First attempt at Filon siding failure

[rtalich]

Hi everyone,

First post here

I spent the last 5 months or so rebuilding the outside of our toy hauler due to water damage. We had to completely remove the front and siding on both sides Sure wish we would have traded it in.... or used corrugated aluminum siding!! Anyway, I wanted to see if anyone here has any experience with Filon and/or contact cement. It's too late to do anything about or even fix but there are a lot of areas that have developed bubbles and Filon that has pulled away from the plywood backing!! It really looks terrible... but on the bright side... at least it keeps the water out!!

The procedure I used was as follows (per side):
- I arranged 7 sheets of 4' x 10' x 5.2mm plywood on the shop floor and secured edge to edge with duct tape (duct tape edge on opposite side of Filon)
- Then we applied Red Glue contact cement on both surfaces, plywood and Filon
- Waited until both surfaces were tack free
- Side note: We built a moving platform above the plywood sheets for the Filon
- We then rolled out the Filon onto the plywood using carpet padded 2x4's for squeegies, making sure we got all the bubbles out
- Then we placed 5 gallon buckets of water every few feet on top of the laminate and left it over night to cure

The next morning, upon removing the buckets, I noticed a bubble. But it so happened to be in a spot where a window would be cut out. But since then more and more bubbles have appeared and there are areas that are even pulling away from where the plywood seams are. It is really too late to do anything about and not sure that it is even fixable at this point... I just want to know what I did wrong. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Rob

[Dale M.]

Wrong brand/type of contact cement for application?

Dale

[doug hodder]

The thing is...filon will expand and contract quite a bit with temperature changes. Chances are, that could be what is causing your bubbling issues. There are rivets that are made to be set in wood, so a carefully thought out pattern and some rivets would help it out, however, it is still going to bubble in hot weather I'd bet. In hot weather 95F my Nomad looked like someone bounced a basket ball on the roof and it was aluminum. Only .025 though. Once it cooled, it laid down flat and looked fine. Did you scuff the interior side to give the adhesive a bit of "tooth" to help hold it? Doug

[GPW]

Just as with metal cargo trailers , if the trailer is skinned when the metal (Filon) /weather is at it’s hottest ( product fully expanded ) , then in cool weather it would only contract and get Tighter... Sorta’ like siding ... but attached . Maybe the trick is, to use a substrate with similar expansion characteristics ...

[rtalich]

Wrong brand/type of contact cement for application?

Dale

I bought both the Filon material and contact cement at the same time and was/is the recommended adhesive.

[rtalich]

Did you scuff the interior side to give the adhesive a bit of "tooth" to help hold it? Doug

No, I did not scuff the material.

The thing with expansion/contraction... what do they do differently at the factory?

[bobhenry]

I simply screwed mine on with rosettes and trapped the edges under the wood trim. I have noticed NO expansion and contraction problems.

[aggie79]

The thing with expansion/contraction... what do they do differently at the factory?

Most factory installs use a heat activated glue. The Filon sheet, glue "sheet", and substrate (plywood), and sometimes the structure too are layered and then fed through a pinch roller that applies heat and laminates everything together.

Michael applied the Filon to his sidewalls using epoxy and vacuum-bagging in his "The Astroliner" build.