Non skid additive for FME

Tom Barb

Tom Barb

Active member
Hey guys. Been a while. Working on rehabbing a classic 13 whaler. I bought FMe from Lou and am going to re do the non skid parts of the deck. I learned about soft sand particles from boatworks today on YouTube and was intrigued.

The website for the company says it works with most urethane based marine paint but doesn?t list oil. Upon speaking with the manufacturer, he couldn?t confirm if it would work with the oil based FME. So I?m working on a test sample on the deck and it looks fantastic but I?m not sure it?s going to fully cure.

I will finish the final seal coat snd let it cure for a little while before making a final decision but was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a non skid additive for the oil based duck boat paints.

I don?t want anything too aggressive as this boat will double as my summer crabbing, fishing, cruising boat. So comfortable with bare feet is a must. Thanks in advance. Will post a few pics.
 
Those enamels take forever to dry when put on thick, think days or weeks if really thick. Also, the flat enamels lack durability due to the flatteners, they just are not that tough a paint. FME may be great as a flat enamel, but flat enamels are not near as tough as other options that are not as flat. I would not be surprised if the grit did not hold.
 
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Thanks Tod, what other options are you speaking of? Just curious. Looking at all options. Don?t necessarily need dead flat. I already bought the FME but just curious.
 
Urethanes or the various 2 part paints - basically the modern glossy paints that people use.
 
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Tom~


I have used Skid-Tex with flat oils (Pettit 3303) and Gloss White 1-part polyurethane. Both the base coats and the topcoats were rolled on thin.


I have also used playground sand - thoroughly dried first - but it's quite aggressive, only for booted feet.



All the best,


SJS

 
One other thing....


I sprinkle the Skid-Tex onto wet paint or epoxy with a salt shaker I keep for this purpose.


Hope this helps!


SJS
 
Thanks Steve. I will look into it. Examining it more, and thinking about it, I can?t really see how the soft sand particles would cause the paint to not cure. If I remember, like tod stated, the FME takes a while to cure. I believe my Sneakbox was around the same level of cure at this point in the process without any additive. Think dry to the touch but could scrape it with a fingernail.

I will put the final seal coat on and let it sit for a while.
 
I have recently tried https://www.rustoleum.com/en/product-catalog/consumer-brands/marine-coatings/anti-slip-additive
with Parker Duck boat paint was not very aggresive but adheres well when dry.
 
I was going to do the same as you but I was afraid the oil wouldn't give it the adhesion. I ended up rolling out tinted gel coat then applying the non skid and painting over that. The texture has held up for one year but still chips off. Parker's duck boat paint is what I used.
 
***UPDATE***

After almost a week cure time, it seems the Paint cured quite a bit and nicely sealed in the soft sand. It is durable, but I?m sure not as durable as different urethane based paints. I expect it to last a decent amount of time before needing significant repairs.
 
Tom,
Didn't get to answering this earlier. We do stock a non skid additive called SharkGrip.
I have several folks who have used and and it works well.
We stock it but I don't recall the price at the moment.
Lou
 
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