Refinish aft deck ????

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:49 pm

My 72 Bertram needs a new finish on her aft deck. Ten + years ago it was finished with Awlgrip, very tired now. Does anyone have experience with non Awlgrip finishes on decks? Lots of traffic there. The hull still looks great but all horizontal surfaces are tired. This is a Great Lakes boat.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sun Nov 12, 2017 9:58 am

My boat had been painted by the previous owner who used an unknown single part paint and a roller to apply it... with no brush tipping. There were roller marks, hungry spots and streaks/runs everywhere. After wearing out a DA sander and 35+ hours of sanding the whole exterior several times I used AwlFair LW epoxy filler and AwlGrip 545 primer (sand, apply fairing compound, sand, reprime, apply more fairing compound, resand, reprime etc, etc, etc, eventually I had a surface I was happy with. I then applied two coats (sanding between them) of AwlCraft 2000 Stark White or AwlCraft 2000 Fighting Lady Yellow the job was done. I used AwlCraft 2000 because it is very forgiving and easy to apply, but by spray only.. brushing or rolling is not recommended. I used an inexpensive spray gun and with a little practice I was able to lay down an acceptable final coat that blended well with the previous coat. One thing I learned is if you are not pleased with a coat don't try to correct the wet coat, instead let it dry/cure and sand the imperfect coat smooth and apply by spray another coat. It is difficult to blend touch up repairs with AwlGrip, but very easy with AwlCraft 2000. With a little practice you can avoid hiring a pro, and save some money at the same time. Good luck!

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:18 pm

In My experience, a linear polyurethane like Imron or Awlgrip is tougher than an acrylic urethane like the awlcraft 2000 but is tough to touch up. The Awlgrip does roll out nicely with the brushing catalyst or reducer(can't remember) . If it were me, I'd go with a linear polyurethane.

h2ojst · Post by **h2ojst** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:55 am

I'm going on 13 years now with Awlgrip. The only troublesome spot has been the flybridge brow. Spent 10 years in the South Florida sun & still has a gloss but not like the rest of the boat. It is some very tough paint and & does flow out with a roll & tip application...just use the brushing reducer. Since you already have Awlgrip, I'd stay with it. Have you tried a product from 3M called "Finesse-it 2?" It may bring back a lot of the shine without a new paint job. Certainly worth a shot.