KiwiGrip
- Thread starter dhill
- Start date
Jerry VB
E32-3 / M-25XP
Our previous boat was a '77 E27 with the classic molded-in square antiskid pattern. The deck was originally red but had faded to pink and the nonskid was getting slippery. The previous owner painted the deck white, which was much better, but the paint had worn off over the years (we owned her 27 years).
I repainted the deck with KiwiGrip and was very pleased with the result. It was easy to apply, looked good, and had good antiskid properties. It was easy to clean up with soap and water. I went pretty moderate for the antiskid peaks (moderate thickness and moderate rolling to generate a moderate antiskid).
Observations:
The groves in the antiskid were partially filled with paint from the previous paint job - I did not do anything to fill in the groves. I expected the KiwiGrip to fill in more than it did. When I applied and rolled the paint, it covered the existing square pattern but after it dried and shrunk, the pattern came through somewhat, especially where I was a little lighter in my application. If you are applying it over a deck repair you will definitely want to fill and sand the repair (reasonably) fair.
I initially painted the cockpit floor, cabin top, and forward deck so I could access it all. I did this on a cool, cloudy day and it dried slowly, allowing me to paint it all and then pull off all the tape before it was starting to harden. I then painted the cockpit seats and the side deck, but it was a lot warmer and the paint was starting to dry by the time I pulled off the tape resulting in some paint pulled off with the tape. I should have painted a section, pulled of the tape, and then painted the next section. I was able to touch up the chipped off places and it worked out OK, but it would have been better if I did not need to do the touch up.
It does trap some dirt in the valleys, but a vigorous scrub with a boat brush (soap and water) cleaned it up OK.
We had the KiwiGrip for only one season so I don't have any knowledge of its longevity. It should be as good as any other one part paint.
I repainted the deck with KiwiGrip and was very pleased with the result. It was easy to apply, looked good, and had good antiskid properties. It was easy to clean up with soap and water. I went pretty moderate for the antiskid peaks (moderate thickness and moderate rolling to generate a moderate antiskid).
Observations:
The groves in the antiskid were partially filled with paint from the previous paint job - I did not do anything to fill in the groves. I expected the KiwiGrip to fill in more than it did. When I applied and rolled the paint, it covered the existing square pattern but after it dried and shrunk, the pattern came through somewhat, especially where I was a little lighter in my application. If you are applying it over a deck repair you will definitely want to fill and sand the repair (reasonably) fair.
I initially painted the cockpit floor, cabin top, and forward deck so I could access it all. I did this on a cool, cloudy day and it dried slowly, allowing me to paint it all and then pull off all the tape before it was starting to harden. I then painted the cockpit seats and the side deck, but it was a lot warmer and the paint was starting to dry by the time I pulled off the tape resulting in some paint pulled off with the tape. I should have painted a section, pulled of the tape, and then painted the next section. I was able to touch up the chipped off places and it worked out OK, but it would have been better if I did not need to do the touch up.
It does trap some dirt in the valleys, but a vigorous scrub with a boat brush (soap and water) cleaned it up OK.
We had the KiwiGrip for only one season so I don't have any knowledge of its longevity. It should be as good as any other one part paint.
I used KiwiGrip on my former E27 too. It works great as nonskid, goes on easily, etc. I put a pretty agressive texture into it. I found that as it aged there were bubbles and voids that revealed themselves as it wore down or was scrubbed, and these and the heavy texture trapped the dirt. It's possible that I introduced the bubbles by using a drill mixer (I can't really recall now). At any rate it was difficult to get the dirt out of those voids. Perhaps a less aggressive texturing would have been better. Its been 10 years since the Kiwigrip was installed on that E27 and aside from the dirt trapping, it still works and is still secured firmly to the boat (I am moored two boats away from her now and check on her regularly for the current owner).
And as Jerry mentioned above, definitely pull the tape as you go before it sets up too much.
And as Jerry mentioned above, definitely pull the tape as you go before it sets up too much.
Grizz
Grizz
[Just another submittal triggered by our most excellent moderator!]
Loren knows I dove into the 'Kiwi Grip or Other' vortex 10 years ago. It's heartening to know there's a 10-year in service reference that's working with this material. I began with Kiwi Grip as the 1st option, tested it to several different criteria (set time, thickness of deposition, degree of texture, reaction to cool & cold ambient conditions). I knew I couldn't 'match' the OEM Olson color within the Kiwi color palate and I never got an answer from the Kiwi people whether it could be tinted.
Sooooo, Plan B was enacted, with the help of the Boat Yard Guy. For $ and a bit of guidance, he mixed @ 4 gallons of thickened gelcoat that closely approximated (translation: "almost matched") the weathered and UV impacted OEM gelcoat color, which is NOT white!
The procedure for each section was the same: dump a mound of the thickened gelcoat, like mashed potatoes, directly onto the section, scribe an 'X' into the upper surface, and fill with the liquid accelerant/hardener (whatever it was). Mix thoroughly, and roll out to a uniform thickness with a textured roller N/S, E/W and diagonally. Wait a few minutes (based on actually ambient temp) and re-roll to even the texture. Walk Away!
Returning the next day, peel only the fine edge tape from the sections completed the previous day and repeat to conclusion.
Yes, aggressive non-uniform nonskid that was blocked with 80 grit sandpaper to knock down the 'urchins'. But it's proven to be reliable underfoot in wet, active conditions. Staying on the boat is important...
This concludes the AM report. Take care.
Loren knows I dove into the 'Kiwi Grip or Other' vortex 10 years ago. It's heartening to know there's a 10-year in service reference that's working with this material. I began with Kiwi Grip as the 1st option, tested it to several different criteria (set time, thickness of deposition, degree of texture, reaction to cool & cold ambient conditions). I knew I couldn't 'match' the OEM Olson color within the Kiwi color palate and I never got an answer from the Kiwi people whether it could be tinted.
Sooooo, Plan B was enacted, with the help of the Boat Yard Guy. For $ and a bit of guidance, he mixed @ 4 gallons of thickened gelcoat that closely approximated (translation: "almost matched") the weathered and UV impacted OEM gelcoat color, which is NOT white!
The procedure for each section was the same: dump a mound of the thickened gelcoat, like mashed potatoes, directly onto the section, scribe an 'X' into the upper surface, and fill with the liquid accelerant/hardener (whatever it was). Mix thoroughly, and roll out to a uniform thickness with a textured roller N/S, E/W and diagonally. Wait a few minutes (based on actually ambient temp) and re-roll to even the texture. Walk Away!
Returning the next day, peel only the fine edge tape from the sections completed the previous day and repeat to conclusion.
Yes, aggressive non-uniform nonskid that was blocked with 80 grit sandpaper to knock down the 'urchins'. But it's proven to be reliable underfoot in wet, active conditions. Staying on the boat is important...
This concludes the AM report. Take care.
Attachments
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1st Kiwi Grip Trials (2).JPG -
15 Non-Skid Sections.JPG -
Fini! (No Foolin').JPG
Jerry VB
E32-3 / M-25XP
Trivia: KiwiGrip can be tinted (pdf). I used plain white which is ...um... very white because I didn't want to go another standard color like "cream" and couldn't be bothered to go down the tinting rabbit hole.
Our first reaction was "that's very white" but it rapidly grew on us. Tinting it slightly off-white probably would have been nice but we were happy with it being very white and was a great improvement on worn, faded pink.