Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

My side walls overhang the frame and the plywood end grain is exposed, so I want to seal the end grain with epoxy so no moisture can get in. I don't need a lot, so my question is if the epoxy sold in smaller tubes as an adhesive is the same stuff used for fiberglassing, and can I use it for my purpose.
Thanks!

My experience with the tube stuff or metered syringe is that it will do what you want. It may be faster on the cure time however. I used some to do some modifications on my Derby Tear at the IRG and it set up pretty quick. If it says 5 min. epoxy...working time might be a challenge.

You might want to check a marine supplier. Sometimes they have small portions of epoxy that can be used as emergency repair kits. Just thinking that by the time you buy enough material to get the bottom edge sealed, for the $$ you might be ahead to get a repair kit and use it. Just an idea. Either way...you are thinking correctly in my opinion. Seal it up!! Doug

Dean_A wrote:My side walls overhang the frame and the plywood end grain is exposed, so I want to seal the end grain with epoxy so no moisture can get in. I don't need a lot, so my question is if the epoxy sold in smaller tubes as an adhesive is the same stuff used for fiberglassing, and can I use it for my purpose.
Thanks!

Dean,

Just wanted to give you a for thinking about sealing the end grain on your plywood. I not only did the end grain but the backside surfaces of all the plywood in my tear drop. The peace of mind was worth the $ to me. Besides epoxy will store pretty well for a very long time and is a pretty handy thing to have around after the build too! I'm going to use lots of CPES on my next build.

Thanks guys. The exterior of the trailer is all aluminum, but I still put a coat of spar varnish over the underlying plywood just to be on the safe side. I just don't think the varnish is up to sealing the exposed end grain, so I wanted to bring out the big guns.

I already have some epoxy around for stickin' stuff together. Glad to hear I can use that and be OK. It's actually the type that claims to have a 40 minute working time, so I should be OK.

Thanks again!!!

halfdome, Danny wrote:Dean, another way is to screw from the underside aluminum channel on the bottom edge of your walls with a heavy bead of your sealer in between . It gives a nice finished edge. That's the way I did my 2 tears. Danny

I was recently looking at that stuff in the orange box store. Should i opt for dead soft or would the 'common' variety handle a radius when given the hammer and wood block treatment?

halfdome, Danny wrote:Dean, another way is to screw from the underside aluminum channel on the bottom edge of your walls with a heavy bead of your sealer in between . It gives a nice finished edge. That's the way I did my 2 tears. Danny

That's a good idea, but I think I'm past the point where I could get channel on there.
The best I could do at this point is angle. I actually thought about using angle, but I didn't want to create a space where water could get trapped if my sealing job wasn't 100%.
I already have the original style side trim that I'll be using. Besides, you won't be able to see the bottom of the plywood unless you're laying on the ground. I'll just epoxy the heck out of the bottom edge, seal the gap between the frame and the body with goop and keep my fingers crossed.