Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi all,

The Inkwell developed a leak and we had to pull most of the front off the trailer. Thankfully the insulation captured the mold so the interior panels are in good shape.

My question is are there any tricks or things we should be concerned with in putting on the new panels and applying the fiberglass? I believe we have to sand down the area we are adhering the fiberglass to in order to get a good seal. Is that correct?

Lynn

Lynn,

In knowing your trailer and the problem you are trying to resolve, I would use epoxy and no fiberglass cloth to seal the new plywood you are going to install. By putting a couple of coats of resin on the both faces of the plywood and 3 coats on all the end grain it will be waterproof. The joints between the existing and new plywood could be filled with thickened epoxy and sanded before priming and painting again. Just the way I'd do it. Of course if you are looking for an opportunity to practice fiberglassing... this could be it

PS - it would be a good idea to sand down to bare wood on the existing painted surfaces before applying epoxy, would give a better bond.

It's unclear if you have epoxy/glass on the rest of the trailer. if you do, roughen a 2-4 inch wide strip on the old material where you are joining to new material with 120 grit sandpaper to get good adhesion. Plan on lots of sanding to level the new epoxy. If you use fiberglass, I would recommend 3-4 oz cloth. I used 6 oz and it's overkill. You don't really need the cloth, but if it's on the rest of the trailer I would maintain consistency. Just my opinion.

Lynn. I think a picture would be a great help. If it's a joint (roof to side) issue, you might be better off to tend to all the exterior joints. A local fix may be just that and the others may have an issue down the road. Better to take care of all of it now rather than let it get out of control. Just my opinion. Doug

wannabefree wrote:It's unclear if you have epoxy/glass on the rest of the trailer. if you do, roughen a 2-4 inch wide strip on the old material where you are joining to new material with 120 grit sandpaper to get good adhesion. Plan on lots of sanding to level the new epoxy. If you use fiberglass, I would recommend 3-4 oz cloth. I used 6 oz and it's overkill. You don't really need the cloth, but if it's on the rest of the trailer I would maintain consistency. Just my opinion.

To clarify it was put up with fiberglass the first time. I figured we would have to sand down to the wood. Does that mean we have to remove the fiberglass cloth that is on the other side to go down to the wood or will the new fiberglass simply adhere to the old glass?

Lynn

Steve_Cox wrote:Lynn,

In knowing your trailer and the problem you are trying to resolve, I would use epoxy and no fiberglass cloth to seal the new plywood you are going to install. By putting a couple of coats of resin on the both faces of the plywood and 3 coats on all the end grain it will be waterproof. The joints between the existing and new plywood could be filled with thickened epoxy and sanded before priming and painting again. Just the way I'd do it. Of course if you are looking for an opportunity to practice fiberglassing... this could be it

PS - it would be a good idea to sand down to bare wood on the existing painted surfaces before applying epoxy, would give a better bond.

Hi Steve,

If we were to epoxy won't we have to remove all the remaining glass around the area? I'm leaning more towards reglassing because it will be more level, I think.

Lynn

doug hodder wrote:Lynn. I think a picture would be a great help. If it's a joint (roof to side) issue, you might be better off to tend to all the exterior joints. A local fix may be just that and the others may have an issue down the road. Better to take care of all of it now rather than let it get out of control. Just my opinion. Doug

Hi Doug,

The roof is find but it does involve the driver's side front corner. And of course the entire window frame area.

Here's a pic of some of the removed panel. The wood to the right of the window is also removed.



Lynn

Lynn Coleman wrote:To clarify it was put up with fiberglass the first time. I figured we would have to sand down to the wood. Does that mean we have to remove the fiberglass cloth that is on the other side to go down to the wood or will the new fiberglass simply adhere to the old glass?

Lynn

That depends on your panels - If they are thin, I'd say rough up the finish with some 80 grit and reapply over the old fiberglass. But ONLY if the epoxy has not cracked or delaminated from the existing ply - If it has then you might have to sand all the way to the wood. On any painted surfaces - the paint would need to sanded down to the epoxy layer removing traces of the old paint - Like Steve said

Lynn,

I didn't know it was glassed, sorry. Also didn't know water could get through fiberglass.

BTW, is this a permanent or temporary til ya rebuild on the frame kinda fix?

Steve_Cox wrote:Lynn,

I didn't know it was glassed, sorry. Also didn't know water could get through fiberglass.

BTW, is this a permanent or temporary til ya rebuild on the frame kinda fix?

Hi Steve,

The water got in through the window, the frame we made for it, leaked. Does that mean we did a poor job? Yup! We didn't fiberglass over the window frame. We thought the silicon caulk would hold...NOT. Anyway, this is a permanent fix until we strip the trailer down to the frame and start over again.

We were hoping to do that this year but more than likely it will be a couple years off with all the work we need to do in the house first.

Lynn

Lynn....I wouldn't do the silicone, but instead use the butyl caulking on a roll to seal the window made for RV's. I always epoxy seal anywhere I cut the ply. Also....an eyebrow over the window might have helped to prevent water penetration and caulk under it as well as the window. Don't know if you had one or not. Does it sit outdoors all the time? Sorry to hear of your issues. Doug

doug hodder wrote:Does it sit outdoors all the time? Sorry to hear of your issues. Doug

Yes, it's outdoors all the time.

There are quite a few things we did wrong with the original window design, I'll mention to Paul about an 'eyebrow' over the window that might help too. Maybe we should go to the junkyard and try and find another window, we haven't had problems with the other windows and door we put in.

Lynn

We're having another rainy weekend and we won't be able to work on the trailer. Tomorrow the showers should be ended but the temps will prevent fiberglassing. We might be able to sand down some of the paint though.

Thanks for the helpful advice as always.

Lynn

Steve_Cox wrote: sorry. Also didn't know water could get through fiberglass.

thousands of boat owners find that out every year when they discover the cost of repairing their water damaged fibreglass boats. polyester resin an epoxy resin are by no means water proof. most of the damage is caused by osmosis but not all of it.