Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am using 1 1/2" blue insulation foam. I plan to prime it with a paint that is good for all construction materials including metal. I will clean the galvanized sheet first with alcohol.
The angled galvanized sheet is to bond to the foam with Gorilla Glue. The inside of the wall is to be captured by the 1"x1 1/2" spruce. After primed the canvas is to be glued on using Titebond II.

Do I need to saturate the canvas all the way through with the glue or just glue it on and after dry soak paint into the canvas? Was thinking of slightly watered primer (depending on if it soaks in well) then a top coat of paint.

I plan on doing a test run on some material but thought I would ask first to gather the wealth of wisdom from others.

While I am here, might as well ask, I need to bond the insulation sheets together. Do I use Gorilla glue or Great Stuff, foaming both surfaces and once it bubbles up squeeze them together?

printer wrote:I am using 1 1/2" blue insulation foam. I plan to prime it with a paint that is good for all construction materials including metal. I will clean the galvanized sheet first with alcohol.
The angled galvanized sheet is to bond to the foam with Gorilla Glue. The inside of the wall is to be captured by the 1"x1 1/2" spruce. After primed the canvas is to be glued on using Titebond II.

Do I need to saturate the canvas all the way through with the glue or just glue it on and after dry soak paint into the canvas? Was thinking of slightly watered primer (depending on if it soaks in well) then a top coat of paint.

I plan on doing a test run on some material but thought I would ask first to gather the wealth of wisdom from others.

While I am here, might as well ask, I need to bond the insulation sheets together. Do I use Gorilla glue or Great Stuff, foaming both surfaces and once it bubbles up squeeze them together?

There are a number of right ways to do this and a whole lotta wrong ways. I'll make some suggestions...

- Add a cleat (3/4" solid lumber) glued into the edge of your wall for anchoring the wall to the floor. You can use Great Stuff, Gorilla Glue, PL Premium, your choice of glue. For making the kerf in the end of the foam research hot wire cutters or use a router (dusty).

- Scrap the galvanized metal and wrap your wall canvas down and around the skirt (which I would do with a solid piece of lumber rather than foam). Then screws can be driven up underneath into the skirt, through the floor and into the cleat in the wall. Maybe every foot or so.

- Canvas your wall horizontally on a bench if possible leaving more than enough to wrap under that skirt. Your canvas will shrink so allow for an extra inch or more over what you will wrap under. Yeah it'll have some dried glue on it but when you go to install the wall it will still flex around the floor easily with a little heat applied with an iron.

- Before gluing the canvas on score the foam with something so the TBII can get a good grip. I used an old wire brush at random angles to scratch the surface.

- Apply a generous coat of thinned TBII, place the canvas on the foam and brush smooth with a wallpaper brush, broom or wide paint brush. Then lay on another coat of thinned TBII to saturate the canvas. When that has begun to dry add another coat or two.

- The 1 x 1 1/2 spruce is a good idea to help secure the wall.

- Add a drip edge to the skirt.

I would scrap the skirt and flashing and just wrap the canvas under the floor. It is crucial that you have a good wall to floor bond. That is where the strength is built on a foamie. No need to score the foam unless you want to. I usually just wipe down with alcohol and sand the surface some. The 1 1/2" spruce inside is good. That is what I call a inner frame rail in my builds. I usually dilute the TBII 50/50 to 75/25 (glue/water) depending on the weather. At this dilution the canvas usually saturates well. I apply glue to the surface then the canvas then the foam surface again and then roll out the air bubbles with a roller.

If you want a skirt you can canvas a separate piece and attach that separately.

When I join two pieces together I dado the end to fit a 1"x2" piece of wood (or foam piece, have not tried this method yet, but should work well too). This adds a lot of strength to the joint, otherwise the joint may pop if hit right or under some stress conditions.

Good luck! George.

Hi guys, thank you for the replies. Trying to distill the ideas down, how about this?

I agree with everything said so far.

But I would bring the canvas down from the wall over your drip edge in one piece to avoid a joint between the wall and drip edge so water won't sit in that joint. You could seal that joint with something but somewhere it will eventually fail without scrupulous maintenance. And you won't notice rot until it's well underway.

I would seal that drip edge and it's backer with the mix or penetrating epoxy before and after installation for extra protection.

Otherwise, your plan looks sound to me.

I Like George's Dado's and would think about doing that, Floor into Wall
One piece wall / skirt and wrap all the way around

Pmullen503 wrote:I agree with everything said so far.

But I would bring the canvas down from the wall over your drip edge in one piece to avoid a joint between the wall and drip edge so water won't sit in that joint. You could seal that joint with something but somewhere it will eventually fail without scrupulous maintenance. And you won't notice rot until it's well underway.

I would seal that drip edge and it's backer with the mix or penetrating epoxy before and after installation for extra protection.

Otherwise, your plan looks sound to me.

I drew it first around the skirt then changed it when I reread George's post. I posted the question in the General area where I had a thread going. It was mentioned that I might get bowing due to different humidity or temperature changes with the canvas on one side and the mahogany sheet on the other. I was going to build shelving and the seating area that will butt up against the walls, hope that will help.

I think any bowing would be slight. A lot of people, myself included, cover the insides with canvas before assembly. I noticed some slight bowing but nothing that caused assembly problems. That's probably a worst case situation: canvas shrunk on one side only.

Pmullen503 wrote:I think any bowing would be slight. A lot of people, myself included, cover the insides with canvas before assembly. I noticed some slight bowing but nothing that caused assembly problems. That's probably a worst case situation: canvas shrunk on one side only.

Did you wash the fabric first?

Also for anyone, I bought some good canvas but was told elsewhere I should not have as painter canvas soaks up the glue and paint but the better canvas repels water and does not wet through.

printer wrote: ...

Did you wash the fabric first?

Also for anyone, I bought some good canvas but was told elsewhere I should not have as painter canvas soaks up the glue and paint but the better canvas repels water and does not wet through.

I do not wash canvas first. The small wrinkles in the canvas at the folds pull out as the canvas shrinks. I think applying before it is wet contributes to a tighter grip of the surfaces it is bonded to at the corners. As far as repelling water, never noticed this on the Menard's drop cloth canvas on my teardrop or the Big Duck canvas on my son's teardrop. Don't use one side coated canvas that they sell in paint departments. It has a plastic backing. That might be what that person is referring to?

I think he is viewing it as a canvas tent to keep you dry. The canvas I bought is from a fabric store and could be made into grocery bags or other items. It would be in the range of Duck canvas I would think. I figured spending a little more on canvas will give a better appearance and use less glue and paint.

printer wrote: ... I figured spending a little more on canvas will give a better appearance and use less glue and paint.

Yes, the canvas from Big Duck Canvas has a smoother appearance than the Menards brand I used. Though I'm happy with both. Tighter weave on Big Duck 10 oz and probably your fabric store variety.

I used mostly Duck canvas and some drop cloth to do the inside of a door. The Duck canvas gives a much better appearance.

I didn't prewash either and they worked fine. Some think it's best to prewash/preshrink the canvas. Could be, but no prewashing seems to work too.

Pmullen503 wrote:I used mostly Duck canvas and some drop cloth to do the inside of a door. The Duck canvas gives a much better appearance.

I didn't prewash either and they worked fine. Some think it's best to prewash/preshrink the canvas. Could be, but no prewashing seems to work too.

So you are into the skin tight jeans look rather than the more relaxed fit then.

whole point is the tensile strength

relaxed fit you're doing it wrong