READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST! (Amtico install)

[MikeP]

As I mentioned, I laid the new sub-flooring for the Amtico at the helm last week. This week - yesterday eve, as a mater of fact - I got around to reading the instructions for the Amtico. The instructions for the 2-part adhesive specifically state NOT to attempt to lay the adhesive/Amtico on Luan plywood. Anybody want to guess what kind of plywood I used?

So, I ripped up all the luan and today put down regular exterior-grade ply. The REALLY annoying part is I had to pick up all the dry-laid, random-cut flooring. I tried to keep it organized but failed miserably. So after I screwed and glued down the new plywood it was like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle - with no edge pieces to start with! Fortunately, the Admiral took over that part and eventually sorted out the puzzle and re-dry-laid the flooring. She then labeled every single piece of helm floor with a stickynote and a number so we can pull them up when it's time to spread the adhesive.

All the floor is dry-laid in the passageway and partially laid in the galley. Once everything is dry laid and checked to be RIGHT, I'll mix up the adhesive and do it for real. Since the pot life on the adhesive is only about an hour, you don't have time to mess around!

A couple more pics are in the tech section

 

[hat48lrc]

Mike,

Following your progress and am impressed with your patience and desire for perfection. I believe you originally (or someone) mentioned that Amtico had two types of mastic, a single or a two-part and it appears you have elected to go with the two-part? I am curious about what they say about clean up in removing any of the mastic that gets squeezed up at the seams, which always seems to happen in this type installation?

It appears your intention is to lay the floor in sections, taking up small areas of the previoulsy fit strips as you proceed. I believe also that you indicated you are using a Mitre saw with a special blade for your cuts? How does the material trim when you need to cut it in around any moldings, etc?

Have you done, or do you have any framing to do around hatches? I am curious to know how and with what material you plan to accomplish that.

Jim Alexander
Serendipity
48 LRC

 

[MikeP]

First experience at installing this stuff

Jim,

I went with the 2-part based on Amtico's recommendation. They recommended it for nautical use because of wide temperature variations and exposure to moisture. More on this choice in a moment.

For cleaning up the 2part - denatured alcohol is the solvent. It works fine and, as you noted, adhesive manages to get EVERYWHERE! I use a chop saw (miter saw) with a plywood/veneer blade. It cost 10 bucks at home depot and works very well. For cuts around trim or whatever, a razor knife can score the amtico so that it can be snapped off or, with a little more work, actually cut through. One little trick I learned that saves some time is for the holly strips. The ends that go against a panel or against some sort trim do not have to be perfectly cut. The ones that do are the cuts where two holly strips are butted together. Therefore, all the non-butted ends can be quickly cut with a pair of diagonal cutters. Even if the cuts are visible, if you eyball a 90 degree cut, it will look fine. It won't work very well for butts because the cutters create a slight bevel on the end that will be noticeable if two are butted together (and you look closely).

I will probably use metal t-bar for the hatch trim, just like it was originally. I'm not sure whether I'll reuse the same trim or try to find something that looks a little better.

Now...about that two part adhesive. It comes in 1 gal containers with the hardener in a separate sub-container in the top of the gallon can. You punch a hole through the "top" and on through the bottom of the sub container. This allows the hardner to flow into the lower portion of the can. Then you remove the entire top section and stir the mixture. There is no way to mix smaller portions of adhesive. You have to mix it all. They say that the pot life is 40-60 minutes. They aren't kidding! Another thing to note - solvent cannot remove the 2part from a surface after it hardens.

I've laid plenty of vinyl and tile flooring with no trouble but I never used a 2 part adhesive until now. We only managed to lay the flooring in the passagway and about 4 or 5 sq ft in the galley before the adhesive was too thick to be usable. I'd be shocked if we actually used as much as a quart. So the rest is all trash. If you were laying large pieces - like tiles - or non-random cut boards, you might be able to actually use the gallon before it hardens. But because we had so many pieces to be specifically placed, it's fairly slow work.

I am going to call Amtico tomorrow to find out if they know the ratio of resin/hardener so I can mix smaller quantities. If so, I will remove the subcontainer and drain the contents into a separate sealable container. Then I can mix them up just as you would any kind of filler or fiberglass resin. If Amtico can't help, I might also see if the local hardware folks have the same stuff in smaller containers. Or, I might try to figure out the ratio myself. I suspect that 1 to 5 would probably work. Maybe I'll try mixing it up using one half-teaspoon of hardener and five half teaspoons of resin and see what happens.

If you do the same level of random cutting and fitting that I have - and perhaps it's not necessary - I don't believe there is any way 2 people can use a gallon adhesive before it hardens. Further, I don't think I would use the two part if I was starting over. I'd take my chances with the other stuff, figuring that the 53MY is essentially "indoors" just like a house. But then again, the temperature variations summer/winter might be a problem for the single part - so says Amtico.

 

[MikeP]

More on the Amtico 2part adhesive - BUY SMALL CANS!

I talked to the Amtico technical rep this morning about the 2 part adhesive. He emphasized again that the 2-part is the way to go for a boat, primarily because of the temperature variations. Unfortunately, he has no idea of the ratio for the hardener/resin since the containers are shipped from Germany directly to Amtico.

He told me that for boat installation, he would never recommend the 1.06 gal can which covers approx 150 SQ ft because it usually takes much longer to lay on a boat. But Amtico shipped us two of the gal cans. He recommended that for boats the best thing to do is order multiples of their smallest can, which covers about 20 Sq Ft. All of the cans have the same type of sub-container which you puncture to allow the hardener into the resin.

I asked why, since they knew it was going on a boat, they had shipped two of the 1 gal cans instead of the appropriate number of small cans and he said that unless you specify, 1 gal cans are supplied. Of course, We didn't know enough to specify small cans at the time. I have 6 of the small cans coming by 2-day shipping and will be returning the unopened gal can. I could figure out the ratio on the gal can, but it seems much easier to just use the small ones in the first place.

Make sure if you use Amtico on your boat you buy the smallest cans of the 2-Part adhesive to avoid serious waste and major annoyance.

Using the small cans will turn what was basically a nightmare into a simple pain in the A$$ !