Seadek Stinks

[swatguy]

I have tossed around seadeck for my interior. However from my experience with it on my platform I have been hesitant. It seems to take forever to dry out. It stays damp way longer than I expected. It also gets cold when it's wet when the temps are lower and stays cold . This is why I hesitate putting it throughout the entire boat. I love the look. Maintenance wise I just pop the carpet out and hit it with light powerwash and viola. All clean. Not sure the seadeck would take to a powerwasher. How are you guys maintaining and cleaning yours? Little soap and scrub brush? I love the look just not sure I love itd characteristics just yet.

[JoeA]

It's hard to help or diagnose this BUT the smell could be coming from anywhere. Clean the boat very well including all compartments, makes sure all the water is drained, and get it dried out completely. Maybe also try an ionizer.

Sea Deck is premium stuff.

[Wayward]

It's hard to help or diagnose this BUT the smell could be coming from anywhere. Clean the boat very well including all compartments, makes sure all the water is drained, and get it dried out completely. Maybe also try an ionizer.

Sea Deck is premium stuff.

In the case that I am aware of, it is definitely coming from the seadek. We literally got down on our hands and knees and sniffed it...... And this boat is always cleaned very well.

As for the platform, swat is definitely right about that. They seem to retain moisture for a while, and also have a problem with peeling. Peeling seadek on platforms has been a big problem on many brands, for many years. Nautique included. I also commonly see seadek platforms with mold buildup, so it is not hard to believe that the same stuff, can do the same thing, inside the boat.

"Premium product", "Closed Cell Material" etc, doesn't really matter..... Seadek is not antimicrobial, and it has a textured surface. It can build up mold.

[scottb7]

I am the one that just bought but has not installed yet the seadek to replace the carpet. My boat has seadek where the old sano was. It has 0 problems with peeling. Problem i had is that the carpet got a mild mildew smell, no matter how hard i tried. we never eat in the boat, hardly ever. i had to start hanging the carpet in the boat lift every time i used it. so i am going to try the seadek. i do keep the boat in a lift but i don't bring it all the way up so it should get plenty of air flow to dry out. the seadek is going to dry way faster then the carpet. I think it will be a big improvement.

[nyryan2001]

What boat builder said this??

So many folks in this industry spew garbage like this because they have financial interests. Go look in the audio forums, it's rife with it. Wild guess says its a builder that doesn't use Seadeck as their primary flooring. Scare the customer away from competition by means of stinky floors. Check.

[Wayward]

Ryan- A boat builder would start their post with "I had seadek in my 230 and liked it, so naturally I wanted it in my G"?

I don't believe this is a common occurance, and for the most part, seadek is VERY good about not getting moldy. It looks awesome, its durable, it's an all around great product. In most cases, it is certainly better than carpet. That doesn't mean that not a single person is going to have issues with it.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the OP is the owner of the boat that I am very familiar with. If that is the case, he is talking about a real issue that he is having. If that is not the case, than I know of somebody else that is having this exact issue. I know that I don't post here on a regular basis either, but have posted here randomly over the last couple years, without anything negative to say about CC in any of my posts. I am a big time fan of Nautique boats, and I don't have a horse in this race. Nor do I have anything to gain.

If this is the person I know, He is the most die hard Nautique fan that I have ever known, and will probably NEVER own another brand. He has owned several nautiques over the last couple decades, and is a very serious rider. If it is him, this thread has probably ruined any chance of him bringing any of his vast CC knowledge to this forum. This problem has been ongoing since early last year, and I think he finally decided he would try to get some useful information from the members of this forum. Probably hoping there was a chance that somebody has experienced this, and could give him useful information to prevent it in the future.

Instead, he is getting an abundance of "take care of your boat", "its not the seadek", "you must not know what you are smelling", and "you are a complete troll" responses, that are not going to help him in any way, and will probably prevent him from coming here ever again. That will be an unfortunate loss for all of us. 20 years of Nautique love, and a wealth of very important knowledge, walks into PN with his first concern about one of his boats, and gets blasted out......

Who knows, this could be somebody else, and you could be right. I actually hope you are. It would be a shame if I am right.....

Luckily, there are a few posts that might be helpful in this thread.

[scottb7]

Agree...Maybe try a diluted water/bleach mixture to kill the mildew...Or some other mildew killer from time to time.

