Durabak vs Sanitred permaflex

[sdowney717]

http://www.durabakcompany.com/productinfo.htm

I have used about 15 gallons of permaflex so I know how it works.
What I was thinking is anyone have any ideas or experience to share using durabak in a marine setting?
One of the potential problems with permaflex is you must hot coat between coats or wash it off with soap and water to remove the oil which may form during cure and will interfere with additional coats adhering to the permaflex.
By the way, if the permaflex is thick enough you wont get any cracking between planks. For me after 3 coats it was thick enough that no planks opened up on me underwater.
In my own case, I had removed all the paint off the bottom
let the hull dry, removed many planks to repair frames
cleaned the plank
permaflex coated them, coated all the frames and floors, reattached with SB screws, then used PL premium as a caulk between the planks.
and did 2 more permaflex topcoats on top

the stuff is so shiny and smooth when wet it feels like it is oiled. in fact it is so smooth nothing likes to stick to it.

[CCutshall]

Just about to start doing the decks of a 1954 36' yawl with Duraback.
By next week I should be able to tell you the outcome.

[Thad Van Gilder]

sdowney,
do you sell durabak?

-Thad

[sdowney717]

how about you?
no, I dont sell it. AND some had accused me of selling sanitred a couple years ago.
I guess what I am selling you is ideas.

[kulas44]

Several folks on the trawler list I frequent had problems with durabak staying soft and collecting dirt. Some were very dissatisfied. Some were happy with it. I've never used durabak but have used a few other "bedliner" type products. Sanitred seems to be about the best for boat decks.

[sdowney717]

just an update on 'durabak 18'.
I am coating my fatherinlaw's driveway and it is brain dead simple easy to work with. I had patched and repaired the driveway, so the concrete was multiple shades. For the seams, I used pl premium mixed with saw dust and smoothed it down after setting with a torch and scraper. Then I pressure washed all the algae, dirt etc... I found out you dont need to pre clean the driveway with xylene.
The entire driveway is smoothed and no weeds or dirt can collect in the seams. That used about 5 large tubes of pl premium.

The durabak is sticking extremely well. I used a chip brush, NOT the supplied roller and it paints on just fine.
Cost is expensive and at most you get 60 sq foot a gallon on concrete. Yet the cost of a new driveway would have been higher.
We bought the Durabak 18 for exterior use and it is quite hard.
The rubber is a hard rubber, scratchy to your feet. It has a sheen.
We used two colors, sand and brown.

I you wish to preserve a can for later use, you can put a little xylene on top, loosely covered with a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. Since it is moisture cured, the freezer dry air and cold temp keep it from curing at least for a while.

I took a little brown to do the inside dash area of my boat where the compass sits and all the way across the top. just imagine a hard rubbery surface like 30 grit paper. This was brushed on with a chip brush, not the supplied roller. I put on two coats. After the first coat was good and sticky, I coated on the second coat.
NO pre cleaning with xylene, I simply rough sanded with 40 grit and cleaned up the dust. The surface was plywood covered with fiberglass cloth and polyester resin from 40 years ago.

My next project might be to coat the outside side and forward decking on the boat in white. What I am wondering is how well it will stay bright white.
On the driveway wet leaves will leave a stain which can be removed with a weak acid. You are not supposed to use concentrated bleach and let it sit as that will stain the durabak.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

If I was prepared to use 15 gallons of Sanitred, I would just build a steel boat, and forget about wood completely.