Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am ready to notch out my 3/4" rear side wall for the hatch and gasket.

Grant Whipp recommends a 1/8" notch when using his gasket and his 0 offset hinge. He states that his gasket will easily compress down to 1/16 of an inch.

Has anyone had experience with this gasket material? How durable and lasting is it? I live in Arizona and the climate eats soft foam material.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a more substantial gasket source and the recommended cutout depth for it?

Thanks, Steve

I used a gasket from Grant, and I'm quite pleased with it. I also live in Arizona. Howver, I believe my gasket (on the hatch) was 3/8"

Grant has sold a ton of gasket stuff I bet. I bought it and am pleased. You can get marine gasket or the stuff made for cars....however if you go through the store you will find it is about the same......The big box stores or a real hardware store might be able to help.

I bought much of my hardware from Grant and am very happy with the whole experience, but McMaster-Carr has more gasket and sealing material than you can imagine. I bought all my gasket material there.

I've spent countless hours sealing stuff to keep water out (professionally). The foam may compress 50% but it's generally not recommended. I think that you should shoot for 25-33% compression, which is what I'm going for. A thicker gasket material (say 1/2") allows you to compress 33% but also allows for some inevitable variation in your build/surface irregularities without leaving gaps.

www.mcmaster.com

Start by searching for "EPDM" or "foam". Hope this helps.

Eric

I am not to this stage yet in my build, but have been wrestling this same situation in my mind.

Something to consider - the deeper the hatch notch, then the deeper the lip of the edge trim will need to be to cover the notch (and the harder it will be to bend.)

Grant has a deeper lip RV roof edge to use along the hatch, but I don't know if I want a deeper lip at the hatch and a shorter lip everywhere else.

That's what I'm facing as well Aggie. But the notch is already formed so I'm committed. So yes, I'll have a wider "L" channel at the hatch but water will not be getting in.

And the wider trim gives me an excuse to but a Harbor Freight metal stretcher/shrinker with the 20% off coupon they just sent

Eric

Something I got at the big box store...

With the interlocking grooves, it works really well!

My cutout averaged between 1/4 and 3/8".



Mike...

Thanks everyone. I will cutout 1/4 inch to allow for the thickness of the aluminum trim and buy from Grant.