There are quite a few manufacturer's who make fiberglass systems. In the early days of waterproofing decks, fiberglass was glued down to plywood by many manufacturer's, however today, only one still specifies fiberglass over plywood decks. The rest have adjusted their specifications to using fiberglass systems to renovate existing decks, such as Magnesite, Dex-O-Tex's Weatherwear and to repair cracked concrete slabs and walkways.
All-Deck is the one manufacturer we know of still specifying fiberglass over plywood; Desert Brand, Excellent Coatings, Pli-Dek and a few others do not. Improvements in resins have helped the bonding issues that can occur on plywood, however, large decks that would have some movement in it on a long term basis to feel secure to use fiberglass only.
Basically fiberglass coatings use a 3/4 oz. non-directional woven mat of fiberglass, bonded to a surface with a water resistant resin. A basecoat is applied over the fiberglass to provide protection, then a variety of finishes can be put over this. Fiberglass systems are self flashing on block and cement walls with proper attention paid to the details of lapping it up the wall and applying bonder/resin.
The great advantage fiberglass systems have is in their ability to restore decks and concrete with cracks in them. This can save costs in tearing out decks or sidewalks and re-pouring them. After any cracks are properly repaired, the fiberglass applied over the surface helps hide the cracks, preventing them from telegraphing up through the coating. We have seen this done with great success on pool decks, lightweight concrete decks poured over steel pan decks and even driveways!
We wouldn't be comfortable putting fiberglass over plywood decks; we have seen (and used) fiberglass systems to renovate existing decks that aren't leaking. An inexpensive alternative to tearing out an old system an installing a new one.
View the Maintenance Instructions for All Deck. We recommend that you use our Questions To Ask list that we developed that will help you understand the different deck coatings you might be presented with.
Read More About Other Deck Coating Types
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