Repair of Non-Slip Surfaces

In the marine industry, we are always looking at new ways of repairing non-slip surfaces. Customers often damage their textured surfaces. With a range of surfaces/patterns out there, does anyone have a good method of repairing these surfaces and restoring the texture.

We currently design our boats with slits in our non-slip surfaces every 2ft apart. Therefore if push comes to shuff, we can cut out a small panel and repare the damaged area with new.

Alternative suggestions please.

 

Buckle,
I use silicone mold material to make a mold of a good surface area somewhat larger than the damaged surface. Then clean up the damaged area, leaving an irregular shaped surface so the patch blends in. The hardest part is getting the color right.

 

Do you happen to know Gibco Flexmold? They are at the IBEX at the moment. They have specialised in anti-skid patterns, and repair solutions. If you happen to speak to Bethny, Gibbs or Joy, say hello from me.

Their E-mail: gibco [at] swbell [dot] net

 

How can you ensure a good finish

My company has played around with using silicone moulds in the past. However we have never had any luck in getting the exact pattern match up. We can match an colour spot on as our resin supplier manufactures our gel coat to a tolerance which is un-noticable to the average eye. But the accurately of positioning the silicone mould on top of the damaged non-slip is impossible to get a good finish.

 

This depends heavily on the type and style of anti-skid used. With the Gibco stuff, I have seen repairs that were not visible anymore, or better, I HAVEN'T seen them... However, not all patterns line up that well. I know of the 100 series of Gibco, that they line up perfectly. Some others can be dramatic.

Many of the patterns can be seen on our website, under catalogue, tooling, antiskid patterns.
www.brandscomposiet.nl

 

I had a repair- job at a boat manufacturer nearby, fixing some damage to parts of the deck- pattern on a 35- foot mold. Having bought a sheet of Flexmold myself some 12 months ago for a boat project I am involved in, I knew it was possible to use the original (in this case positive) pattern to repair the mold. They had a piece left from 10 years ago, when they built the plug, and I fixed the damaged area going by the instructions from Flexmold folder on repair- jobs. The result was perfect.

But there is a problem with patterns in general, though. And thats stick- up on the mold. You must clean the pattern from time to time. Use nail- brush and liquid wax, and re- seal with a couple of layers.

For those who want to buy new pattern, I can recommend to buy also the optional preapplied adhesive backing. And read all instructions.