The Garage Makeover Blog by Slide-Lok

Fiberglass Boat Deck Refinishing with Polyaspartic Coatings

8/7/2019

Marine Coatings

Before and after one day boat deck refinishing on a 1984 36' Bayliner.

Our popular garage floor coating has been used as a boat deck coating in Alaska for the last 7 years. After regular fishing trips our polyaspartic coatings have proven extremely durable, reliably slip resistant, easy to clean, and continues to turn heads at the docks. The above before and after photo shows a one day boat deck refinish of a 1984, 36' Bayliner Motor Yacht. The deck was refinished in 2012 and still looks brand new after years of abuse fishing in Alaska. Alaska is known for its notoriously dangerous Bering Sea, you may know it best as the television set for "The Most Dangerous Catch" on Discovery TV. The seas up here are infamous for their tough, abusive, and threateningly deadly cold salt water environments.

"I've done two boats with Slide-Lok's polyaspartic garage floor coating. The brown deck refinish was a 1984, 36' Bayliner done in 2012 and is still in great shape. The gray boat deck was refinished just 3 weeks ago on a 54' Meridian. These surfaces take a lot of abuse from fishing. I have had 3 different people see the coatings and ask how I did it and where they can buy Slide-Lok coatings."Nick Brest, NCB Construction

Nick has used our Slide-Lok polyaspartic garage floor coatings for years in the residential and commercial market in Anchorage, Alaska. Well aware of polyaspartic coatings' qualities Nick figured this would make for one strong marine coating. Our polyaspartic garage floor coating is 4x stronger and more abrasion resistant compared to standard epoxies, features excellent chemical and UV resistance, and can be applied below 0°F; Application of coatings in sub-freezing temperatures can be challenging if you use the wrong materials, epoxies typically require application temperatures above 50°F. Nick thought pairing our polyaspartic coating with decorative flooring flakes and anti-slip (aluminum oxide) additive might just make one resilient marine coating. After using the Bayliner for regular fishing trips over 7 years the coating has held up extremely well and has been super easy to clean according to Nick.

How To Refinish Your Boat Deck With Polyaspartic

Boats provide priceless memories to families, from fishing, sight seeing, to pure motor boat enjoyment. Boats don’t always receive the maintenance needed to keep them in pristine condition. Whether it is for recreational or work purposes, these boats take a lot of abuse from weekend family fishing trips to daily fishing charters. Surfaces will get scratched, beaten, wear down, and deteriorate over time. Especially being in a water environment, like boats are, they are subject to extreme corrosion environments, saltwater especially is the worst. Nick Brest, one of our flooring contractors has helped solved one problem for a couple of boat owners, making their boats safer, more durable, and more appealing. Below you will see how Nick Brest used our garage floor coatings to refinish his and his client's boat decks:

Step 1: Clean and Remove All Contaminants (Prep)

Completely remove all wax and contaminants. Brest used MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), an industrial solvent typically used for stripping and cleaning surfaces. An alternative to MEK would be acetone, as it is a little less toxic. Both solvents are toxic and must be used with the utmost caution as it does pose a risk to the health and safety of those using and around it.

Note: When working with solvents it is important to ensure there is adequate ventilation. It is always recommended to wear an approved respirator and proper PPE including gloves, eye protection, and clothing. Consult the material's safety data sheet (SDS) documentation for more information.

Step 2: Sand All Surfaces You Intend To Coat (Prep)

Sand all surfaces in order to allow for the best adhesion with the coating. Brest used a 60 grit paper and a HEPA vacuum connected to a FesTool sander to quickly and efficiently sand and vacuum the boat's deck.

Step 3: Design Your Painting Lines (Prep)

Apply painting tape to create clean clean lines around the area to be coated. Brest used automotive tapes to create clean lines for his application. He used a 1/4” blue pin striping tape around the edges, this allowed for the flexibility to go around the tight radius's found on most boat decks. Brest found that the blue painters tape typically found in hardware stores is almost impossible to remove, for easier application automotive tape is strongly recommended.

Step 4: Coat The Boat Deck

Now that the deck has been prepped and outlined you are ready to refinish the boat deck. Apply the polyaspartic coating as you normally would on a concrete surface. Prime with our polyaspartic thinned to 60% solids. 40-60 minutes later apply another coat at 70% solids and broadcast flooring flake/chips to rejection.

Step 5: Tape Touch Up

Immediately following the broadcasting of flooring chips peel back the automotive tape. Touch up as desired.

Step 6: Lightly Scrape & Re-Tape

About 60-90 minutes after the chip coat was applied lightly scrape the chip layer to remove loose chips. Vacuum the loose chips to use on another job or discard. Then, apply fresh automotive tape creating clean lines just like before.

Step 7: Top Coat

Apply one or two top coats as desired. Broadcast anti-slip (aluminum oxide) additive as desired.

Step 8: Touch Up & Done

Remove the painters tape after the final top coat has started to become tacky (no longer runny). Use MEK to touch up as needed. Clean up, and 24hrs later ENJOY your new boat deck finish!

Boat Deck Refinishing Photos
  • Boat Deck Coating
  • Boat Deck Coating
  • Marine Coatings
  • Fishing Boat Deck Refinish
  • Yacht Deck Coating
  • Marine Coatings
  • Fiberglass Coating
  • Fiberglass boat deck coating
  • Boat Deck Refinishing
  • Fishing Boat Deck Easy To Clean

Become a Slide-Lok Floor Coating & Cabinet Dealer

Open your contracting business to more opportunities with Slide-Lok. Slide-Lok is your one stop shop for garage flooring and storage solutions since 1977. Inquire today and discover the benefits of Slide-Lok Garage Interiors.

About The Author

About the author

Rachel Strayer enjoys traveling the world, discovering new cultures, and spending time with her friends. Rachel recently graduated from Arizona State University with two degrees from the W.P. Carey School of Business in Marketing and Supply Chain Management. She loves to tell stories of her adventures as an American Airlines intern where she took advantage of the "free flying" perks every week for an entire summer; Visting places like San Diego, Seattle, and London was an incredible once in a lifetime experience to travel every week for 3 months. Rachel is currently settling into her new full time position at Deloitte LLP in Dallas, Texas - Go Cowboys!

Keywords: alaska, fishing, boat, yacht, deck, coatings, epoxy, polyaspartic, floor, flooring, slip, marine, marine coatings

© Copyright, 2019, Slide-Lok (DBA), Mirabel Coatings Inc.

Back to Posts on The Garage Makeover Blog

Contact Local Dealer

Find a Slide-Lok Garage Floor & Cabinet dealer in your area.

Call: 1-800-835-1759
E-mail: Click to e-mail.

Featured Blog Posts



Contact Local Dealer

Find a Slide-Lok Garage Floor & Cabinet dealer in your area.

Call: 1-800-835-1759
E-mail: Click to e-mail.

Featured Blog Posts