Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Has anyone tried this material for the shell of a teardrop. Might work best for walls and would probably have to laminate a nice skin to the inside. I'd be interested to hear how it went. Saw this at Menard's today. FRP laminated to 3/8 inch waferboard but I see by their site that it also comes on plywood or fluted poly.

http://www.kemlite.com/structoglas/str_products.cfm

Dan Jones

I have a pop-up camper i have redone the ceiling in it ,It had like a cardboard backed board in the ceiling that started coming apart on me so i removed it and glued the kemlite to the foam that was under it.I used a matching molding to put over the seams and I have had great luck out of it. Easy to clean and very flexable .Was kinda costly If i remember correctly it was aroung 30.00 a sheet .It has been in a year now with no prob. to speak of.I used heavy duty Liquid Nail to glue it on to the foam which was already glued to the camper top..

Hope this Helps...



John In Bama with about 100% humidity and 95 degrees

DANL wrote:Has anyone tried this material for the shell of a teardrop. Might work best for walls and would probably have to laminate a nice skin to the inside. I'd be interested to hear how it went. Saw this at Menard's today. FRP laminated to 3/8 inch waferboard but I see by their site that it also comes on plywood or fluted poly.

http://www.kemlite.com/structoglas/str_products.cfm

Dan Jones

Dan,

The pics to your left is my mini-hopper. I covered the roof, sides, front and back with the stuff. Got it at home depot for 26.00 a sheet. I used 3 different types of glues on it and found that the best was liquid nail for FRP. Worked the best and didn't cause any floating. I painted the stuff because it will not hold up to the sun's rays. Used kylon paint for plastic. Worked pretty good but it would be better if you used auto paint.

It's been out in the sun almost a year with no problems and I'll use it on any tear I build. Does have some draw backs. Only comes in 4x8, 4x10 and 4x12 sheets. If your tear or tiny trailer is larger than 4ft wide you would have to use something else or have a cover run over the joints.

Bufordt

What type of paint would you think is the very best for painting FRP. Should any type of primer be applied first?

CPASPARKS wrote:What type of paint would you think is the very best for painting FRP. Should any type of primer be applied first?

The very best? Awlgrip

Primer? not just any type. Awlgrip primer.

But for a homebuilt teardrop, it's not worth the money that Awlgrip costs.

JMMFO

Hello CPASPARKS,

Welcome to the forum.... But I'll leave the rest of the welcome to the guys that do it best. You pulled up a pretty good thread from the past. There are a lot more about FRP and UV ETC

Steve

Welcome up there CPA, glad you decided to post...I am sure some of our very knowledgeable paint experts(yeah right) will be along with several suitable answers...some of them may even agree
madjack

CPASPARKS wrote:What type of paint would you think is the very best for painting FRP. Should any type of primer be applied first?

What you are supposed to do is wash the FRP with TSP and water. Once you have it clean and dry your supposed to prime it with a good Auto primer and then paint it with a good auto paint.

I just used Kylon for plastics and it holds up pretty well.

I do have some scratches in the paint now and need to repaint but a can of plastic paint will take care of that.

Bufordt

We used FRP on the ceiling and interior of hatch. It was great to work with as a material. I needed to paint the inside of the hatch and used a latex enamel paint. Preped with tsp. Easy to paint and looks real good.

Larry

Thanks gentlemen for all the good information.
I am hoping that a good coat of paint will prevent the uv light deterioration warnings that have been posted.
Now I just need to decide what color.
Kevin

Ok BufordT, it's been a couple of years now. Is the HD frp still working out ok? I'm concerned about the thermal expansion factor being different from the wood it is adhered to. And the UV problem which you fixed by painting.

What's your evaluation after 2 years?

Walt B

BufordT wrote:

DANL wrote:Has anyone tried this material for the shell of a teardrop. Might work best for walls and would probably have to laminate a nice skin to the inside. I'd be interested to hear how it went. Saw this at Menard's today. FRP laminated to 3/8 inch waferboard but I see by their site that it also comes on plywood or fluted poly.

http://www.kemlite.com/structoglas/str_products.cfm

Dan Jones

Dan,

The pics to your left is my mini-hopper. I covered the roof, sides, front and back with the stuff. Got it at home depot for 26.00 a sheet. I used 3 different types of glues on it and found that the best was liquid nail for FRP. Worked the best and didn't cause any floating. I painted the stuff because it will not hold up to the sun's rays. Used kylon paint for plastic. Worked pretty good but it would be better if you used auto paint.

It's been out in the sun almost a year with no problems and I'll use it on any tear I build. Does have some draw backs. Only comes in 4x8, 4x10 and 4x12 sheets. If your tear or tiny trailer is larger than 4ft wide you would have to use something else or have a cover run over the joints.

Bufordt

Walt,

As I don't have the tear here I can't say for sure. I will be checking it out at the end of April and I'll let you all know sometime in May.

Bufordt

Steve_Cox wrote:

CPASPARKS wrote:What type of paint would you think is the very best for painting FRP. Should any type of primer be applied first?

The very best? Awlgrip

Primer? not just any type. Awlgrip primer.

But for a homebuilt teardrop, it's not worth the money that Awlgrip costs.


Steve

Yep... or Imron... It's a bit easier to apply than Awlgrip but again you have to use Imron (Dupont) primer... and it's priced about like Awlgrip... pretty expensive for a small one-time job.