Alcanboats Forum

Ok so I am trying to decide how to redo the outer main deck (upper will be carpet). Do I buy a pice of carpet and try to figure out how much to cut from the centre without making a mistake or do I find a non slip type of paint

Any suggestions are welcome
Dan

Dan

There are a number of options for deck material and they all have their pros and cons. They can all look good when you first apply them, but they all age differently. We chose to use paint on Buster, but 10 years later it looks like crap and needs to be redone. Rob did Teak decks on Catherine Ann (see http://www.alcanboats.com/newsite_wordp ... teak-decks) and they still look good 10 years later, although I suspect there is a bit of maintenance involved to keep them looking good. I have seen indoor/outdoor carpet used, but years later it will be faded and peeling. I think carpet has the greatest capability of looking awful as it ages. I am investigating deck finishes for Buster and looking at some interesting possibilities, such as synthetic materials (eg nuteak.com), but they all seem to be too heavy. It is getting close to summer and I haven't found a good solution, so I may end up just doing another coat of paint.

Let us know what you end up doing.

David

The teak decks worked out well an Catherine Ann, but are tough to keep from going black. This seems to be the nature of teak in our environment without salt water and salt air to control what is actually a form of algae. You would think that the "black" is mold . . . but the fastest growth is on the sunny and hot top deck and the slowest growth is in the cool shaded lower deck areas. Mold needs "dark and damp". Algae grows fastest with lots of sunlight . . . thus this conclusion.
I have tried probably every teak oil and teak treatment out there . . . with no success. This year I am going to experiment with algaecides . . . as are sometimes used in swimming pools. The teak can be cleaned to original look with a pressure washer, but this takes away a little wood each time, so I try to do it only once per year.
Carpet anywhere is bad news (in my opinion). If you glue it down it is tough to get off (see my article on the teak decks and other discussion elsewhere on the forum.
One of the (sail) boats at our club had the synthetic teak decking installed and this looked to be nearly as much work as real teak. The biggest problem they had was compound curves in the deck surface. This would not be a problem on an Alcan.
I have heard good things about Kiwigrip. https://kiwigrip.com/ and have seen it after application on fibreglass which looked pretty good. I have no idea on durability, but this is one of their key claims.

Rob

Thanks for the suggestions. I think paint it is .. On another note I find my sliding door is a little sloppy and sticky. The lower track at the farthest end seems to be a set about an inch from the wall but is flush on top. Is this normal?
The interior upgrade is coming along nicely.
Cheers Dan