Seadek extra pieces

[yjander]

Looks awesome! I can’t wait to do mine. Good advice to cut backing before taping down the one side.

Thanks. Good luck with your install!

 

[drewkaree]

Using a nice fresh blade to cut the backing makes a huge difference. I actually bought a new Fiskars finger cutter thingy that uses Xacto blades for the pieces I'll be doing in the future.

 

[NeoBrew]

The cutting the backing and folding over an inch or two is pure genius. The stiff paper props the sticky center part up enough to let you position the edges. (I did trace very single one with pencil beforehand, which I found essential to getting a good fit.) Once you have it positioned you stick down that center band where it was propped up. From there you can fold half up, peel a few more inches back, roll it down, then pull a few more inches back. I liked to visualize as if I was always pushing toward the paper so that I was making sure to push all bubbles out from under the pad.

I cleaned all areas under the pad with acetone and THEN alcohol. I also used the 3M Primer 94 around the perimeter of each piece. I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to make it stick. I was doing it in winter in a relatively cool building, so I also worked really hard to make sure the surface was at least 70 when I stuck things down. I did not use any supplementary glues or sealant at the edges. It is stuck down beautifully with no sign of problems...but it's been sitting inside all winter. It hasn't been out at all.

The one piece of advice I would give, because I had some issues, would be to lay them all out and mark them first. Or at least do that in zones within the boat. It's hard to do because you have to walk on them and masking tape doesn't hold them securely. I have a center console and I worked my way around it. I lost a little ground as I worked around and had to do some trimming and fudging to get the gaps consistent at the factory pilot pad. If you have a center aisle boat that part would not have the same kind of problem if you got a little off.

I found the cup holder pieces to be a little finicky too. I generally lined them up around the cup holder first, and then adjusted to fit the rest of the pad to the shape of the boat. Because of the rounded edges on most pieces you get some leeway along the edges, but the small gap around the cup holder seems to show more if it's off.

Overall I'm super happy with how it looks. I can't wait to get it on the water in another two months...when the ice melts!

 

[usnagrad1988]

Thanks for the update and great pics. It makes sense to slice back before placing. I want planning to use an additional adhesive so I’ll have to look into that

 

[212s]

Thanks for the update and great pics. It makes sense to slice back before placing. I want planning to use an additional adhesive so I’ll have to look into that

I didn't use anything extra...a completely clean surface is all you need. 3M Primer is not glue, it's a surface prep to help with adhesion...I didn't find a need for it but I did mine in June so it was warm.

 

[usnagrad1988]

I didn't use anything extra...a completely clean surface is all you need. 3M Primer is not glue, it's a surface prep to help with adhesion...I didn't find a need for it but I did mine in June so it was warm.

No issues with the bumps on the fiberglass surface in various spots and the deck?

 

[212s]

No issues with the bumps on the fiberglass surface in various spots and the deck?

I only had two pieces to put down, but both were over the non-skid fiberglass step areas and no issues.