Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

can someome please explain the difference between epoxy resin and fiberglass resin? I have read that epoxy makes the wood very hard and water resistant, does fiberglass resin do the same thing?

thanks, Brian

UKB, essentially they do the same thing , just different chemical makeup, and differing properties... The polyester resin is much cheaper ... Both are somewhat Toxic ..and require careful handling and application ...

Polyester makes me nervous; I'm afraid KC and the Sunshine Band would wanna visit....

Seriously, it's a good question... other than cost; what is the difference and which is easier to apply?



UK-Brian..look for me in the little/big blue truck in front of the BIG yellow machine....I'll be in the mud,rock, and coal with ya...and if yer underground; hats off to you brother

UK-Brian wrote:can someome please explain the difference between epoxy resin and fiberglass resin? I have read that epoxy makes the wood very hard and water resistant, does fiberglass resin do the same thing?

thanks, Brian

Brian,
I have been building wooden Kayaks and canoes for 25 years. In that time I have only used epoxy. Virtually EVERY boat builder uses epoxy. The use of "Fiberglass Resin" which is Polyester resin, is frowned on for boat building.

There are a couple of reasons it's not the best choice. The first is it does not adhere to wood very well, and the other main one is it's not as water proof as epoxy.

I helped a guy quickly build a strip canoe for racing. He wanted it done for some upcoming races and couldn't wait for an epoxy shipment so he went to the Big Box and bought the cheap Polyester resin. He had the the boat glassed and varnished (for UV protection) fairly quickly.

A year passed and he stopped by to ask me what was happening. The glass was delaminating from the cedar strips and there were several dark spots where water had penetrated the surface that showed no physical damage.
We pulled on one of the delaminating spots and it came free easily.

To make a long story short, 45 minutes later, all the fiberglass cloth was pulled off the hull. It came off in big sheets. The polyester resin had not penetrated the surface at all. Pulling the glass off didn't damage the soft cedar indicating it was just lying on the surface.

Others will say it works great, but the in my mind Epoxy is superior in every way except cost. If your spending a couple thousand dollars to build a TD, what' s $100 extra to have superior protection. Water infiltration is the number 1 issue with a TD trailers longevity. Why not use the proven best product available, and I don't mean the diluted so called "penetrating epoxy"
(Snake Oil) that is so popular on this forum. I am referring to quality Epoxies such as Raka, Wests, System 3, etc.

My $.02
Larry C

Couldn't agree with Larry more !!! And the polyester really STINKS !!! The smell alone makes me sick ... and it's very Brittle compared to the epoxy , and actually cracks when stressed ... Whichever you choose to use , you must make darn SURE it's in a well ventilated area... One reason I chose to go the Foamie TD route , using nothing more noxious than Titebond 2... and solves the #1 water intrusion problem too...really nothing to Rot... Our beloved plywood seems to be the main victim of rot/water/de-lamination... That and using cheap woods that are not rot resistant ... Careful materials selection is the key to long term TD survival ... Viz. less plywood , the better ...then you don't need all these complicated/expensive/nasty sealing methods ... JMHO