the carpet cement residue. washed it down & then wiped everthing down with laqure thinner on paper towels, never allowing the towel to "load" with residue. I agree, every job is different. Google is your best friend on things like this.

 

im not looking for a fancy finish....im just looking to remove the carpet an put down something that wont soak up the fishy smells

 

Cover the plywood with three coats of unthickened epoxy, paying special attention to any end grain that may be exposed. Rough up the surface 80 grit and apply 6 to 8 ounce 'glass cloth over the whole area and wet out with epoxy. If you don't "float" your cloth and used as little resin as necessary, you'll have a slightly textured surface, hard and water proofed surface, that can take some abuse. Paint this with the paint of choice, adding texture if you think you need it. Porch and deck enamel works good for this.

Use the "search" tool on this site and look for "sheathing plywood", then study up on the different methods.

 

I don't think you will find bare plywood under the carpet. Something has got to waterproof the deck and carpet won't do it. You'll probably find fiberglass, maybe it allready has nonskid imprinted on it. Pull up a corner and see what's there. Sam

 

if it is waterproofed already? how do i strip the carpet glue reminents? when i do strip it , all i have to do is put down a non skid paint?

 

Home Depot probably has some kind of stripper. Otherwise, sand it with a random orbit sander to get as much off as you can, clean it with a solvent and then put on a nonskid paint. Depending on how much time, effort and money you want to put into it, the cheapest would be latex porch and floor enamel with a small amount of fine grain sand sprinkled on it while wet, with maybe another coat of paint after that dries. It doesn't take very much sand to work well. If you want to get fancy, you can coat the whole deck with paint, after that dries mask off edges of hatches etc, with the blue masking tape. Paint again and then apply the sand/nonskid. Remove the tape and then coat the whole deck again. That will leave sharp edges on the perimeters of the non skid. Look on other boats to see how they do that on the nonskid around hatches, the edges of thedecks, etc. Sam

 

Dawgs,
Ted has already stated the best way to remove carpet glue, a grinder with a wire brush attachment. a belt sander with 36 grit will also work, but I believe that would be more destructive to the surface you want to paint. I would not put any kind of solvent on it as that just softens the glue and makes it gummy; it will stay gummy for a long time, and then when you resort to grinding it because the solvent isn't working fast enough, it will gum up your grinder.