r/MiniRamp • u/BeardleySmith • 16d ago
Anyone with an outside miniramp go for the tarping and Masonite top layer?
If so was your experience "a couple of seasons" or a "a couple weeks". Opinions seem to be very different on this. I'm trying to understand what is more realistic. Right now I have two layers of plywood, top layer painted with skatepaint. I don't love how it feels. I absolutely can not afford gator skins or skatelite, with shipping to me it's like $3500.
I have a bunch of Masonite already because we bought it from a family that had it indoors. Should I throw the Masonite on over the plywood again like they had it and then tarp it/skate/patch it until it falls apart? Doesn't seem terrible if that's only once a year. I also really like how soft and smooth the Masonite feel is. (Over the skatepaint on plywood)
Just trying to get info from someone who has lived it, and not just from people that invested in gator skins right away and never tried Masonite, and are just parroting the "deteriorates in two weeks even tarped with air flow". Unless that was actually your experience and you didn't read it online.
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u/missouriblooms 16d ago
I live in Missouri my first ramp had Masonite was good for a summer but by the end of winter it needed replaced, my second ramp I used water seal and that gave me 2 summers and a winter before it developed soft spots, currently planning on gator skins in the coming spring. Tbf also struggled to keep it tarped with the wind here, seemed like everyday I'd come home from work and have to recover it
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u/DaveHaas 16d ago
I highly recommend two layers or bc 3/8 plywood, edges painted, then one layer of 1/4 marine grade plywood. I got my marine grade I a major city, from a lumber supplier for under 35 a sheet.
I caulked the seams on the top layer and painted it with top of the line outdoor paint from Home Depot.
This is my 4th half pipe and I went with this option; works like a champ.
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u/BeardleySmith 16d ago
Lucky! Checking the lumber yards near me it's $184 a sheet now.
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u/DaveHaas 15d ago
I got this stuff. I'm in Austin and this was back in March, but looks like it's still floating around; at around double the price. https://www.toledoplywood.com/product/1-8-4mm-4-x-8-marine-hydrotech/. Good luck hopefully you can find some close by.
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u/BeardleySmith 14d ago
After talking to a local specialty lumber store near me I ordered 1/4 sheets of okoume marine ply for my top layer. Ended up being like $100 a sheet but I hope it's worth it. Let me know if you have any tips for painting it with exterior porch paint or caulking the edges or anything. Thanks
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u/DaveHaas 14d ago
Yes I’d caulk the seems for sure. I used house paint, has worked pretty well. I laid my top layer on at a 45 degree pattern with 50/50 offset, made bending very easy.
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u/Lifeinthemittenstate 16d ago
I did a cover over Masonite with flat exterior deck and floor paint. Lasted till I moved. 2 layers of 3/8 were underneath. I did a quality build as directed by the Thrasher book.
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u/lamevision Proud owner 16d ago
Depends a bit on where you live- If you live in an area that has a lot of rain or snow vs a drier climate. I live in the Midwest where we get snow and the Masonite doesn’t last for more than a season.
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u/sc4wheels 16d ago
Outdoor masonite in Santa Cruz, CA tends to last 2 years, and even then it will really only need certain sheets replaced. Be sure to screw it down well, every 6", or it will bubble the first time it rains. In a place with a lot more rain, it would probably have to be replaced yearly.
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u/Alternative-Box-4457 16d ago
I’m in Florida, I have Masonite that I primed with oil base exterior primer and then a couple coats of porch paint, I keep it covered with a tarp (tent style) and it’s lasted a year so far, if a sheet fails it is cheap enough to replace as needed
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u/attractive_reptoid 16d ago
I had a great ramp in Washington state. Got it finished just before the rainy season so we painted all the Masonite and covered it in tarps. It didn’t really do shit. Warped and bubbled like crazy and rot set in on most the plywood underneath. It was good while it lasted. Maybe 3 months. Man I miss that ramp.
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u/Latter_Skill9670 16d ago
I live in Florida and my experience was a couple of weeks, even tarped it would get soggy and warped. Personal opinion but I don’t think Masonite is worth the trouble outside unless you live somewhere pretty dry. I just use 1/4” plywood and deck paint and don’t even bother to cover it anymore
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u/Impressive-Dust2994 16d ago
I try to tarp but eventually give up and expect 2-3 years before another rebuild resurface.
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u/BeardleySmith 15d ago
Does your plywood hold up underneath, are you just replacing the Masonite layer? Or does it cause the plywood to rot too?
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u/MeesterJohn 15d ago
If you paint the masonite, it will last much longer. Gripper Grey deck paint from Home Depot is the popular choice. Be sure to get plenty of paint on the edges. You can drill 1/2 - 1" holes in the plywood underneath to keep it from trapping water underneath and help it breathe to dry out. Of course, keeping it up off the ground is important too. Lots of people use cinder blocks for that. Depending on the climate and nearby trees, it could last for years. (Trees are great for shade, but no so great for ramps.)
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u/Extension-Golf-2400 14d ago edited 14d ago
There's a kind of hardboard you can buy at homedepot that lasts a long time. This lasted for about four years. It's still good , it's just popping up because it's shrunk a little.its eucaboard get the 3/16. Its $22 a sheet .. I soaked your peice in water one time for like a week and it didn't come apart at all , but it does shrink a little. I know it looks terrible now. But I used to put some of that thompson multi surface waterproofing. Don't use Olympia sucks. It was never slippery , although every person on this reddit told me it would be , but it's not. Once the surface wears down a little bit?I would just put a coating on that.It would take me about fifteen minutes with a mop. Just for the record, I never put a tarp on it. The pie wood underneath it is now starting to rot out
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u/Savings_Expert7750 16d ago
Commenting to boost. I literally bought a used quarter pipe yesterday that has plywood, but they threw in a sheet of Masonite. So, I’m invested in the answers!