Painting non-skid deck

[SkunkBoat]

After pulling up EVA decking I will be repairing gelcoat blisters and painting non-skid deck.
This is only the cockpit area, not the whole boat.

I will sand off blisters and fair with Total Boat epoxy fairing compound.
I will prime deck with Total Boat epoxy barrier coat.
I will paint deck with Pettit EZDeck and EZpoxy in Off White color.

Regarding existing diamond pattern. It is very worn, with some smooth places already.
Asking anyone who has actually done it. Do you think it needs to be sanded completely smooth?
I am leaning towards light sanding and a heavy scrub with acetone.
I did my hardtop without sanding smooth and it worked out great. But that was not diamond non skid.

I will use the small rear deck hatch as a test. The fuel tank hatch is in great shape. I already did the recore project.
I can paint the hatches inside an enclosed porch. The rest is dependant on weather. I will get the prep done and be ready for a weather window to paint the rest.

Pictures to follow....

 

[DennisG01]

Sanding worn diamond pattern to be smooth.... Nope - no need - just scuff well and clean. That's exactly what I did to mine. I used Pettit EZDeck, as well.

 

[Hookup1]

I have not sanded out diamond non-skid gelcoat. I did sand the hardtop non-skid gelcoat smooth before refinishing. Wasn't that difficult. Hardtop had severe edge chipping and other "blisters". They were ground out to the substrate, epoxy primed, epoxy fairing compound and carefully sanded smooth with belt sander. Some parts were finished with longboard sanding by hand to get fairing repairs optically flat.

You have those blisters. Those areas will have to be cleaned up. I know you have painted before. It all comes down to what level of finish is acceptable to you and how much prep your willing to do. All this work was done outside and covered with a tarp at night to keep dry. I don't think belt sanding and repairing the deck would be that difficult other than working on your hands and knees!

 

[DennisG01]

Oh... just a personal preference of course, but... I went with a contrasting color for the deck paint. I was worried that if the color match wasn't perfect it would look "off". Although, my boat is an '82 and I'm not trying to win any beauty pageants with it, either All I wanted to do was to stop slipping on my (lack of) non-skid!