Monday, August 30, 2010

Rubberize It

After much prep work we finally got the materials and the umph to Sani-Tred the deck.

We had no idea what to expect, as their website is not that helpful and we found the actual detailed directions in a box which we opened towards the end of the job. But, nonetheless, the whole thing turned out to be a great success!

I love this product. It went on easily with a roller, spread nicely and filled in any cracks. Tapelines held their edge well expect for around the toe rail where we had some bleeding. The rubber granules that we spread into the wet rubber are soft and pleasant on bare feet. Really there is so far nothing that I don't like about it. Did I mention that its rubber? Yes rubber, waterproof, flexible rubber. If I were to do it again, I think I would paint the whole boat with this stuff. It really seems perfect for a woody.

Bow awaiting tape lines

Aft deck prepped and ready to tape

We skipped photographing a couple steps here, and got down to business. Here I am spreading rubber granules into the wet rubber for our non skid surface. This will then be covered with a couple layers of tan rubber to the inside of the tape lines. (Thanks for the photo Chris!!!)

Here's a detail of our drain taped off with the rubber granules. The idea here was that the granules would stick to the wet rubber but not the rubber outside the tape line which was done the day before and already dry. These excess granules are swept off before beginning the layer of tan rubber. Our neighbor Chris became our official photographer as we became quite the spectacle at the marina. I guess its not everyday you see a deck getting the rubber treatment, and there was a lot of interest and excitement regarding the final outcome. In the end, I believe several boaters here will be ordering Sani Tred.


Finished bow

Chopper was so good, really staying out of the way. In fact he didn't get any
rubber on him at all, which is just unheard of.

Billy didn't see what the big deal was, and really resented being locked inside the boat for three solid afternoons.


Bare feet love rubber!

We were so happy to have this deck job behind us

Chopper was happy with the tan, much easier on the eyes


9 comments:

Jolea said...

That looks great guys!!! Nice job!!!

Mid-Life Cruising! said...

Wow, it looks great! Sounds like a great product, thanks for sharing. We'll be needing to do the same all too soon. Any wedding updates?

judith said...

That looks fantastic! I wonder if I could use that on my deck?

Jim and Heather on Meerkat said...

You two did an awesome job! It looks great! How is the non-skid when it is wet? And how much did the "rubber" weigh? Our non-skid is more slippery than non-skid and would love to do it differently than with regular filtered sand (and won't do crushed walnut shells - ouch!), so the rubber may be an option. If not too heavy... lord knows we are already way overweight!

Anonymous said...

Oarsome! Gotta do my deck soon. Great job!
Maria

Travis and Maggie said...

Jolea, you're back! I read your Key West blog, sounds like fate to me!

MLC, we got the license

Jomamma, check out their site. This stuff goes on everythings, except if the surface is painted they recommend stripping it, coz if the paint peel so will the rubber. In fact Travis painted our shower tub with it yesterday and its great, love it.

Heather, the weight is .075lb per square foot, but that's is the rubber granules are touching everywhere, which is not how they are normally applied. They told us to spread them "like bird seed" into the wet rubber (Permaflex)and on one of the pics you can see how far apart they are. We ordered 70 lbs of the granules, according to that .075 lb measurement, but their tech support told me that we're crazy and cut it down to 20 lbs, and I swear we have over half of that left.

Maria, I thought you gave up that whole boat thing, for some exxxotic
travel in Turkey? Do you have a blog still?

judith said...

Good to know, the deck has never been painted!

rob said...

Nice job guys.

Freely Living Life said...

Very nice job on the deck! =)

We are excited to come across your blog. Thank you for sharing your adventures with us!

{{hugs}}