kiwi grip non-skid

[deckhanddave]

I've been looking at non-skid and Kiwi Grip caught my eye as not having any sort of aggregate in it. I love the idea of a rubberized paint but have not be able to find anyone that has actually used the stuff. Anyone out there? Here's a link by the way. Anti-skid Boat Decks from Pachena LLC - KiwiGrip anti-slip deck coating

[sailingdog]

I'd go with durabak instead, which has a proven track record, at least here in the US.

[CalypsoP35]

I've never seen the Durabak or Kiwi grip on a boat, but their web pages make them both look like products I should be considering. I'm planning on re-doing my non-skid over the winter as well. Does anyone have any experience with either of these products or even seen this stuff used on a sailboat. I'd love to know how the non-skid works in wet and dry conditions, as well as how it looks and ages?

What would you recommend if you were re-doing your non-skid? I've pretty much ruled out using the adhesive tiles like Treadmaster due to cost and the amount of work required install them properly.

[jackytdunaway]

i went to the Durabak web site and the stuff looks good. do you use a textured or a smooth though?

[Freesail99]

I have some samples of the durabak on thin metal, they sent me. It looks good. It is really the same stuff as the bed liner on a pickup truck. Just the roller gives it a different look. If you had leaks, this stuff would fix it for good.

[sailingdog]

I've seen the Durabak on a couple of friend's boats, one is about 20 years old, the other is a early 1970's CD. It seems to work pretty well and is pretty easy to apply. I helped put it on the CD 25.

[nightowle]

I just started applying kiwigrip here in Seattle yesterday. My non skid areas were in bad condition with very, very heavy wear that was going through the original diamond pattern. The US dealer for the product was very helpful and I saw the product on his 43' Oyster locally which has traveled 14,000 miles with Kiwigrip on it. Anyway, I chose to put white over the original blue imbedded color and may need to put a second coat on some parts that I rolled too thin, but that's not such a big deal. So far I'm happy with the results particularly given the ease of application and the cost. It's making an old boat look far better (and safer). In hindsight, I should have used the white/grey mix that wouldn't have shown much shadow from the blue underneath and gotten away with one easy coat. It's easy to work with and looks remarkably like stuff that I've seen on brand new catalinas after its applied. I was concerned that Durabak would look too much like the trunk liner product that it really is. I'll post some before and after pictures by the weekend.

[wind_magic]

Originally Posted by nightowle

I'll post some before and after pictures by the weekend.

Please do. I for one would like to see how it turned out.

[sailingdog]

Nightowle-

I would add a bit of tint to the white, unless it is a slight off-white already, since it will hide dirt a bit better but also produce much less glare.

[jackytdunaway]

How about the smooth vs. textured question a very astute, goodlooking individual above asked?