Quinte Fishing

Very nice work!!!

Thanks BigJohn

My floor installation is complete! Good timing because it will be on the 401 to Quinte / Hay Bay on Friday night

I etched the diamond plate with Easy Off oven cleaner. The Lye in oven cleaner does a great job of attacking the shine. It took me about an hours start to finish; spray it on a section, wait two minutes, paper towel it off. I think I should have worn rubber gloves... no finger prints now Once the etching was done I did two complete washes with Comet and a broom. So nice to be able to clean the floor with a hose!

While I have not fished with it yet I am confident that the etched aluminum will not be too bright or hot. I was able to lay on the floor in the full sun (working on stuff) and it was not objectionable. This may change in 36 degree weather...

Also, the diamond plate is not slippery when wet! I am very satisfied with the traction wearing running shoes. This may change with fish slime all over it but the easy cleaning will resolve that. I will be adding a snap-in carpet.

Here are some pictures of etching and the final product.


Here is a comparison with a new piece of diamond plate. Wife says the floor is now fugly


I noticed that the aluminum sheets did not etch exactly the same; apparently 4x8 vs 5x10 sheets have a slightly different allow. I think time will give it a nice patina; for now no burnt retinas or up-skirts!

Nice, looks good.

Great work MB!
Thanks for the tip - Oven Cleaner. Heck of a lot cheaper than etching liquid. Your finish is what I'm after.

We ended up with the usual composite laminate floor and then had Rhino do their magic. I would have opted for diamond plate aluminum but the manufacturer felt that in a thickness sufficient for rigidity the aluminum floor was simply too heavy. If the thin aluminum was to be layered over composite for rigidity, the manufacturer advised that the combination would still have been far heavier than our final flooring. I'm not sure I buy that.

For those who have opted for aluminum, what thickness was used and how much does it weigh?

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Laminate Flooring