Exterior coating

[attroll]

I am almost ready to paint the outside of my trailer. I did not skin it with metal. I left it luan.
I do not want to use a marine varnish.
What kind of paint should I use?
I want it to coat and seal everything.

[jondbar628]

Oil based paint or high-grade acrylic latex, or spar varnish with UV protection. Today's acrylics are hard to beat.........jd

I fired from the hip (or lip) on this one, so now I want to amend may recommendation...........IF you haven't done any pre-fab prep work to your luan, such as "the mix" or other grain & edge-sealing applications, yo need to do that now, before painting. If that is the case, I too would recommend PMF rather than just paint. The quality of luan & its glue are notoriously erratic, especially when purchased "on sale" at a big box store. It's mostly Chinese. One batch may be of a decent quality, and the next pallet is junk......Better safe than sorry...............jd

[Tigris99]

High grade acrylic.

Make sure you have trim to seal and cover all the seams, luan HATES water! Delamination hell real fast if water gets in.

And dont be skimpy on it. Lay down multiple coats, not just enough to "coat" things.

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[Syberia]

I would not use Luan on the exterior of the trailer at all. I left a sheet of it outside and it got ruined just from the humidity.

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[QueticoBill]

Reading here and my own research and experience has lead me to fibreglass and epoxy on the roof, seams, and bottom of walls, and then Mad Dog Dura-Last primer and Benjamin Moore Aura exterior in satin or semi-gloss.

It seems fairly clear that ply on roofs cracks through the coating eventually, and the drip edge at bottom of vertical surfaces suffers from repeated wetting and drying, sure to promote decay.

[swoody126]

if you don't fiberglass it w/ epoxy(highly recommended) you might at least paint it w/ slightly thinned Tite-Bond III prior to painting

Luan is highly susceptible to delamination whe exposed to ANY moisture

unprotected Luan WILL cause you problems when placed in the weather

JMHO

sw

[working on it]

• Though I've only used Luan as the top layer of my trailer's flooring (1/2" birch plywood topped with 1/4" Luan, glued with Titebond 2 and screwed together around the perimeter), I coated it with multiple coats of Minwax polyurethane. I use commercial rubber-backed carpet/matting over the floor, so wear is not an issue, but I've had standing water (due to an unclosed door issue) on the Luan floor for 36 hours, without any damage or delamination, so I think that a good coat of poly will prevent water intrusion.
• Though there is no Luan on my TTT's exterior, perhaps you could use the same paint/coating procedure that I've used, to "waterproof" your wood. I used the "mix", of polyurethane and paint thinner, to penetrate thru the outer layers of plywood (and Luan), followed by more coats of mix, then pure poly. Then, I used Valspar alkyd enamel tractor paint as my primary paint, and Valspar Heavy-Duty reflective "silo: paint on any surface that could face upwards (the front roof slope, the roof, and the hatch door). I bought the Valspar brand which was marketed at Tractor Supply, at that time, and it has worked great since 2012. I recommend the Valspar brand highly, but now Tractor Supply carries the Majic brand, which doesn't specific for use on wood, though I've used it for touch-ups over the Valspar, with success.
• If I were to paint a Luan-covered trailer, like yours, I would first use the poly "mix" and the tractor and "silo" paints again...the key being that the poly mix penetrates and protects the Luan, the pure poly finishing coat gives a good surface for the solvent-base of the UV-resistant paints to follow, and the tractor and "silo" paints are meant for constant weather-exposure, so they have proven to be durable, at least to me.
• I'm pleased with my paint lasting without any problems so far, except scratches that I've made during work in my crowded/cramped garage, and was fully expecting some delamination (especially on the plywood edges), but there's been none. True, the trailer is stored in my garage, for about 95% of the time, but no problems yet. My alternative choice for coatings were a bedliner type of material, to completely cover all surfaces with an impenetrable coating, but my favorite choice (Durabak) is about $130 per gallon, so I'm glad my trailer is holding up so well, as-is. Good luck, and try this procedure if you feel it'll work for you, as it has for me.

• 

  trailer paint.jpg (108.68 KiB) Viewed 2140 times

  my TTT, with poly and two other coatings shown

• 

  Valspar or Rustoleum.png (275.34 KiB) Viewed 2140 times

  what I used, and a good substitute if unavailable

• 

  Majic @ Tractor Supply.PNG (174.84 KiB) Viewed 2140 times

  this brand should work well, especially over a poly base coat

[Socal Tom]

I used PMF on my roof of luan.


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[Tigris99]

I did PMF as well.

Luan isnt affected by normal humidity, those that say so cause they left it ouside, that wasnt the humidity, that was the dew that accumulated do to high humidity. My luan sat in a hot and humid garage for a month without a single issue. Its standing water that is bad.

Truly nothing but marine plywood will tolerate water exposure for long.

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[Socal Tom]

The original owner of mine painted it with pool deck paint. ( essentially paint with sand in it). This resulted in a rough surface that allowed water to seep through. I tried painting over it, but eventually water got through at the hinge ( tough to seal a rough surface). I replaced the roof with new luan, then applied PMF using a poly cloth ( designed for roofing) and a 2 layers of exterior paint. Going over the luan and using the polyester cloth I found TB2 to be an unneeded extra step. The paint holds at least as well as the diluted TB2, and the cloth provides more structure for the thick paint. I need to apply the third layer, but I've busy with other things. the two layers have proven to be water tight in some hard rains ( at least for Socal). The third coat will be more of a cosmetic treatement ( though it will probably make it last longer as well)
Tom

[Cosmo]

If you are looking for durable maybe Line-X truck bed coating is a consideration. Pretty wild stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWkYRh6OXy8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5t6hpIEy-w

=Cosmo

[booyah]

I'm two years on epoxy coated birch with fiberglass on the seams. I then painted the outside with exterior latex paint.

Its stored outside full time in Michigan, and i tarp it in the winter for snow loads.

So far no issues, no signs of water intrusion, no bubbled paint or warped wood, and shes been out for some long heavy sustained rain.

[QueticoBill]

I'm two years on epoxy coated birch with fiberglass on the seams. I then painted the outside with exterior latex paint.

Its stored outside full time in Michigan, and i tarp it in the winter for snow loads.

So far no issues, no signs of water intrusion, no bubbled paint or warped wood, and shes been out for some long heavy sustained rain.

Thanks. That is where I'm headed - birch ply - double bias fiberglass tape at seams and especially over the wall to roof joint and bottom of wall to floor where it beads and drips, and glass on the roof - stem to stern - so hatch too. Epoxy over all, primer, and house paint. I especially like the strength of the epoxy and glass at joints.

[tony.latham]

I'm two years on epoxy coated birch with fiberglass on the seams. I then painted the outside with exterior latex paint.

Its stored outside full time in Michigan, and i tarp it in the winter for snow loads.

So far no issues, no signs of water intrusion, no bubbled paint or warped wood, and shes been out for some long heavy sustained rain.

Boo:

Got an update on how she's holding up?

Thanks,

Tony

[GPW]

We've been using a good exterior Latex Exterior house paint .. My Trailer has sat outside for almost ten years now , the paint just needs a good washing now and then .... May be doing a re-paint soon ... Just because we're tired of the colors and have to do some very minor repairs .