Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm in the final stages of enclosing my project's roof with 1/8" Baltic Birch. The end grain on my 3/4" walls are epoxy sealed and all spars are raw poplar and pine with no coating. I added a 3/4" nailing strip between the spars which is also uncoated. Should I epoxy any of the spars or the leading inside edge of the birch before putting on the skin? I have PL premium and Tightbond III. Which is the more effective? I plan to put three coats of epoxy on the outside followed by three to five coats of spar varnish. If I install roof edge molding with putty tape can I remove it to add an aluminum skin later in the summer? I am trying to get it usable for a trip back to Maryland for my 50th reunion on May 29 and don't have the budget for the aluminum skin at this time. Should I just leave the roof edge molding off until later? I really appreciate any and all guidance. Bill

Hi Bill,

Welcome to teardrops!

Epoxy or any sealer, is better than no sealer, in my opinion.
If nothing else, once sealed, the spars and trim will be easier to keep clean
Any wood exposed to the weather should be well sealed.
Wood inside will benefit from being sealed, as moisture in the air will penetrate much more easily into unsealed wood/joints.
The real trick to making a trailer waterproof, is to be sure there are no areas that moisture can penetrate, none, not even one...

Sealing wood is great, but if you run screws into it, or otherwise create penetrations, great care must be taken to prevent moisture intrusion through them.

I believe PL premium is superior to titebond.
Roll putty is designed to be used with removeable trim, so yes, you can remove it later to install aluminum.

Rob

Hi Rob - Thanks for getting back on my questions. I guess I didn't explain my build very clearly. I have an inside ceiling of 1/8" Baltic Birch on and everything inside the cabin is sealed with five coats of spar varnish. The roof areas are insulated with 1 and 1/2" of rigid foam as per the generic Benroy build. The spar faces were not coated and left raw because I read on here somewhere that a bare wood to wood bond was more effective than one over coated wood. I can't find that post now. As I prepare to put the top skin on, I am looking for advice on the strongest bond. I'm rushing to get it usable for my trip. Long term, I plan to skin the birch with .040 aluminum floated with insert type roof trim but I can't get it on by the end of May. My thought was to coat the birch with epoxy and put the trim on. Then in a month or two, I will take it off and install the aluminum skin under it. Does that change the answer or should I seal the spar faces?

My thought was to coat the birch with epoxy and put the trim on. Then in a month or two, I will take it off and install the aluminum skin under it. Does that change the answer or should I seal the spar faces?

I understand better now...

If you are gluing the Birch to the spars, then no, you don't need to epoxy them.
Since the Birch is permanent, I would be sure that the glue oozes out of the sidewall to roof joint, and wipe smooth before it dries.
Then after it is dry, install your trim with roll putty.
Done so, the only place to be concerned with moisture intrusion is the screws/holes holding the trim.
I always install the screws, then remove a few at a time, inject sealer, such as OSI clear gutter seal, and reinstall the screws.
It is removable, not like silicone, or adhesive.
After I installed the aluminum skin, and retrimmed, I'd use the seal along the edges of the trim as well.

Rob

Rob - Thanks for the quick response. That is what I was hoping to hear from someone with a lot more woodworking experience than me. My Teardrop will always be garaged, except when it is being used, so the only time the roof will be exposed prior to the aluminum roof going on will be that 5 day, 1,800 mile trip back to Maryland. With my luck though, it will be 120 hours of torrential rainfall . I have been a camper for over 60 years but I've never looked forward to a trip as much as I am to this maiden journey with this woody. Thanks again for your advice. The knowledge and experience on this forum is like nothing I have ever seen before. I hope to post some pictures of this first camping trip in a TearDrop and hope to have the opportunity to meet you and others at some gathering down the road. Bill

If you are using good quality epoxy you are not saving much money over aluminum. If you are using cheap epoxy the I would be very concerned about keeping it sealed. Aluminum is not that expensive and it will save you a LOT of time and will stay sealed much better than epoxy.

My initial build I did epoxy and marine top coat paint on the sides - it took me hours and hours and hours. Then I did aluminum on the top. Two of us had the top skinned in under 2 hours. In time the sides got hairline cracks that allowed water damage so I went back and skinned the sides with aluminum. Should have started with aluminum. Sigh. It would have saved $$ and time. BTW you can see the water damage repair in my gallery.