Boat Re-Decking Project

[Christl Waters]

When I returned to Montana after spending two months fishing off the west coast of Vancouver Island, I noticed a couple of soft spots on the plywood deck of my aluminum boat. After speaking with a few "experts" I was told that a plywood deck will typically only last about 8 - 10 years depending on the boat storage. I keep the boat inside, but since I am third owner, I have no idea of its past.

I ended up tearing out the entire deck and replacing it. I used 5/8" marine plywood, that was coated three times on both sides and ends with Minnwax Helmsmen urethane. I did this for not just protection, but also of the Seadeck foam decking that I put on top of it.

I did not get a complete start to finish set of pictures, but enough to kind of illustrate the project. I also recoated the gunwale with Kiwi Grip paint, due to the Zolotone peeling off, and my wife nearly killing herself slipping on it in Bamfield. I also installed a Magma filet table to the fish box in the stern of the boat.

Now it gets to sit for four months in my shop.

 

[Prfisher]

When I returned to Montana after spending two months fishing off the west coast of Vancouver Island, I noticed a couple of soft spots on the plywood deck of my aluminum boat. After speaking with a few "experts" I was told that a plywood deck will typically only last about 8 - 10 years depending on the boat storage. I keep the boat inside, but since I am third owner, I have no idea of its past.

I ended up tearing out the entire deck and replacing it. I used 5/8" marine plywood, that was coated three times on both sides and ends with Minnwax Helmsmen urethane. I did this for not just protection, but also of the Seadeck foam decking that I put on top of it.

I did not get a complete start to finish set of pictures, but enough to kind of illustrate the project. I also recoated the gunwale with Kiwi Grip paint, due to the Zolotone peeling off, and my wife nearly killing herself slipping on it in Bamfield. I also installed a Magma filet table to the fish box in the stern of the boat.

Now it gets to sit for four months in my shop.

Nice work! Looks like a new boat again. Probably better than new & will last longer than the original deck.
Nice roomy fishing platform.

 

[Sir Reel]

Looks great. nice job.
Can I ask you where you got the cutting table and how much?

 

[Christl Waters]

Nice work! Looks like a new boat again. Probably better than new & will last longer than the original deck.
Nice roomy fishing platform.

Thank you. The roominess comes in handy when you are lucky enough to hit a double header.

 

[Christl Waters]

Looks great. nice job.
Can I ask you where you got the cutting table and how much?

I bought it from https://www.northernmarineelectroni...MIq5mF0Zr93gIVWiCtBh0SvwbgEAQYCiABEgIz_PD_BwE

The table was $90US and the legs were $70. It is well worth the money. My other was homemade and pretty cheap looking.

 

[saanauk]

Nicely done. How did you prep the zolotone for the Kiwi grip? My Wooldridge is peeling the zolotone all over. The kiwi grip may be a good option for it.

 

[Christl Waters]

Nicely done. How did you prep the zolotone for the Kiwi grip? My Wooldridge is peeling the zolotone all over. The kiwi grip may be a good option for it.

My zolotone was a mess. I looked all over for solutions and stumbled upon the Kiwi Grip while looking for a new deck covering. I thought it might be too rough and hard for the deck, but figured it would be perfect to cover the gunwale. It is so thick, that you cannot see the areas where the paint was pretty much gone.

I started by lightly sanding all of the decent horizontal areas and the areas that were peeling real bad, I chipped the bad paint up with a putty knife and sanded the edges down. After that I cleaned everything up with 401 degreaser. I used the green masking tape and taped everything off. The Kiwi Grip paint is extremely thick, so you don't want to do too much at a time. It comes with a 3 inch roller that will make it very rough, which I did not want, so I used a 3/8" nap roller for a semi rough surface. The Kiwi Grip folks are amazing to talk to and they have great You Tube videos that will explain the process in greater detail. I used a clear finger nail polish to coat the areas where the horizontal and vertical joints are to cover the peeling occurring there.

I bought the grey, which is more white than anything, but it matched up perfectly to the existing paint. I did have one can tinted darker grey, which I used the back panel of the boat, which is in the other pictures.

