Coelan---decks???

[OEX]

Has anyone used Coelan on decks? How does this stuff work on wood decks? Can it be a solution to old decks other than Dynel and epoxy or glass? :( Do you know how to get hold of it in the states? I have called the "contact" number on-line for the USA---nothing!

Cheers, Bruce

[Bark]

I looked into Coelan a while back, but ended up going the dynel/epoxy route. Check the search thingy - I think you'll find some strong advocates of Coelan out there. Andrew Craig-Bennett comes to mind. Good luck.

[OEX]

Searched a bunch of topics, etc---some answers are there, but no long-term data. So I called a bunch of places and people in the England and on the Isle of Skye---result seems to be that it is working very very well and that you should use the flat clear with lots of non-skid.
I am working with Wade Smith on my boat and he seems to think it might work and if not we can always do ply and Dynel. Expensive, but I really love to see my decks and do not want to worry too much about the care---we shall see, I might be eating my words, but ....

So that is what I will be doing...if anyone wants top see the progress I will be posting pix and text on The Wooden Boat Rescue Foundation web site WBRF (http://www.woodenboatrescue.org) ---click to articles and see Katarina.

Thanks for the help, Bruce

[martin schulz]

I know that Andrew is a very strong supporter for COELAN. I haven't tried it myself, but a friend of mine did - with terrible results.

COELAN is more or less like a tight plastic-sheet on wood. My freiend told me that somehow water got under the coating and he was able to rip it of in large sheets. Perhaps he didn't do the job properly. Perhaps when applied correctly the stuff is magic, but I rather stick with Le Tonkinois.

COELAN is very expensive, by the way.

[Wolter]

Originally posted by OEX:
Has anyone used Coelan on decks? How does this stuff work on wood decks? Can it be a solution to old decks other than Dynel and epoxy or glass? :( Do you know how to get hold of it in the states? I have called the "contact" number on-line for the USA---nothing!

Cheers, BruceCoelan looks very good and as new for 10 years or even longer. There are very detailed user instructions are provided by Premapro website www.premapro.com (http://www.premapro.com) I think they are the provider of Coelan in the States.

[Wolter]

Originally posted by Wolter:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by OEX:
Has anyone used Coelan on decks? How does this stuff work on wood decks? Can it be a solution to old decks other than Dynel and epoxy or glass? :( Do you know how to get hold of it in the states? I have called the "contact" number on-line for the USA---nothing!

Cheers, BruceCoelan looks very good and as new for 10 years or even longer. There are very detailed user instructions are provided by Premapro website www.premapro.com (http://www.premapro.com) I think they are the provider of Coelan in the States.</font>[/QUOTE]Martin, your friend must have done something wrong. Application Instruction are very important for Coelan (Instruction can be found at the Premapro Website www.premapro.com (http://www.premapro.com) or the manufactures site. And by the way, it is not a plastic skin at all, Coelan coating has a microporous structure which allows the wood to “breathe” (if this can be said) which is a natural moisture vapour exchange between the wood and it’s environment. Yes, if you purchase Coelan it is expensive, but you know what you get: They give a guarantee for five years and it lasts even longer than 10 years still looking like new! It is reported as one of the most cost effective coatings. Count it just over five years and it will beat even the cheapest product. CEOLAN is extremely cost effective. Best, Wolter

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Well, let me tell you my experience to date. Indeed, I will get some pics this weekend and try to post them next week.

The boat was built with teak laid decks, in 1937. The job was not well done – the stakes are on average 4” wide and were 1 ¼” thick when laid. The strakes were secret nailed using iron dumps into the oak beams. The decks leaked from day one and the first owner was so annoyed that he put into Lowestoft on a cruise and had the local trawler yard re-caulk them. The resulting over-caulking did nothing to help, of course.

When I bought the boat she was 47 and years of scrubbing had reduced the thickness to little more than an inch in places, with an interesting array of hills and valleys. The iron dumps had lost interest and the decks had been refastened with bronze screws.

I re-caulked the deck seams twice in 12 years, and was contemplating the awful thought of a new deck, when my sister mentioned that a Thames barge skipper of her acquaintance had used some German magic gloop on his foredeck seams (Thames sailing barges are to the East Coast of England what dude schooners are to the coast of Maine) and had had a dry night’s sleep.

So we tried it. The work was done at Alan Staley’s yard in Fambridge, Kent. We sanded the decks brutally with 80 grit, checked moisture with a moisture meter (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!) and applied the primer, followed by six coats of gloop.

I should mention that the moisture meter produced weird results in one respect – it showed high levels of moisture over each deck beam. We concluded that it was being thrown out by the amount of metal – remains of iron dumps plus bronze screws – at each beam.

Having done all this my sister and I went for a sail. We soon discovered that plain gloss Coelan is nonslip when dry but when wet resembles a skating rink!

We decided to apply regular deck paint on top, because we were unsure about how well Coelan would resist UV. We were unaware of Coelan having any nonslip additive and maybe in those days (1995) there was none.

We were also unaware of the use of the thinners.

Ten years on, the deck is still OK – the coating is wholly intact and not lifting anywhere. It has had a few coats of deck paint, which is rubbed down before recoating.

I noticed that where I had not put deck paint over the Coelan, on the fillet mouldings round the coach roof, it had remained intact. I decided to replace all the varnish with Coelan and am now doing just that, In the course of doing so I experimentally lifted some Coelan with a heat gun and scraper – it came off easily and the wood underneath was fine.

It is quite clear that if the substrate is too wet or if moisture gets under the coating it will fail - but then, so will varnish!

