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deck material

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 17:09
by 1962 31
has any one used the king starboard anti skid for making a deck seems easier than going with marine plywood then classing then non skid and prob not costing too much more in the end

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 17:29
by CaptPatrick
starboard anti skid
Now there's a true oximoron...

Starboard, (polyethylene), even with a textured surface, it's slicker than deer guts on a door knob when wet. Also the extreme thermal expansion & contraction of the material contribute to make it almost worthless for anything on a boat other than a throw away cutting board.

Hmmm, seems I've ranted against this stuff before, but I'll take any new oppotunity I get to bad mouth it.

Br,

Patrick

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 17:37
by randall
its also impossible to keep clean....

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 17:49
by Carl
On the up side the stuff is fairly expen$ive...

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 19:19
by 1962 31

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 19:49
by CaptPatrick
My argument still stands... And, I make no profit from either stroking or kicking the stuff. Recon that Fisheries Supply can make that claim? Interesting to note that every single item on the list is in a Back Order status...

Do yourself a big favor & find another deck material other than polyethylene. Or, don't & report back your woes at a later date...

Br,

Patrick

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 20:21
by Tony Meola
Tom

Sorry we did not catch up this weekend. I would say that by the time you go and buy starboard or any thing else, you should touch base with Richard Kidd over Richard Bertram Allied Marine. There is a link for it on the site. Price one of his decks. I think a couple of the guys have used them and liked them. You might find that for the $2,000 or so you might save, you will spend a lot of time building a deck. May not be worth it in the end.

Posted: Apr 28th, '08, 21:59
by Buju
'62 31'... Please do yourself a huge favor and take starboard out of your mind as possible deck material. I honestly can't think of a worse material for decks. Shit, I'd rather use bare plywood (but never would) at that point, at least you & your crew won't be falling on your asses with regularity. Like Capt Pat said, the expansion/contraction factor is a nightmare, the larger pieces warp, pop screws, etc.
And Randall's point is highly valid... as soon as the stuff encounters any kind of abrasion, it holds dirt, oil, grease, etc like iron filings on a magnet.
To be fair to the polyethelene pimps, I think it has a use on a vessel... For the folks who can't stand to take care of their teak accents & trim work. I've seen it succesfully used for these applications, and stand up to years of professional charter use down here in a pretty harsh environment... not that it looks good after all of that time, it's just still there, doing it's job.
I'm still not a fan of it by any means... and I don't really trust a guy who's got no teak on their boat... But thats just me.
Do like Tony says and call Richard...

...or....

If you want to build your own, consider these materials:

http://www.coosacomposites.com/

http://www.nida-core.com/english/nidapr ... ycombs.htm

http://www.diabgroup.com/americas/u_pro ... ods_2.html

That said, I really admire the project you undertook, and look forward to see it as she comes along.

best,
Mark