 

[BCROB]

Nice work there, looks professionally done....

 

[saanauk]

My zolotone was a mess. I looked all over for solutions and stumbled upon the Kiwi Grip while looking for a new deck covering. I thought it might be too rough and hard for the deck, but figured it would be perfect to cover the gunwale. It is so thick, that you cannot see the areas where the paint was pretty much gone.

I started by lightly sanding all of the decent horizontal areas and the areas that were peeling real bad, I chipped the bad paint up with a putty knife and sanded the edges down. After that I cleaned everything up with 401 degreaser. I used the green masking tape and taped everything off. The Kiwi Grip paint is extremely thick, so you don't want to do too much at a time. It comes with a 3 inch roller that will make it very rough, which I did not want, so I used a 3/8" nap roller for a semi rough surface. The Kiwi Grip folks are amazing to talk to and they have great You Tube videos that will explain the process in greater detail. I used a clear finger nail polish to coat the areas where the horizontal and vertical joints are to cover the peeling occurring there.

I bought the grey, which is more white than anything, but it matched up perfectly to the existing paint. I did have one can tinted darker grey, which I used the back panel of the boat, which is in the other pictures.

Sweet thanks for the info. I used Kiwigrip for my flooring on my 16 sled plywood floor but was curious how you prepared the aluminum for it.

Thanks

 

[Stizzla]

Great work, and a very cool boat you have! I also really like the no bananas and the no sea lion sticker you have on the motors.

 

[bigdogg1]

My zolotone was a mess. I looked all over for solutions and stumbled upon the Kiwi Grip while looking for a new deck covering. I thought it might be too rough and hard for the deck, but figured it would be perfect to cover the gunwale. It is so thick, that you cannot see the areas where the paint was pretty much gone.

I started by lightly sanding all of the decent horizontal areas and the areas that were peeling real bad, I chipped the bad paint up with a putty knife and sanded the edges down. After that I cleaned everything up with 401 degreaser. I used the green masking tape and taped everything off. The Kiwi Grip paint is extremely thick, so you don't want to do too much at a time. It comes with a 3 inch roller that will make it very rough, which I did not want, so I used a 3/8" nap roller for a semi rough surface. The Kiwi Grip folks are amazing to talk to and they have great You Tube videos that will explain the process in greater detail. I used a clear finger nail polish to coat the areas where the horizontal and vertical joints are to cover the peeling occurring there.

I bought the grey, which is more white than anything, but it matched up perfectly to the existing paint. I did have one can tinted darker grey, which I used the back panel of the boat, which is in the other pictures.

Great job - really impressive work with the Kiwi Grip - the floor looks fantastic!

 

[Christl Waters]

Sweet thanks for the info. I used Kiwigrip for my flooring on my 16 sled plywood floor but was curious how you prepared the aluminum for it.

Thanks

You cannot use it on bare aluminum. It must have a previous coat of paint on such as epoxy, which my boat did have.

 

[Christl Waters]

Great job - really impressive work with the Kiwi Grip - the floor looks fantastic!

Thank you.

 

[walleyes]

Nice work, looks great.

 

[Islander57]

Looks awesome. Great job

 

[Prfisher]

Just a quick tip for guys thinking of refinishing their aluminum boats:
As a (retired) aircraft engineer, I did a lot of refinishing. Aluminum is very tricky. Paint doesn't like to stick to it at all.
I worked mainly on salt water floatplanes where corrosion was a real & constant problem.
The biggest deal with alum is the prep. All evidence of corrosion has to be removed & the metal has to be really clean.
We used to use a very strong detergent & scotch brite pads to scrub before applying primer. Any shiny spots need to be scrubbed down until they're dull. Then the detergent has to be completely rinsed off. A pressure washer works best. Then use primers specifically made for aluminum. We always used zinc chromate based primers. Usually in an epoxy or polyurethane medium. Apply the primer quite thin & it won't crack if the aluminum flexes.
I've seen paint fall off, literally in sheets when prep work was sloppy.
I've never refinished an aluminum boat, but I'm confident the same applies.
Aluminum dust is really bad for you. When sanding, wear a good dual filter respirator as minimum protection.