[Andrew@OrlandoNautiques]

In the case that I am aware of, it is definitely coming from the seadek. We literally got down on our hands and knees and sniffed it...... And this boat is always cleaned very well.

As for the platform, swat is definitely right about that. They seem to retain moisture for a while, and also have a problem with peeling. Peeling seadek on platforms has been a big problem on many brands, for many years. Nautique included. I also commonly see seadek platforms with mold buildup, so it is not hard to believe that the same stuff, can do the same thing, inside the boat.

"Premium product", "Closed Cell Material" etc, doesn't really matter..... Seadek is not antimicrobial, and it has a textured surface. It can build up mold.

This is the first I've heard of peeling being a big problem! Out of the 100's of Nautiques we have sold and serviced over the years, I have yet to hear a complaint about peeling or smell - and we haven't replaced any SeaDek due to those issues. Plus with the Florida sun and humidity you would think mildew would be more of an issue on the SeaDek, but even when covered while wet, the SeaDek dries before mold forms.
Of course I can' speak for every single Nautique as everyones situation is different.
I would however highly recommend the use of Damp Rids. They work wonders!

[Wayward]

This is the first I've heard of peeling being a big problem!

You have never had a platform pad start peeling up??? Our local dealer had a service bulletin for using contact cement to stick the platform pads back down. I think I remember reading that Malibu also had a TSB for their newer seadek pads.

I haven't heard of any big issue with it peeling up on the interior portions. This one boat is the only one I know of.

[NautiqueJeff]

Interesting that both of the people who are mentioning issues are in the northeast. I wonder if hard freezing temperatures may have something to do with this.

Certainly just a theory.

[Wayward]

Interesting that both of the people who are mentioning issues are in the northeast. I wonder if hard freezing temperatures may have something to do with this.

Certainly just a theory.

Interesting that I wasn't smart enough to look at freesurf's profile info, to see where he was from...... Lake Bomoseen VT. The lake I live on, and the only G23 on this lake.

That means 2 things-
1) We are talking about the same boat.
2) This is a legitimate issue, and everything he is claiming is true. The seadek stinks, it is peeling in a couple spots, and there are a couple gel blisters under it. Oddly, it is only certain sections that are a problem. I think it is only like 3 or 4 sections that are bothering. The trapped moisture is not in the seadek itself, it gets trapped in the voids of the textured fiberglass under the seadek.

I hope this didn't prevent him from becoming more active here.......

[NautiqueJeff]

Very interesting! Glad to know this is the same boat.

This leads me to wonder if there was some issue with the installation at the factory. If the release agent that the factory uses to keep the gelcoat from sticking to the mold wasn't completely cleaned away before installation, that could cause the adhesive to not stick properly, and that would explain the peeling and the potential for water to intrude underneath.

My guess, and this is just a guess, is that it isn't the SeaDek that smells, but the old, stagnant water underneath. Also, if there is water under the SeaDek, and the temperature drops below freezing, that would cause the water under the SeaDek to freeze and the SeaDek to raise up and possibly peel due to the water/ice expansion.

I am interested to hear how this boat is stored. I would LOVE to get to the bottom of this issue!

[Wayward]

He used a citrus based mold/mildew cleaner on it last year that seemed to get rid of the smell for quite a while, but it eventually came back. I don't think he had any issue with it in 2012 (It was a very early build, and I believe he took delivery in late July, or early august 2012.) I think he used that same cleaner this year, that helped again, but didn't seem to completely get rid of it.

I believe the boat is stored in a large warehouse during the winter.... It is cold storage. You might be on to something, Jeff. That might be why he had no issue the first year. However, during the first year, a little bit of water got stuck in the textured fiberglass under improperly bonded seadek, and loosened it up even more during the winter. Allowing for more water to be trapped last summer. (and then even more this year, with the panels starting to visibly lift up on the edges now)

[NautiqueJeff]

I had an early build 2013 as well, but I lived in Virginia at the time and had indoor dry/heated storage. I also had my '13 for less than a year, so I am not sure I would have experienced the issue even if the installation issue did exist on my boat. I wonder if the early build 2013 boats did not have the cleaning process perfected before the SeaDek installation or something.

My '14 was stored outside last year (always covered though) and didn't have any issues, but now I am in North Carolina where freezing temperatures are even less of an issue than VA.

[scottb7]

In this seadek video it says to use acetone. I think I will do so...