Deck coatings

I put up a post in the general catagory a couple of weeks ago but from what I have seen in the forum, this is the place to ask
I have pulled my carpet to fix the deck. I need to put something else down. The factory floor was suprisingly irregular.

I would like to paint but it may take a lot of work to get it right. Is there a coating that would have a texture similar to a truck bedliner? I would like smooth and textered v.s. sanded.

Is there a way to duplicate the factory look where is there is actually a pattern?

I would probably continue to use a carpet but I would like it to snap in. Where would I go to have the edges bound? automotive trim store? A home carpet store? Can I buy the material online? I have not seen it on the boating sites.

Re: Deck coatings

I have never done it but I've heard it can be done with good results. This shows & tells you how to make Patterned gelcoat like the factory. Or you can do it with epoxy and then paint it. Might be worth looking into.http://epoxyworks.com/indexprojects.html
Any upholstery shop should be able to put binding and snaps on carpet of your choice. Something you should be aware of is carpet, after a few months, will stretch and wrinkle and most people with snap in are not happy with it after it does that.

Re: Deck coatings

Do you have a fiberglass or aluminum boat?

There have been a couple of aluminum boat rebuilds on here that have used bed liner on their plywood decks and it looked pretty good, but if you own a 'glass boat I don't think the liner material would bond to the glassed over decking very well.

There are other products like Kiwi Grip and Tuff Coat that you may like.

Marine vinyl is a very nice deck finish that sheds water, but it's a sheet good product.

Re: Deck coatings

The boat is fiberglass. I will check them out.

Re: Deck coatings

Something you may want to consider about the paint on coatings is, while easy to apply... it's not always easy to make the job look good/pleasing to the eye.

I've seen some that look great, but I've seen more that looked like smeared caca-doody.

If you choose to go this route buy extra and practice with it before applying it to your boat.