Hi, I painted the deck on my 29-2 last year. Absolutely massive job. One I likely wouldn’t take on again. Like any painting project, the preparation aka sanding is the most important thing. I come from a cabinetmaking background and have spent plenty of time sanding. I still found this to be a huge undertaking. My deck was as far as I can tell previously painted with Awlgrip. The glossy areas were somewhat dull and had surface cracks in areas but the real issue I had was the non-skid was very slippery. My boat was under its winter cover for this work which kept it dry-ish and warm-ish, but does make for a sore back being hunched most of the time.
Sanding/prep - I used a 5” orbital sander wherever possible. I made sanding tools for inside radii from 1/2” dowel with 1/8” thick foam wrap around them. I’d make them just shorter than the length of a piece of standard sandpaper, around 9”. And then would hold the paper around the dowel while sanding. I use Norton 3X paper almost exclusively. I started by sanding down to 80 grit everywhere, getting the old non-skid smooth. Repaired any cracks, surface defects and so on with System 3 Quik-fair epoxy which is pre-thickened, easy to mix, and fairly fast curing. I have from Lee Valley, their 8” Bent Detail File, #62W30.67 which was absolutely indispensable for shaping inside corners. It cleanly cuts filler and fiberglass and can even clean up an errant paint drip. Lots of vacuuming up dust. Remove almost every bit of hardware, tape up everything that can or needs to stay. Pull off the anchor locker lid, cockpit seat/lid, anything that can be worked on at a table. I proceeded to sand up to 180 grit after filling everything I didn’t like. I have a 3M half face mask that I swap with P100 dust cartridges or organic filters depending on the task. I did a solvent wipe-down with Awlprep T0170. Priming - I used Awlgrip 545, which is a two part epoxy primer. Absolutely toxic and very very thin, making brushing it smooth very hard to do. I was advised it would be wise to use it to form a good bonding surface between the old and new paint. Two coats were suggested but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Too much work. Painting - I painted with Awlgrip Matterhorn White. I didn’t flatten the glossy areas since they make up a relatively small visible area compared with the non-skid. Before painting, I sanded the 545 primer to 220 grit, smoothing out the inevitable drips and runs and misery that primer causes. I vacuumed, solvent wiped again and proceeded with the topcoat. I was advised to thin 10% for the first coat and as much as 30% for the second coat. Thinner is added while working due to evaporation. No solvent wipe between topcoats was also advised. I scuff sanded between topcoats with 400 grit. The topcoat is a miracle of chemistry that when everything goes right and the temperature is good and humidity and skill of the painter all come together, it looks like a sprayed finish. It levels out so nicely that brush strokes disappear into each other. I used foam brushes although I had a fancy badger hair brush on hand. I had to break up the boat into sections and I didn’t want to buy a half dozen badger brushes. I had devoted about a month of effort to get the glossy paint on and to be ready for the non-skid. Non-skid - I went with Kiwigrip Grey rather than attempt to match whites. I bought a gallon and needed an extra 2 quarts to finish up. I masked off the glossy paint after a couple days of the Awlgrip curing. I used 1/4” vinyl tape for the corners, and then regular 3/4” for straight lines. Roughly 8 hours to mask everything... Start with hatches to get a feel for it and determine your technique for texture. With the previously sanded surfaces ready at 80 grit and then scuffed the new Awlgrip up to the tape line so there would be good adhesion. Applying the Kiwigrip, I found it easy to glop it onto your surfaces with a 2” wide stick of plywood, spread evenly with a V notch trowel, and follow up with their 3” roller to achieve the desired texture. It’s relatively easy, forgiving and doesn’t smell. It is important to remove the masking tape while it’s wet so the edge lays down nice or it could get lifted with the tape. Plan accordingly to peel in 3-4’ sections as you work along. Once you are done the paint, you will also have to paint your opening ports since they now look dingy. Same for the vents. And in my case my pedestal. And then re-install everything you took off, re-bed, etc. This project roughly coincided with nearly losing my sense of smell. I took every precaution I could in terms of new cartridge filters, gloves, long sleeve shirts, safety glasses. And my smell thing could be coincidental, but I still wonder if the chemicals found their way past my mask. Anyway, that’s my story. I’m ultimately happy with the way the boat turned out and expect it will be good for a decade plus. Good luck!! Derek McLeod 1983 C&C 29-2, Aileron Toronto > On Apr 23, 2018, at 5:47 PM, Mike Rose <jmu92g...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi there- > > I am planning to paint the deck and have few questions for those that have > gone before me. I plan to use Perfection with Kiwigrip. I did a sample locker > lid with Snow White Perfection and White KiwiGrip. The Perfection is a bit > too white/reflective. I’d rather use a different shade of white over a > flattening agent. Here goes the questions. > > 1- what shade of perfection is preferred for the smooth deck surfaces? > 2- is there a recommended approach if I need to divide the effort between two > off-seasons (ie side decks and cabin one year, cockpit the next) > 3- what sanding tool is best for the curves and corners? > > Thanks, > Mike Rose > s/v Shannon Rose > 1972 C&C 39 > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
