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I promised an update on the deck paint I applied, so here it is: I settled on Interdeck, by Interlux (available at West Marine) and am pretty happy with it. It is a one-part polyurethane, and all that you add to the paint is a brushing thinner (up to 10%). I applied the material with a foam roller, the type sold at the box stores as a furniture and cabinet roller. The edges are rounded, making it easier to roll the material without leaving marks. The appearance turned out really nice…looks very nice next to the new Awlcraft. The aggregate in the paint is very very fine, so you don’t see any lumps like grains of sand or similar. The surface appears and feels a bit like fine sandpaper, not objectionable at all. If you goof up, it sands and recoats very easily. And it feels good to bare feet. My wife was adamant on this point.
A few lessons learned: The surface needs to be cool to the touch when you apply. Otherwise, the material dries too quickly and you have roller marks, and any drips not rolled out immediately show up. When the surface is cool however, it is quite manageable. On the color, if you select gray, it is way, way to dark. We messed around with ratios, and measured deck temps to ensure we could walk on it during the middle of the day, and wound up with one part gray to eight parts white. This yields a light gray, much cooler than the darker mixes we tested. And the contrast with the Oyster White we applied to the rest of the deck was sufficient.
This paint is applied thin, and really takes two coats. It remains soft for a fairly long period, so you have to be careful not to gouge the first coat as you apply the second. And after the second is applied, I would try avoid any traffic for 48 hours, and then only light traffic for up to a week. After a week in our Florida sun it seems very tough.
A tip on taping radius’s for those who don’t know it. I purchased one eighth inch wide tape from an Auto Paint store, that is intended for masking tight curves. I used circle templates to make pencil marks, and taped to the marks. The results were good. Of course you have to back up the thin tape with masking tape, but that’s easy.
Hope this helps somebody
David
Blue Moon -
David, Did you sand your surface flat or did you roll over the pattern? We usually put a coat (Awlgrip) down, scatter the griptex then apply another coat to lock it together. Makes for a uniform distribution of grit. Spraying yields really tight adhesion but rolling is really easy, no bagging.
I’m interested to see how the Interdeck holds up.
Where in FL?
Chuck -
Hello Chuck,
I filled the pattern with thickened epoxy, #407 West System, then sanded with 80 grit. This filled most but not all of the pattern. Surprisingly, the effect was pretty consistent. You can still see the basket weave pattern, but itâs not too heavy. Looks good. I had done substantial deck repair, which of course eliminated the pattern in those areas, so I blended best I could into the adjacent areas and it turned out pretty nice. I believe that you could roll this material directly over the existing non-skid and achieve a decent effect. Or you could sand, or fill and sand, and also achieve a nice result.
Iâm also interested in how the Interdeck holds up. I think that if it holds its color well, it should be effective to touch it up on perhaps an annual basis, then overcoat after maybe five years. Time will tell. Scrubability is also a question. I cleaned it today and it cleaned up pretty well, though not perfectly. To keep it looking nice, I can see the necessity for occasional touch ups. Fortunately, this should be really easy.
We are located in Ft Walton Beach, in the panhandle.
David
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