adhesive for aluminum?

[DandyWarholsTeardrop]

Do you guys have any preferred/recommended adhesive to use when installing the aluminum roof to top of teardrop? I used wacky wood on top of the ribs to form the roof underlay and now am about to put the aluminum skin on. I believe some of you have said you used contact cement but was wondering if any other options had been tried successfully. Contact cement leaves little room for error with klutz like me! Thank guys!

[JohnF]

I believe if you look through the archives or use the search function on this forum you will find that a lot of teardrop builders use silicone caulk for the adhesive. Seems to work they report, and someone mentioned that it keeps the aluminum slightly raised from the underlayment which is beneficial because of the different thermal expansion and contraction properties of the underlayment and the metal.

FWIW

John at Salida, CO

[madjack]

...Starting this past spring a lot of us have started using Henry's outdoor carpet adhesive...so far it seems to be among the best options. If you type "Henry AND 663" into the search index you will get a ton of info/opinions on this product
madjack

[DandyWarholsTeardrop]

thanks guys!...I'll go down the carpet adhesive link and check it out.

[Guest]

Dandy,
Another approach... Some people dry set the roof skin on over a well sealed sub roof.
If I was going to skin my tear, I would make sure that whatever I was covering up was sealed first, to gaurd against condensation on the inner skin surface from having a place to wick into... which would deffinately be a problem over the long haul.
As far as silicone goes... It's been my experience that it has a good bond to metals, but I've seen some pretty poor examples of it not bonding very well to woods and plastics.
I believe that builders using Henry's, applying it with a notched trowel, get both a sealer and adhesive in one shot. I have heard of no reports of "popping" as of yet from the builders using Henry's...

[doug hodder]

Dandy....I used Roberts adhesieve...made for installing carpeting around swimming pool areas....I had really good luck with it, cheap at HD...they didn't have any Henrys..so used this...Doug

[JLaman]

Has anyone used Henry's 263 outdoor carpet adhesive? The Henry's website http://wwhenry.com/products.htm#flooring lists this as bonding to plywood and aluminum. It is waterproof rather than water resistant (Henry's 663). Henry's 663 is also latex, which makes cleanup easier, but the "resistant" spec is not as good as "waterproof" it seems to me. Set time on the 263 is 30 minutes compared to 70 on the 663, but 30minutes seems sufficient if everything is dryfit before hand. I ordered a gallon of Henry's 263 from my local carpet guy - $22. I think I will go for it and use this instead of the 663. Any others with an opinion or experience?

Jeff L.

[toypusher]

You know, 'resistant' vs 'waterproof' should mean nothing in a teardrop application. All of my aluminum is held in place by the trim. The adhesive was just used to stick it in place temporarily until I could get the trim on. Just my opinion and experience. The 663 worked fine for me. I did not, however use it on the roof. My aluminum is applied directly over the spars and the rigid insulation, so, I just used polyurethene glue to hold it in place long enough to get the trim pieces in place.