Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Could you treat everything with borate to discourage the ants?

PVA glue mixed with borax or boric acid is a common recipe for slime. It seems be okay with acrylic paints though, I researched it on the web and didn't see any negatives associated with acrylics.

I sprayed a borax/water solution on my acrylic (gladden gripper) primed canvas and then painted over that and have had no problems. I did it more to retard mildew, doubtful if it would stop ants. It was not a strong solution. I think boric acid is more effective as an insecticide, going by what I have read on the net.

Guys , Thanks …. we need to do SOMETHING … Ants … grrrr!!!

Well we did manage to get a little bit done yesterday … Cabin carefully cut away from the floor … Floor removed and sent off to Burn . Today . we’re off to the lumberyard to get a new floor … Coming along …

Funny , I was going to store the cabin in the studio , and I kept telling my helper it would fit because I assembled it inside …. but I forgot about the added foam , and it would NOT fit , by just a scant 1/4” … We tried !!!

Instead of replacing the floor with OSB ( what we had before) , or worse, plywood . 　 We found some very nice “Clear and dry” pressure treated boards … No knots , premium wood and NOT that nasty wet green wood they call pressure treated… We used it recently for a little trim work on the house … 　 And to protect the cabin inhabitants from the PT , we’re going to isolate the inside cabin from the floor with a nice continuous layer of old school linoleum ( like Grandma's house ) and NOT the Vinyl Flooring they sell at the big box stores , that has a Paper backing which wicks water like a sponge … just an awful product for a camper trailer …" tried it, hated it “ Must be why they use it in “designed to fail” RV construction these days ...
We’re fixing this to “last” , although the prospect of a new trailer build is sure exciting !!!

Cutting off the floor must have went well, judging by the lack of a "long post of woe". Are the boards square edge or bullnose and how thick?

PM , I had a plan and stuck to it , the camper came off with little resistance … tha sawzall just cut through foam and Rot like butter … Surprisingly everything on the whole trailer/camper was fine except for the rotted Floor …. and the ant tunneling … grrr !!!
But I went across to the Eastern half of the United States today ( back East) and got all the boards , outdoor screws and some more caulk … Ready to start primering the boards … we should (hopefully) be back in business by next week barring any rain … ( this IS the rainy time of year ) Keep those fingers crossed … “I asked my friend about the fiberglass sheet strip for drip edges , and he told me the company was reluctant to even sell him such a small order, so that’s out … Have to find something else … I was thinking this would be perfect because we could screw it into the edge of the board floor and then cover over it with the canvas … nice and neat … any water from above would never come near the floor … Or that’s the idea anyway !!!

The boards are just square edge ...

Home Depot carries the plastic that covers drywall corners you could glue over it or under the canvas.

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Now your gonna have to plan a camping trip. Someplace without foam eating ants.

T

Drywall corners… Hmmm? That sounds good . We’ll check that out , Thanks Steve ! We are now CONVINCED of the Importance of drip edges !

Tony , with any Luck we can travel somewhere just for Fun !!! Somewhere not so WET !!!

Today we bring the boards inside on saw horses and start applying "The Gripper"… Help isolating the PT from us ...

You know , my initial reaction to all this was … “ OH S**T !!!” … But turns out in reality , that Foamies aren’t at all difficult to repair , and now offers a chance to make it even Better …

Doc,
I used plastic drywall corners...

I used 3 different types as seen in this picture.

Here's a picture of the flexible type glued with Gripper.

Tac, that looks like that will do it , just has to go beneath the floor line just a little .. and we can stick the outer canvas to it

Got the boards inside … Pretty wood !!! Ants probably won’t like it …

Wood looks great !
If you use the flexible molding like in my picture, you can easily follow the round nose of the Foamstream.

Half primed … Time for a break … and Lunch …

Tac, I’m going there ( HD ) Monday for more Gripper and will certainly check it out !!! sounds perfect …