Roof Coated And A Few build Pics

[jwh92020]

Spent today applying 2 coats of Henry's 587 to the roof. How long before I see (well, feel) a heat reduction? Keeping in mind that this is a black trailer and when it is home, it faces east & west, with the passenger side facing south. I also added some build pics as I haven't posted many.

!st Coat

2nd coat

Shower Stall

Frig & A/C Cabinet

Bed Platform

Cooking Area

[hankaye]

jwh92020, Howdy;

Very nicely done what ya got so far. What is the wood you've used for the counter top
and door panels?

hank

[jwh92020]

Hank - The counter tops are cedar slabs. The drawer frames are pine and the panels are 5mm luan under lay. I got lucky that the sheets had cool grain on them.

[McDave]

W W What? Are you kidding me? Where you been hiding that work of art? C'mon man, what the...you just go along minding your own business and quietly hit it out of the park? I'm gonna have to regroup and get back with ya.

On the roof paint, the effect should be immediate. However in your case, I think the heat is comin' FROM the trailer.
Good God y'all,

McDave

[jwh92020]

McDave- Thanks for the kind words. I threw a thermometer in the trailer about 11 am. Outside temp was 90+/-, after I got the 2nd coat on, inside was close to 100. The window was closed, the roof vent was closed. In fact, they hadn'the been opened in quite a while. I figured maybe I needed to get some air flow in there and watch the template tomorrow. I have 1.5" of foam in the ceiling answer 1" in the walls. I'm sure a lot of heat is from the black skin taking full sun all day on the passenger side. I'may working up an awning for it when I'm out on the road. Thinking about hanging a piece of shade cloth to deflect some heat when it's parked in the driveway.

[McDave]

Hey jw,
No B.S., that looks good son. I'm not really sure how to gauge the effectiveness of the paint other than what my gut feeling tells me. I didn't gather any data before but I hadn't insulated yet. The top of my head told me, "Hey, that stuff really works ." Also, my trailer is white, the roof was bare metal but the temp difference between the factory white and the 587 was significant to my hand. It's not science, but that's the best I got. Obviously, paint can't actually cool anything, especially once it's dry. So this is a matter of reflecting an amount of heat that would otherwise be absorbed. I just gotta believe if you were to touch that black in full sun vs the white you'd know the difference. I'm not at all surprised the interior temp is higher than OAT, that will probably always be true. That's where venting, and AC and shade and awnings come into play.
The paint and insulation will delay the heat intrusion, but even if you put a Yeti cooler in a 350 oven, eventually it'll be 350 in the cooler. Unfortunately, there is only one way to condition the air....yup, air conditioner. Now, it's not news that black vehicles are hot. The reason for this is that black is the presence of all color, where as white is the absence of all color. Therefore black absorbs all range of light while white reflects it. So, these steps are all incremental, but you can achieve liveable conditions.



McDave

[jwh92020]

McD-

I'm thinking that since I have another gallon of the 587, I might as well use it up. I don't think another coat will hurt. I have an a/c in there - 12k btu dual hose portable. I does keep the trailer comfortable on hot days. Thought I was losing the fan on it, but turns out there was some debris in the case from when I had it repaired long ago. I have a 14 x 14 crank vent in the ceiling, and I'm thinking about adding 2 small vents at the upper rear corners to facilitate more air flow through the box. I know that an awning will make a huge difference when I'm camped, but I can't have one set up when it's in the driveway, so i have to come up with a way to reflect the sun while it's parked. Thanks for the input.

[mrwall1]

Wow... looking good....Nice job

[jwh92020]

mrwall1 - Thank you.

[jwh92020]

I put another coat on the roof. It looks much better, but I still haven't seen the major temp change that you all experienced. I sent this pic to tech support at Henry's. He said it looks like good coverage. i asked about another coat and he said that if the roof is completely covered, another coat won't make a difference. He said if I did put another coat on, he would recommend the silicone based TropiCool coating. He said it will handle the stress of going over the road better. When I touch the ceiling, it is much cooler than the south facing wall, so I think sun deflection is my next step.

[McDave]

Yep, you are getting the reflective benefits but still a lot of heat gain via giant solar collector AKA the black walls. They look good when clean, but other than that they are just a lot of work. You'll notice that all solar photocells and solar hot water systems are....black. A new parking space or some sort of shade will help the most. If your goal is to not use the AC, I can't see how that is realistic, but you can make it easier on the AC. But when your not using AC you will need to vent at top and somewhere else, hopefully a place where some cool air can be found, maybe under the trailer.

McDave

[jwh92020]

McD -
Not using the a/c is not my goal. Keeping the trailer at a comfortable temp without over working the a/c is. I posted an idea of using a roll up sun shade that has been hanging out on my patio for 3 years since our tenants moved (they installed it). I talked to the mfg and they said no issue with using it horizontally. if you get a minute, please check out that pots and give me your thoughts. The ac is currently vented thru the floor, both intake and exhaust. There is an elbow on the exhaust that aims it to the driver's side (less than 6"from elbow to edge of trailer), and the intake is elbowed toward the passenger side and rear. If you walk down the driver's side with the ac on, you get a blast of warm air, so I'm pretty sure the intake is not pulling heated air.

Thanks,

John

[hankaye]

jwh92020, Howdy;

Just saw a commercial on one of the local tv channels... utt oh, better get Maaco
why not give'em a call to see what it might cost to change colors?

hank

[jwh92020]

Hankeye- Been thinking about that. If my awning idea works, it can stay black (which looks really cool behind my black truck or the silver one).

[jr9744]

Nice Build!! The rooftop looks good. The counters is super pretty. Shower looks nice too!!!