Paint color for deck,cabin top

[radicalcy]

The hull topsides came out better than I expected, so I'm moving on to the deck. I want to get some feedback from the crowd here. My hull is an off white,or beige. Would you go white on the deck/cabin top or keep the same color as the hull? Just wondering.
Larry Wilson

[Tim]

I would always choose clean, bright white for smooth areas, with a contrasting nonskid color of your choice. I think visual separation of hull and deck is very important to the overall looks of any boat.

[Figment]

I generally agree with the visual separation of hull and deck, but I'm probably going in the other direction.... Hatteras off-white for the decks and Bristol Beige for the cabin sides. Lighter color on the horizontal surfaces to keep the temperatures down, and all that. But then one never knows, I may do the bristol beige, hate it, and go back over it with a not-so-off-white. My topsides are (faded) Hatteras off-white, for now.

I think that the hull and deck could be the same color as long as there's a good break at the toerail.... wood or black-anodized aluminum.

[windrose]

Speaking of color on the decks.......... put the gray interdeck on the coach roof the other day, so yesterday I started taping the rest of the deck. YIKES.... you would not believe how hot the gray non skid was to the touch. Ended up mixing 2 parts of white interdeck to 1 part of gray interdeck. Lightened it to a very nice cool white gray.... looks good, not hot. Thinking I might leave the darker color or the coach roof, taking a few days to decide.

[Rachel]

Hi Windrose,

Thanks for posting the info. on the Interdeck. When I looked at that grey in a catalog, I thought it looked awfully dark. In my experience teak decks are like fire in hot southern sun, and the grey Interdeck didn't look all that much lighter.

Your mix sounds perfect - I'd love to see photos of it (sometime, when you get a chance 'cause it's not like I have a deck all ready to paint --- I wish!).

--- Rachel

[windrose]

The deck was still hotter than I would like. I toned down the gray even more....3 parts white to one part gray. The decision was easily made on the coachroof when I opened the boat and put my hand on the ceiling of the coachroof. The darker color was a nice contrast but the resultant heat gain is unacceptable.

[Tim]

All decks get rather hot in the sun. It's always a balance between heat retention and reduction of glare in the sun.

I think the beige colors, in general, tend to be a bit cooler overall than gray, but there is no perfect solution. Boats also seem hotter when stored in the yard than on the water; perhaps proximity to the cooler water and the ocean breezes makes a difference.

My impression of the color chip of Interdeck gray was that it seemed very dark, and that seems to be confirmed by your experience. I'd enjoy seeing some pictures of your various shades, if you have any.