Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have a questions for those of you that have used CPES.

I am building a 5' X 8' trailer. I am using Baltic Birch plywood for the sides. The sides and roof will be covered by aluminum.

The Cubby has plywood on the hatch only, not the roof. I will need to treat both sides and the hatch. As you know, CPES is not cheap.

A gallon costs $129, two gallons cost $201 (both prices include shipping). Should I pay the extra $71 for the two gallons. If I buy one 1 gallon, and then need to buy another gallon, the total cost is going to be $258.

My guess is that I should buy the two gallons and keep the leftovers for my next teardrop project.

What say you?

Looneytoons wrote:Should I pay the extra $71 for the two gallons.

My guess is that I should buy the two gallons and keep the leftovers for my next teardrop project.

What say you?

In a word, yes. After 2 or 3 coats on all sides I doubt you will have much left over for next time, if any.

I ended up not ordering enough and had to pay shipping a second (and a third) time.

I went with 2 gallons. I do have some left over, but felt the extra money was worth not running out.... and I have used it on a few other small projects.

Even with alum, you still might develop a leak or two, and cpes will save your butt.... don't cheap out on the sealant.

Dear Looneytunes,

I was told by the friendly folks at the Rot Doctor that I needed 2-gallons to cover my camper, which is roughly 5x8x5. Seems to me we came in at just around $200 for this, and I received it within 24hours.

I haven't actually applied it yet, so I do not know how accurate the estimate will turn out to be....

Hope this helps.

AL in Asheville

My teardrop is a 5' wide by 4' tall by 10' long. I bought the 2-gallon kit and used about half - 1 gallon - on the roadside of the floor only (3 coats). I'm hoping the remaining gallon will be enough for two light coats on the rest of my teardrop before it is skinned in aluminum.

OK, two gallons it is. That's pretty much what I thought.

However, now I have you guys to blame if I end up with too much

Looneytoons wrote:OK, two gallons it is. That's pretty much what I thought.

However, now I have you guys to blame if I end up with too much

Not really. If you have too much left over, you didn't put on enough

I'm already on my second shipment of 2 gallons and think I might have to order more!

Steve_Cox wrote:Not really. If you have too much left over, you didn't put on enough

Exactly!

S. Heisley wrote:I'm already on my second shipment of 2 gallons and think I might have to order more!

That's what happened to me

I see no need to cpes the bottom of the floor. roof coating works great in that area. and much to my surprise and having gone through a lot of rain, the bottom remains very clean. roof coating remains touchable, but a bit soft for weeks, so when I put the floor onto the frame, the roof coating deformed and made a great seal between the floor and the frame.

I cpes'ed all outside surfaces except the bottom of the floor and 2 gallons was more than enough. One gallon of roof coating is less than 10 dollars.

Here is a repost my results:

On Radiata Pine, Fir and Okoume plywood it only took two coats to completely seal it. On a test piece, three coats completely filled the grain, two coats 95% filled the grain. If I wanted lots of depth to a finish, I would start with two coats of CPES to seal the wood, then switch to normal epoxy to build thickness.

Different woods have different absorption rates. The Radiata Pine and Fir sucked up three times as much as Okoume did. A 24 sq ft area of Radiata Pine or Fir took 18 oz on the first coat and 6 oz on the second coat. A 49 sq ft area of Okoume took 20 oz on the first coat and 6 oz on the second coat

So far I have used about 1.5 gallons.
Afraid I will have to get some more before it is all done.
Did 3 coats on the floor and outside wall and two coats inside wall.

I would hate to be penny wise and pound foolish at this point in my built.

Wolfgang

Just an opinion...I think Rot Doctor has you guys number....Regular epoxy will do everything the CPES will and for a whole lot less, especially if you're buying 2-3 gallons of the stuff to get 1 tear done. If you're trying to build up a surface to paint and finish, that's not what it's intended for. Once it has the first coat on it and cured, that's it...it ain't penetrating any more! A more viscous material like the epoxy is a better bet to start building it up, like on a woody. Doug

i don't do inside walls... I paint them.

Arne wrote:i don't do inside walls... I paint them.

I did my inside walls before I put the hull liner on. Just in case any condensation got underneath.