What floor coating should I use?

[huskerdaninva]

Hi all, I have my 1969 Chrysler Valiant w/ 1969 70 hp Chrysler outboard finally running well. (Thanks to all of the fine contributors on this board!) My next project is the floor. The original plywood flooring is still present and is in very solid condition but the white factory paint/coating is flaking off of the floor.
What I was debating was just what to use to re-coat/paint the plywood floor? My initial thought was to use an oil based "Kilz" type paint on the stripped plywood first, than add a small amount of fine sand/aggregate on top of the paint while it is still wet for traction. Once dry, follow up with another coat of good oil base marine paint. Am I on the right track? Also, what about using spray/roll on bed liner? Thanks SO much in advance. Enjoy the second Saturday of the College Football Season all!

"Husker" Dan

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: What floor coating should I use?

Bedliner will do 2 things for ya

1. Add weight

2. Be hot under foot

3. Be fairly $$$ (ok, I tossed in a bonus comment, sorry)



I think you are on the right track with the paint & sand...Or what about marine vinyl? a little $$$ too, bit up to you.

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: What floor coating should I use?

I used Durabak on my deck,

You can see the results on the link below on my Bayliner resto-mod.

The stuff holds up great!

 

[109jb]

Re: What floor coating should I use?

Bedliner will do 2 things for ya

1. Add weight

Not much depending on what brand you use. 2 gallons would do 16 foot boat and would not add much weight IMO. I used Rust-o-leum truck bedliner from Wal-mart and 1 gallon did 2 coats and the weight didn't concern me one little bit.

2. Be hot under foot

If you leave it black it will be hot under foot, but truck bedliner is available in other colors besides black. Like white, gray, etc.

3. Be fairly $$$ (ok, I tossed in a bonus comment, sorry)

Depends on the brand and what you consider expensive for a very durable waterproof coating. The gallon of rust-o-leum truck bedliner I used was $45/gallon and I only used one gallon.

On my project I went back with carpet over the bedliner so I didn't care about color and used the cheap black bedliner by rust-o-leum. I have used herculiner before and the rust-o-leum went on thinner and hence covered more, but still seems very durable for this purpose. Had I been intending on using the bedliner as the finished surface, I would have gone with a light gray bedliner color. According to the coverage that the manufacturers list, it would have taken possibly 2 gallons of the thicker stuff at about $100/gallon. Considering the work involved in replacing a deck $200 or so is cheap to extend the life of the deck IMO.

 

[thrillhouse700]

Re: What floor coating should I use?

Check out marcq's boat he used kiwigrip. Im sure he will post a pic of of that sexy thing haha. Im leaning towards this myself.

 

[superwooter]

Re: What floor coating should I use?

Bedliner will do 2 things for ya

1. Add weight

the specs on a gallon of herculiner says the gallon weighs 10.8 pounds. i doubt a 16 foot boat would use more than 2 gallons. so just 20 pounds. not too big a deal.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: What floor coating should I use?

the specs on a gallon of herculiner says the gallon weighs 10.8 pounds. i doubt a 16 foot boat would use more than 2 gallons. so just 20 pounds. not too big a deal.

So why put 20lbs down when you can do it with 4 or 5 or even less. I used carpet in my boat, I know I know, a lot of people don't like it, I think it weighed a total of 4 lbs with adhesive. You can use almost any kind of paint, just remember the slip factor.