Hiding core damage repairs in non-skid areas

[Summercamp]

Hello,

I am new to repairing decks. I have read and understand the process of cutting the skin and replacing the core (if needed) from the outside. Also aware of the process of drilling holes and injecting epoxy from the outside. I am also considering to go at the repair from the inside where I have excellent access in the v-berth.

When doing the repair from the outside I have read the recommendations to cut the skin in a smooth area because it is easier to hide the repair "line". My repair area is 6" x 6" in a balsa cored foredeck and it is located in the middle of a non-skid area. Cutting the skin in smooth areas will create a much larger area to deal with and it seems to me to make sense to confine the repair to the smaller area around the actual softspot. The fact that I am going to re-do my non-skid areas has me thinking that it will work.

Questions:
1. My concern is hiding the repair after I am done. Can I hide the repair "line" in the non-skid when I re-do my non-skid? It seems like some of the non-skid products such as Durabek and Kiwi that contain the rubber particles would hide any repairs. From photos it looks like a product such as Interdeck would not. I would like to stay away from the heavy rubber glue on non-skids such as Treadmaster or Vetus. Am I on the right track? Any suggestions? Any other non-skid products to recommend?

2. Going at this repair from inside the boat seems a bit more difficult but certainly not impossible. I have read the ideas in Don Casey's book and like the idea of not touching the outer deck. I guess it comes back to the question that if I am going to re-do my non-skid anyway does it really make sense to do the repair from inside?

Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

[tommays]

I will be a bit supprised if the dammage is only 6" X 6"

If the area can be done from below its a no brainer to go that way as blending the deck to look like orginal is expert level work

[puddinlegs]

6"x 6" is pretty small. Chances are the area of wet/rotten core is larger. My question is, have you drilled out a core sample so you know what you're really dealing with? Sounds like it's around a bow cleat or the like that wasn't bedded properly. You can go at it from the bottom if you're under d=12" circle. Any larger and it can get a little difficult and much depends on the thickness of the interior gelcoat... no easy answer... If the core is only damp and there's no rotten or really wet core or spread, you can vent the area from the bottom (use a 2-3" hole drilling bit and remove just that circle of gelcoat/glass to expose the balsa. Sea Dog makes $8 plastic vent covers that will neaten things up, then just religiously run your dehumidifier to dry things out. After it's dried out, you can leave it as is, or go ahead and reglass/gelcoat, and paint to match. As far as going through the top, if you have some good paint/texture matching skills, it's a very small area and should be pretty easy to do. In the worst case, you might repaint and re-texture to the extents of that particular area... Not many boats have the entire deck textured without breaks. Another thought is do the repair from the top, re-core, prep for paint, then farm it out. By that point, you're probably looking at 2-3 hours of labor at the max to finish up, and it will look much better if your own skills aren't quite there. In the end, it's the prep that really takes time. If you can do that, you'll save a bundle.

[Summercamp]

You are right....maybe I am bit too optimistic about the 6" x 6" area
It would appear that water intrusion occured due to impact damage when someone dropped an anchor or case of cold beer on the foredeck.

I think the short version of my question would be if one of the heavier roll/brush on non-skid covering would hide the scarf joint left by the repair? My thought is to sand down a fair amount of the old non-skid and re-new it on the entire boat. It seems very doable and would appear that once the adjoining non-skid areas are smoothed down a bit a coat of one of the thicker non-skid products would hide the scarf joint on the repaired area and it would all blend together. Not having done this before I realize that I might be missing something.

Before I start drilling or cuttiing I thought I would ask.

The non-skid products I have looked at so far are Durabak, Kiwi-Grip, Ultra-tuff and ___________??

Thank you for your help and ideas.

[deniseO30]

Mini-craft dot com in fla sells non skid molds for all production boats. Trouble is there is almost no way to make an invisable repair from the top. the non skid coatings seem like the best answer after you fix ALL the bad cored areas.

[Summercamp]

You are right....maybe I am bit too optimistic about the 6" x 6" area
It would appear that water intrusion occured due to impact damage when someone dropped an anchor or case of cold beer on the foredeck.

I think the short version of my question would be if one of the heavier roll/brush on non-skid coverings would hide the scarf joint left by the repair? My thought is to sand down a fair amount of the old non-skid and re-new it on the entire boat. It would appear that once the adjoining non-skid areas are smoothed down a bit a coat of one of the thicker non-skid products would hide the scarf joint on the repaired area and blend it with the non-skid areas that wasn't repaired. Not having done this before I realize that I might be missing something.

Before I start drilling or cuttiing I thought I would ask.

The non-skid products I have looked at so far are Durabak, Kiwi-Grip, Ultra-tuff and ___________??

Thank you for your help and ideas.

[mikehoyt]

Summercamp

You seem to have the right ideas of what is involved attacking from the top. Cutting inside the non skid area is best. If you are skillful enough to patch drywall then you can have a very nice looking repair in a non skid area. Drywall is more of an art form thana deck. Many products such as interdeck are very easily applied. just paint the entire non skid section that the repair is within and there will be little issue of blending in.

If the core is saturated with beer from a dropped case I suggest using a straw on a hot afternoon to suck out the beer so it does not go to waste. A frosty mug may also help.

I have recored deck areas from top with success. Projects can be viewed on my web page by my signature. It is a fairly simple process. If your boat is a $300,000 almost new yacht then you may wish to pay someone to do it - otherwise you will be fine. You seem to have researc hed rather well.

Mike