Best way to remove/cover snap holes?

Haden

Haden

Active Member
May 27, 2020
482
Madison, Alabama
Boat Info
2001 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 8.1l Mercury w/V Drives
What is the best way to remove these and fill in the hole behind. We have decided to leave the deck without carpet, and i’m not completely sold on any other products yet. The bare deck cleans up so easily and dries very quickly too. With 4 kids, it’s just a lot of foot traffic to clean after.

upload_2020-12-14_13-36-48.jpeg
 
I've used silicone in the past. You could use white but it won't match. I used clear and, though noticeable, it's not enough to bother me.
 
Haden said:
What is the best way to remove these and fill in the hole behind. We have decided to leave the deck without carpet, and i’m not completely sold on any other products yet. The bare deck cleans up so easily and dries very quickly too. With 4 kids, it’s just a lot of foot traffic to clean after.

View attachment 96260
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I wood remove the snap and replace it with stainless fiat head screw or maybe small pan head screw. A little silicone keeps water out . should be a clean look . Thats just me!
 
Henry Boyd said:
I just used white silicon while we experimented with no cockpit carpets. I’m glad I did as we went back to a woven material floor covering because we found bare fiberglass is just too hard on bare feet.
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That solved that problem! lol
 
I’m not sure that snap caps would hold up on the cockpit sole. The caps can be fragile and easily knocked off. I do really like the product though.

I filled dozens of holes in the same situation as you. I found the silicone got dirty looking so I drilled out the holes with a bit a hair larger than the snap screw holes. Then I put a very small counter sink in each hole to remove the raised edge from driving the screws initially.

I wound up filling the holes with a marine bondo that was a pale gray in color. I touched up the holes with oil based enamel that had the color and gloss level matched.

They’re not invisible, but if you didn’t know to look, you’d never see them.
 
They have held up great to all the traffic of the kids, dog, and party guests
 
I’m thankful for everyone’s advice!! They all seem like “plausible” ideas. I think I am going to try a few snapcaps first. Cheap enough to toss if I don’t like. After that, I may try to countersink some small 304 stainless screws. I really don’t want to get into painting, sanding, etc. I’m afraid the paint would wear quickly. I don’t care if the stainless screw to is visible, as it would be less intrusive as the bare snaps.
 
Haden said:
Will the color be off enough that is sticks out?
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Depends on the shade of white.

Another option is Spectrum color........they have Sea Ray colors that may match closer.

Screen Shot 2020-12-14 at 9.11.14 PM.png
 
Haden said:
I like the looks of this!
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As Quint pointed out earlier the marine-tex is a good filler after drilling slightly oversized holes.
Leaving it a little below surface level then using the Spectrum gelcoat paste, then sanding and polishing will make them nearly impossible to find. I know you said you weren't interested in sanding, but now you how it's done, there may be some other spots where that gelcoat paste may come in handy.
Or, go with the snapcaps un till you decide what you want for a deck covering.

Hell, with a good template, Quint can make you some awesome Infinity woven vinyl flooring that will snap onto your existing snaps.
From what I understand it a rinse and quick dry choice.

https://thecanvasmedic.com/#

https://infinitylwv.com/
 
techmitch said:
As Quint pointed out earlier the marine-tex is a good filler after drilling slightly oversized holes.
Leaving it a little below surface level then using the Spectrum gelcoat paste, then sanding and polishing will make them nearly impossible to find. I know you said you weren't interested in sanding, but now you how it's done, there may be some other spots where that gelcoat paste may come in handy.
Or, go with the snapcaps un till you decide what you want for a deck covering.

Hell, with a good template, Quint can make you some awesome Infinity woven vinyl flooring that will snap onto your existing snaps.
From what I understand it a rinse and quick dry choice.

https://thecanvasmedic.com/#

https://infinitylwv.com/
Click to expand...
The wife and I look at the Infinity products. I even order some samples. The truth is, between spilt drinks, chips, fishing worms, etc. We determined that the woven pattern would hold the trash, rather than the bare floor. It’s just so easy to clean with Dawn and water currently. I just order some snapcaps, and will now order the other two ideas. I’m going to try them both.
 
MarineTex works great for this. Use wide masking tape and a hole punch. Center the punched hole over the old screw hole and press the tape down. Use a popsicle stick or similar to press in the filler. Then add a wee bit more to recreate the texture on top. When cured, peel the tape off.The fix is almost invisible. You can do several in just a few minutes. If needed, MarineTex can be tinted but their white worked for me.
 
Juliery said:
MarineTex works great for this. Use wide masking tape and a hole punch. Center the punched hole over the old screw hole and press the tape down. Use a popsicle stick or similar to press in the filler. Then add a wee bit more to recreate the texture on top. When cured, peel the tape off.The fix is almost invisible. You can do several in just a few minutes. If needed, MarineTex can be tinted but their white worked for me.
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I kinda lost you there, is there any other way to explain? Your putting blue tape over the hole, then punching through the blue tape with the hole punch, then filling in the punched hole with MarinTex?
 
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