Slippery When Wet

There’s nothing more hazardous than safety equipment that appears serviceable but fails when needed. A perfect example is worn non-skid that provides adequate footing when dry but becomes dangerously slippery during wet. Here’s a look at non-skid choices to help keep you on deck and safely upright in any weather.

Non-skid options

When the factory-molded non-skid of a typical fiberglass boat becomes worn, there are a number of aftermarket options to choose from, each with pros and cons to weigh. Cost and durability are important considerations, as are factors like ease of installation or cleaning. The ultimate goal is a non-skid surface that meets such concerns while providing a good feel underfoot.

The most common non-skid replacement options can be loosely divided into three categories: Deck paints with a grit-type traction material added to them; deck paints featuring a textured surface; and adhesive-mounted non-skid mats or coverings.

What about teak?

Traditional teak decking’s reputation as a natural non-skid is well deserved, but there are downsides, particularly when compared to modern choices. These
include cost, added weight and susceptibility to staining, which makes a teak deck more maintenance-intensive.

Grit-type non-skid

These deck paints use some form of “grit” or media to provide traction. Examples include anything from graded/sifted sand or crushed walnut shells to rubber or polymer beads. Larger, sharper grit produces the best traction but is less friendly to bare feet or skin. Fine grit is less aggressive to skin but provides less traction.

Other considerations include color selection. Lighter colors are cooler but can produce more glare and tend to show dirt more readily.

The grit itself can come premixed in non-skid paint, be sold as an additive for mixing into deck paint prior to application, or sprinkled onto wet deck paint.

Products such as Durabak, Epifanes Non-Skid Deck Coating, Interlux Interdeck and Pettit EZ-Decks are all good examples of premixed non-skid paint.

Modern non-skid additives include Awlgrip Griptex, a polymer bead aggregate that comes in fine, coarse and extra coarse, and Epifanes Bead Additive, a pre-measured polymer-bead compound sold for mixing with Epifanes polyurethane and monourethane paints.