I definitely recommend thinning it and increasing the number of coats.

[Wolter]

I have Coelan 15 years on the deck and it still looks great. I wondered why Coelan is long-lasting and leaned it is water vapor permeable. The advantage of Coelan it allows the wood to breath. Absorbing and discharging the amount of water vapor necessary for it. I used it on some additional parts now and found a new place to order Coelan Boat Coating: http://www.supplyground.com
I really can recommend Coelan.

[Max F]

I wonder if you guys are involved in selling Coelan.
I have met to many folks that were very dissapointed with Coelan. Appart from its looks, it often tends to peel quickly when dammaged and seems to be difficult to repair.

[premapro]

Wooden Boat Magazine Forum policy restricts product vendors or manufacturers from product promotion directly on the Forum. However in light of this thread I thought I would respectfully reply to the concerns and comments submitted regarding Coelan coating products which Premapro has had over 10 years of exclusive rights to sell in the North American market.
I am also a long time reader/subscriber of Wooden Boat Magazine and have 30+ years experience of owning and messing and maintaining of wooden boats of various shapes and sizes. I read the WB Forum as often as my schedule allows and often reply under another user name.
I am also the technical director for Premapro and one of the original founders of the company. I tell you all of this as I have 10+ years of first hand use with Coelan and our diverse client base as well as first hand use of many other paint, epoxy and varnish products currently on the market. None of my experiences are hearsay or third hand anecdotes.
First and most important: Application of Coelan coating must be done in strict accordance with the manufacturers instructions. (period!)
Lifting of applied Coelan coating from boat decks or other surfaces is a sign that the instructions have not been followed. The deck planking is either saturated with moisture (over the 15% maximum) or the deck seams are in need of repair or replacement and / or the deck planking is worn or sanded too thin and in need of replacement or requires refurbishment of cracks and other below deck structural defects. All of these conditions allow for eventual water penetration. Coelan is not a miracle producing cure all “goop”.
In addition the deck in question may have been cleaned with chemical solvents or other caustic cleaners and not followed up by multiple rinsing with copious quantities of fresh water and allowed to dry thoroughly. Like many other deck, spar or wood coating products this will greatly effect adhesion of the Coelan primer and coating.
Further application of Coelan coating as per factory instructions advocate that Coelan coating be applied over bare wood; which has been primed with Coelan primer - as the primer contains the majority of UV inhibitors and promotes adhesion both helping to achieve very long service life. Coelan applied to defect free fiberglass (GRP) or metal does not require the use of primer. Again, refer to factory instructions which are available for downloaded from our Premapro or our retail sales oriented SupplyGround web sites.
Application of Coelan coating over defect free epoxy or varnish can be done. However due to thermal expansion of the deck planking or substrate and / or its micro or sometimes macro movement when the vessel is underway eventually the epoxy and varnish will tend to crack and lift as they do not posses the proprietary flexible or water vapor permeable characteristics of Coelan.
Coelan coating is currently used by several highly regarded US luxury yacht companies and prestigious wooden boat builders well known to Wooden Boat Magazine readers through in depth WB articles or advertising. Many other high profile fleets of large commercial vessels (well in excess of 100,000 tons) have been using pallet loads of Coelan coating for several years and we have never had a complaint regarding service life or application problems. Coelan offers a minimum 5 year guarantee when applied per factory instructions and the vessels and companies I allude to all have applications in excess of 5 years.
One additional application note. To those boat owners considering a Dynel deck covering project the use of flexible Coelan in place of rigid epoxy in that process is a practical and proven alternative and detailed instructions are available upon request.
We acknowledge the cost of the products which are formulated using the finest limited production ingredients and possessing incomparable proprietary characteristics. We would only ask if doing the same coating job once in ten years is a better ROI and use of time than performing the same repetitive re-coat process every six months or on an annual basis.
If OEX. Mr Schulz, or Max F would like to contact me using the Wooden Boat Forum off list email reply option or place a direct phone call to our Premapro toll free number (select technical support) I would be very happy to discuss this thread and any other questions you may have regarding Coelan usage or general deck or structural repair issues.
BTW: None of the earlier respondents to this thread are associated with Premapro LLC although we sincerely appreciate their taking the time to comments on their first hand use of Coelan products.

[seo]

I initiated a string of comments under the title "hatch-o-rama," starting 03/31/2011, which went through many of the approaches to a problem similar to yours. Following the comments posted by Rapelapente (http://forum.woodenboat.com/member.php?11629-Rapelapente) , I went ahead and bought some Coelan stuff-I hesitate to call it varnish. After months of looking at it on my shelf, and wondering what I'd spent almost a hundred dollars on to cover a couple of companionway hatches, I screwed up my little courage and had at it. The hatches are still in my shop, have not seen the light of day. Boy, are they glossy!!. It seems like very tough, very strong stuff. I should have called the guys at Premapro, where I bought it, while I was applying it, because It was too thick out of the can, and I had some fisheye/blow holes. I found that the trick to getting a good level film was to use a roller, and just barely tip it off with a brush.
It's kind of bizarre looking, but I'm hoping that it will do the trick.
Pictures to follow.
As Tarzan would say: "Ongawa!!." (Is that how he spelled it?"

[seo]

To add a little bit to my comment above: I have great hopes for this material. The directions are pretty sketchy, and it wasn't at all clear whether thinning it would would make trouble or not. I'd strongly suggest calling up the distributor, Premapro, and belaboring them with questions. It isn't like varnish, epoxy paint, two part urethane, or really any other coating I've ever used.
Good luck!