Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Check out beverlyt in the members list. They finished their whole trailer with roofing material.
Bruce

Hi, Bev here.

Sounds like you have some pvc roofing material. Bruce is right, we completely covered ours with the stuff.

We have really liked ours, to a certain extent. It's easy to clean, brite white so it reflects the sun very well and with the fully insulated tear, think it really helps keep the heat out. It's also of course, very water-proof...in other words, it has alot of the qualities one would look for in a outer skin. It has done it's job well in this respect.

On the bad side... though we knew what we were doing with the roofing material, we COULD NOT keep it bubble free. (Bob has roofed for a living at one time) It will also show any inperfections underneath, like screw heads, etc. It is difficult to show the inperfections in a photo, but believe me, they were there. We were lucky enough to find a guy that painted murals all over it just to help cover up problem areas.

We used the glue that roofers use to apply the stuff. As for using it underneath the trailer... I would just go with the black asphalt paint on stuff. I would worry gravity might work against you... though I really don't know?

I wouldn't really recommend pvc as a skin option. (unless someone can get it to lay completely flat, which we could not seem to manage) I wouldn't use it again, except perhaps on the roof, IF we could get it smooth enough. And once you smeared glue all over everything... there isn't much going back.

Bev

i agree with bev, i had a motorhome with a rubber roof, i was so happy when i traded it off. the coach was good but the roof took to much maintance

Well....since you're pretty determined to use the pvc....

First of all, let me tell you that Bob never really minded the few bubbles (well, more than a few) as much as I did. We weren't after look as much as practibililty. I on the other hand was a little more unhappy with the end result than Bob. I've always been "happy enough" with it though, and we could always have put aluminum skin over the top of it had we so desired. Plus, we don't have to worry about caring for the stuff and we could easily patch it if we ever had a hole punched in it. It's been good enough for us... but I sure don't want to say it would be for anyone else!

Ours may have turned out better than it did, had we not been working in the dead of winter in very cold temps. (Our garage wasn't heated at the time) We've often wondered if that may have made things worse, since I'm sure it didn't do the glue any favors.
And it WILL show anything under the stuff...you had better have everything smooth as a babies bottom!

As for the glue, Chip mentioned at one time (Chip used something similar (TPO) that a certain kind of glue may work better than what we used.

As for cutting the stuff, I BELIEVE what we did was cut it with a tiny overlap at the seams, glued them down well, and covered with aluminum (sealed with silcone)

I would suggest if you really want to use it, and I understand why you would since you already have it (same thing we did!), talk with someone in the roofing field with more knowledge than we have and see if they can offer some suggestions for a better result. Chip might have some thoughts on all of this too.

By the way... this is not really a "rubber roof", as you've probably figured out already. We've used "black rubber" roofing for other applications... heavy and discolors (get's cloudy) after time.

Best of luck!
Bev

dicor makes the adhesive for rubber roof. allso has installation kit. rv parts and accessories handle this product. i wish you luck

No, I would NEVER try to peel off the roofing material... I think it's on for the duration.

What I meant was we REALLY wanted aluminum but just couldn't do it at the time. I'm thinking it would be plenty possible to just put it over the top of the pvc if one really wanted to though. Just remove the aluminum trim, etc...

But... it would be a lot of work... and we're not going there ever!
(we are in the minority and really DON'T want to ever build another)

Bev

Powderburn,, welcome to the group,,, I definately understand freebies and you wanting to put this material to use but I dont think the end result will be cosmetically as pleasing as you might want,, the only way I would use a similar product again is to acquire som 80 mil fleece backed material, the fleece will hold the glue and keep the bubbling down to a minimum,, also the 80 mil stuff is pretty ridgid and would not show all imperfections Bev mentioned. As far as glue, the material is typically a contact adhesive and is applied to both surfaces and then let sit till both surfaces have "flashed-off". This is the process of the petrol products evaporating and leaving the glue in a simi dry state,, there is a very fine line of not dry enough and too dry. not dry enough and ya get bubbles,, too dry and ya get no adhesion,, or another type of glue is a latex based product,, it takes a good while to completely dry and again bubbles can form from the evaporation of the water in the glue,,
Dont get me wrong,, the PVC or TPO are great products and I have no leaks whatsoever but I do have my share of aggrivating bubbles,, so in a few words,, if you are looking for just watertight,, it works well,, if ya looking for watertight and pretty,, ya might want to wait for the next freebie,, just my 2 cents worth,,

chipper

As long as you are using the #3.5k with leaf springs I don't really think you should have a lot of problems with the stress tearing your trailer apart. Keep in mind that you only have 2 wheels on the ground unlike a truck where it twists from end to end. As long as you build the tongue strong enough to stand up to the jerking it will do and it's attached back far enough on the frame I can't forsee any real problems. Keep in mind that once you attach the sides to the trailer you are creating an extremely strong unit.
I think I would use the rubber if you don't mind a few bubbles, I think it would hold up pretty good for off-road use, that stuff is pretty tough.
Can't help with the cost of gel coat, never used that stuff but I think it would be more prone to cracking if it got wacked with rocks and sticks tho.
Just a couple of opinions for what they are worth. Rich