Walk-through Non Slip cracking & crazing


J

jschulte

New member
I have a 2001 Formula 37pc and the fiberglass/gelcoat nonslip areas are cracking & crazing.
This is only happening on the steps to the bow & the walk way to the bow through the windshield.
I have seen a minor problem like this on a 41pc but not to this extent.
Has anyone had this happen on their Formula?

What can you do to fix/repair this?

My thought was to make sure the cracks are sealed with silicone and just have some custom berber carpet inserts made to hide this.
I have included some pictures of the two areas.
Thanks
 

Attachments

  • formula 009.jpg
    formula 009.jpg
    497.9 KB · Views: 176
  • formula 059.jpg
    formula 059.jpg
    472.2 KB · Views: 154
JUST A GUESS, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SNOW AND ICE LAID THERE FOR A LONG TIME, AND MAY HAVE GOTTEN UNDER THE NON-SKID AND FROZE. I WOULD SAND IT ALL DOWN AND REPLACE IT WITH NEW
 
I have noticed 1 small one on mine.
No snow or ice. Maybe my 260lbs? but i think it is from stress or gel getting brittle. ???
I would redo.
 
stress cracks need to be repaired correctly. using a dremel tool to open them up and then fill them with resin and spray gelcoat does not last long. Most of the time you need to cut down into the glass matting. if the fiberstrands in the matting are broke they will keep flexing. once you cut out the broken matt you need to reglass the area with new matt and resin.
 
I would guess from walking with weight it has done it to mine too on the walk through, but not the foredeck which may have more balsa coring. Massepoxies.com has a match to the Formula non skid for 55.00 for one sq ft of matt and you add epoxy with squeegy with the right color and a video. Has anybody done this?
 
I know this is an old post but I was hoping someone may be able to provide some input for me.

I just looked at a 2002 40 PC that has this same issue. It seems like it may be a common problem but I'm not sure if it should be a deal breaker for me. I am concerned that I will have the boat for a few years and it will spread over the dash and become more of an issue. Can anyone tell me if the cracks seem to stay in this area or if they keep spreading? Also, is it repairable? I'm thinking there isn't enough support under this area and repairing it won't really fix the problem.
 
Nate
the cracking has remained confined to just the walk-through area. this condition is repairable, originally the fiberglass guys all told me that it was expensive to repair and remake the Formula nonslip. After gathering quotes I found that the cost wasnt that insane afterall. My take on this is....why fix it now? If it is a weak point on the boat then it will happen again in time. I would think about having mine fixed if I was going to sell but I plan on keeping the boat for a while. I have worked clear silicone into the cracks and had a piece of snapin carpet for the area to hide the cracks.

to my knowledge this was a issue on alot of Formulas on late 90s and early 2000s, I have a close friend that has a 1996 41PC that has cracking in the stair areas but not on the top large tread. I also think that it has alot to do with where you boat and the type of swells your boat encounters. Larger swells mean more pressure/pinching of the hull which causes this cracking issue. i dont think it has anything to do with actual walking through or lack of support underneath. just the weak link in a large boat.
 
Thanks for the information. It's been a difficult process but I'm going to be buying the boat. I'm going to silicone them like you did and I was thinking of using the Seadek pads on the stairs and the top over the cracks. We may have the boat painted as some point, if we do I will look into getting the cracks fixed at the same time but most likely I'll leave them as is.
 
i'm looking into that seadek stuff so i'd love to hear your input on it if you go thru. i'm considering it for our swim platform and the small section of floor right behind the transom door.
 
I have some small cracks also in the walk through area but not the steps.

Looks like a common problem :(

Mine is a 1999 PC 27 and I just bought it this spring. I thought it was a result of the previous owner being a little over weight, guess not.
 
Looks to me like the walk through flexes too much. Makes me want to figure out how to pull down the headliner on my 41 and reinforce from underneath...
 
Nate - This happened to my 330 SS in the same area. I think there was little balsa support there and hopefully Formula corrected that in newer years to carry the weight. There is plenty on the foredeck which is why it doesnt crack there. If I would have kept the boat, I would have used what Formula uses - PlasDeck and PlasTeak. I would do the whole swim platform too to cover both areas. www.plasdeck.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top