Rolling and Tipping cabin top with Awlgrip

[Rhett_m]

I was inspired by one of Christian Williams’ posts about his neighbors boat that had the top deck rolled and tipped, as well as adding sand to the existing raised nonskid areas. This project took me about 2 weeks, and I still have a day or two left of touching up some areas where the gray seeped though spots along the taped edges.
I used Awlgrip Cloud White, And Kingston gray. 4 coats of white, 4 coats gray
Biggest lessons learned:
- take your time. Any time I rushed a step, it always caused me more work the next day prepping for the next coat.
-take the prep work seriously. Clean with acetone, then tack cloth before you paint.
- when using awlgrip, the thinner you can roll a properly thinned paint on the better it will tip out. Here in San Diego. I thinned the paint to 10% and it went on really well when it was cool on the mornings.
-when you load the roller, roll it on the pans ramp to remove as much as you can. The less paint on the roller the better.
-if you miss a spot in the coat, wait until it cures to try and add more paint. It WILL run if you mess with it. A lot of the time, small imperfections lay down as the paint cures. Work it as few times as possible.
- spread the sand with a good dispersion device like a salt shaker with small holes. I tried to sprinkle it with my fingers and there’s uneven spots in the non skid.
- get your coats on early in the morning. LP take so long to cure that if evening dew settles on it, it will haze over.
-Lastly, if you can afford it pay someone to roll and tip your boat, I strongly recommend it. Your back will thank you.

 

[Loren Beach]

Nice! Did you clear-coat over the color coat?
And, did you paint the window frames? (They look really new-ish)

Also, good idea to forward a description and your photos to your insurer, with a request to increase the "agreed value". Now... you have more to lose... ! After our repower and then the total re-fit, we increased our valuation a lot. I do not ever foresee a sinking or fire, but it would take a lot of $ to replace our boat, after what we have invested (probably the wrong word) in it.

 

[Rhett_m]

I did not clear coat. I think Awlgrip clear coat is normally used for dark colors. I rolled and tipped the window frames with the same gray as the non skid. They were in rough shape before.

 

[Rhett_m]

The handrails I made using African mahogany. Original teak ones had rotted out.

 

[Rhett_m]

Nice! Did you clear-coat over the color coat?
And, did you paint the window frames? (They look really new-ish)

Also, good idea to forward a description and your photos to your insurer, with a request to increase the "agreed value". Now... you have more to lose... ! After our repower and then the total re-fit, we increased our valuation a lot. I do not ever foresee a sinking or fire, but it would take a lot of $ to replace our boat, after what we have invested (probably the wrong word) in it.

Also, that’s good advice about re-negotiating the value with my insurance.

 

[jav317]

Great Job! It looks perfect.

 

[Christian Williams]

Nice indeed.

LP takes so long to cure that if evening dew settles on it, it will haze over.

The pro who painted my transom* had this occur. He had to sand it and reapply the next day. It was only $300, but I think next time I would do it myself, with some practice with Awlgrip first.

*My transom gelcoat had deep shadows result of the former owner's very large vinyl crest and boat name.

 

[cdesopo]

Looks amazing! We're looking at the Alexseal product line but of course would consider Alwgrip. Did you have much crazing in the gelcoat in the non-skid areas? We have quite a bit & assume it will take significant prep work before we're ready to paint.

 

[Rhett_m]

Looks amazing! We're looking at the Alexseal product line but of course would consider Alwgrip. Did you have much crazing in the gelcoat in the non-skid areas? We have quite a bit & assume it will take significant prep work before we're ready to paint.

I had a little light crazing on the companionway hatch housing. I didn’t really do anything about it. So far it looks fairly well covered up. All the bigger cracks in the gelcoat I lightly ground out with the dremel and filled with thickened epoxy. I’ll take some closer pictures of both so you can see.

 

[Rhett_m]

Looks amazing! We're looking at the Alexseal product line but of course would consider Alwgrip. Did you have much crazing in the gelcoat in the non-skid areas? We have quite a bit & assume it will take significant prep work before we're ready to paint.

Alexseal is virtually the same as awlgrip. I have actually used alexseal with awlgrip converters and reducers. The Alexseal topcoat comes with a much thicker consistency than awlgrip. It needs to be thinned more.
I think the people that developed Alexseal used to work for Awlgrip.

 

[Loren Beach]

FWIW, there are several pix of our hull & deck, during the prep work and after it was painted a year ago. Please see my blog. All Awlgrip with clear coat on top. All coats were sprayed.

 

[cdesopo]

I had a little light crazing on the companionway hatch housing. I didn’t really do anything about it. So far it looks fairly well covered up. All the bigger cracks in the gelcoat I lightly ground out with the dremel and filled with thickened epoxy. I’ll take some closer pictures of both so you can see.

Thanks, this is helpful. Pics would be great. We're taking this on if we can ever get the Beta dealer to finish our repower (I'll post that nightmare story if/when it ends).

 

[patrscoe]

Looks like a lot of work.... Great job.

 

[Christian Williams]

Re Message #11: Here's Loren's blog (they're hard to find these days):

"Fresh Air"

This is an amateur attempt to document the updates, upgrades, and repairs of our Ericson-consctucted Olson 34. It was a 'fixer upper' when bought in Alameda, CA, in 1994, and trucked up to Oregon. Had the first owner kept it up properly, we could...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Rhett_m]

Some photos of the finished product, with the boat all put back together. Also redid the lifeline stanchions and bases, as well as new deck block organizers to simplify everything.

 

[Rhett_m]

Thanks, this is helpful. Pics would be great. We're taking this on if we can ever get the Beta dealer to finish our repower (I'll post that nightmare story if/when it ends).

This is a closeup of the companion way slide cover which had some crazing in it. The epoxy primer and awlgrip filled it in nicely.

 

[southofvictor]

Nice work that looks beautiful!