Sea Deck type material

[rodltg2]

About 8 years ago I bought some sea deck type material from some guy outside of Sac CA. Can't find him now. Basically sold off of rolls and I cut it myself for wheel well step protection and a gunwale step. Anyone know of supplier for similar product ?

[skihart]

Was it hydroturf?

www.hydroturf.com

 

[rodltg2]

No but funny you mention it. Just came across it on a Google search. That may. work.

[fu_man]

Hydroturf. I used it to replace my platform pad. Easy, quick, and cheap compared to SeaDek. Has held up well for 3 seasons. Cut it yourself. You can sand the edges so it doesn't look like it was cut at home.

[Waternut]

Hydroturf is a leader in water sports EVA foam because they help support it but long term quality is a bit substandard in my book. Blacktip is cheaper, has pressure sensitive adhesive, and doesn't fade and deteriorate as fast. If you want something thicker and softer you can also use the puzzle piece gym mats but you'll have more seams.

 

I used them all and they all have their place. If you can't find what you want out of those 3, just google EVA foam and you may be able to find exactly what you want.

[Jordan]

You can buy sheets of EVA foam in various thicknesses an sizes from McMaster-Carr

[Wish]

@fu_man do you hand sand or is there something specific you use?

[oldjeep]

Might have been dino grip, not sure if they are still around but they sold cheap rolls for things like swim decks

[fu_man]

@wish just a piece of sand paper. Cut the hydroturf by hand with a blade using the old pads as a template after I pulled them off. Some parts looked "edgy" from the blade angle so i just grabbed a piece of sandpaper and block finished them off. Didn't take much.

 

I should also add that I used black. If I remember correctly hydroturf website indicated that colors (other than black grey or white) tend to fade faster.

[DW]

Just as an FYI, you can get EVA foam from many industrial foam stores, etc, but the smooth stuff will be pretty slippery when wet compared to a product like Hydroturf or Seadeck that has water draining grooves and a rough surface finish. The clearance section of the Hydroturf site offered reduced price foam that has worked well for me.

[Waternut]

Yes any colored hydroturf will fade like crazy even if it's always covered. Colored Blacktip will hold the color considerably better. However, Blacktip is a little more slick. Hydroturf has a grip level closer to wet concrete and Blacktip has a grip level more like wet wood. Both are more than adequate for grip but there is definitely a difference. Any EVA foam will degrade fairly quickly and turn grainy and nasty if you don't cover your boat when you aren't using it. All the ones I've used sand really easily and if one is too slick, some 80 grit sandpaper will give it more grip.

[ScottScott]

Just got some seadek over christmas and am very happy with the results. Very non slip with the brush finish. Maybe not the cheapest, and it won't happen over night (order the template kit, receive it and make your template, send it in, wait 10 days, get a drawing to approve, another 10 days to get it cut, then shipping.) All indications are that the durability and fade resistance are very good. The teaking lines add drainage for more non slip and the variety of colors and custom lettering/graphics can be cut into it. They do have dealers too, mostly on east coast but the map showed one in southern california. seadek