Team Last Stall
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- Nov 8, 2011
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After using this site for some time for boat / motor repairs, I wanted to give back and share my experience with my bay boat deck restoration project.
Several years ago I purchased a 1996 19? BayStealth Bay Boat with a 115 hp Yamaha. I am the third owner of the boat. The boat was pretty much what I was looking for to run the marsh and outside here in southeast Louisiana. The boat had some wear and tear but that was expected for a 1996 model boat. The boat had carpet on the front deck, gunnels, and back hatches. I knew from the day I purchased the boat that one day I would rip it out. After a couple of summers and winters of trout and redfish slams, it was time for the carpet to come go. Thinking it would not be that expensive to have the deck re-gel coated, I brought it to several well known fiberglass boat repair yards in the New Orleans area. I was shocked with the quotes I was getting for the gel coat. The lowest was $900.00 and the highest was $2,100.00. At that point, I decided to do the restoration myself.
I searched the Internet and this site for some ideas and tips for doing the restoration. After coming up with a game plan, I decided that the first cool fall day the project would start. October rolled around and I was working nights so I had the mornings to get a few hours of work done every day.
The first day I discovered that every nut and bolt on the boat was either corroded and or already stripped. I removed everything from the deck including the ratty old carpet. To my surprise the deck was in good condition. The other surprise was the amount of glue that was put down. I stood there in shock for several minutes wondering if I was ever going to get it all off.
I purchased a cheap 5? sander (didn't want to burn up my good one) with 80 and 40 grit sandpaper from Harbor Freight Tool and also a wire wheel for my grinder. I also purchased a gallon of Acetone to assist with the glue removal.
After trying several methods of glue removal, I found that the sanding worked the best. For those of you that are going to do this yourself, you need to dedicate some time for the sanding process. It took me every day for over a week to remove it all. Get a couple of packs of sanding disks if you don?t want to go to Home Depot ever day. Asprin would also be a good purchase for the back and ***** aches. The glue basically laughed at the Acetone, and the wire wheel melted and spread the glue on the fiberglass.
Once I had the glue gone, I decided to paint the gunnels and transom with a marine paint and use Durabak on the floors and front deck. I found a guy on Youtube who shows you how to put down the Durabak. It?s a very good video for those of you that are going to go the Durabak route.
I put down 3 coats of Rustoleum Topside gloss white marine paint which came out much better than I expected. Then went down the Durabak. I wound up using 2 gallons of the Durabak. It says it only covers 60 square feet per gallon but personally I think it covers a little more.
A few days after everything set up, I re-installed all the hatches, cleats, etc. with 3M 5200 and all new stainless steel hardware.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the way it came out especially the Durabak.
I spent about $500.00 on all the materials for the project. The Durabak was the most at $119.00 a gallon plus shipping.
I?ll post again in a few months and let everyone know how everything is holding up.
You can e-mail me at EDIT if you have any questions. I'll be glad to help.
Tight lines to all.
Several years ago I purchased a 1996 19? BayStealth Bay Boat with a 115 hp Yamaha. I am the third owner of the boat. The boat was pretty much what I was looking for to run the marsh and outside here in southeast Louisiana. The boat had some wear and tear but that was expected for a 1996 model boat. The boat had carpet on the front deck, gunnels, and back hatches. I knew from the day I purchased the boat that one day I would rip it out. After a couple of summers and winters of trout and redfish slams, it was time for the carpet to come go. Thinking it would not be that expensive to have the deck re-gel coated, I brought it to several well known fiberglass boat repair yards in the New Orleans area. I was shocked with the quotes I was getting for the gel coat. The lowest was $900.00 and the highest was $2,100.00. At that point, I decided to do the restoration myself.
I searched the Internet and this site for some ideas and tips for doing the restoration. After coming up with a game plan, I decided that the first cool fall day the project would start. October rolled around and I was working nights so I had the mornings to get a few hours of work done every day.
The first day I discovered that every nut and bolt on the boat was either corroded and or already stripped. I removed everything from the deck including the ratty old carpet. To my surprise the deck was in good condition. The other surprise was the amount of glue that was put down. I stood there in shock for several minutes wondering if I was ever going to get it all off.
I purchased a cheap 5? sander (didn't want to burn up my good one) with 80 and 40 grit sandpaper from Harbor Freight Tool and also a wire wheel for my grinder. I also purchased a gallon of Acetone to assist with the glue removal.
After trying several methods of glue removal, I found that the sanding worked the best. For those of you that are going to do this yourself, you need to dedicate some time for the sanding process. It took me every day for over a week to remove it all. Get a couple of packs of sanding disks if you don?t want to go to Home Depot ever day. Asprin would also be a good purchase for the back and ***** aches. The glue basically laughed at the Acetone, and the wire wheel melted and spread the glue on the fiberglass.
Once I had the glue gone, I decided to paint the gunnels and transom with a marine paint and use Durabak on the floors and front deck. I found a guy on Youtube who shows you how to put down the Durabak. It?s a very good video for those of you that are going to go the Durabak route.
I put down 3 coats of Rustoleum Topside gloss white marine paint which came out much better than I expected. Then went down the Durabak. I wound up using 2 gallons of the Durabak. It says it only covers 60 square feet per gallon but personally I think it covers a little more.
A few days after everything set up, I re-installed all the hatches, cleats, etc. with 3M 5200 and all new stainless steel hardware.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the way it came out especially the Durabak.
I spent about $500.00 on all the materials for the project. The Durabak was the most at $119.00 a gallon plus shipping.
I?ll post again in a few months and let everyone know how everything is holding up.
You can e-mail me at EDIT if you have any questions. I'll be glad to help.
Tight lines to all.
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