MDO Plywood and CPES?

[S. Heisley]

Doug's right on.

Using CPES on MDO would be a waste. Save the CPES or sell it to another trailer builder.

http://www.plumcreek.com/Portals/0/down ... fo/MDO.pdf

[afreegreek]

CPE$

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Thanks again to Doug and Sharon for the helpful responses regarding CPE$ on MDO!

Ended up using the CPE$ on all of the exterior plywood skins (not the MDO).



Got two nice coats on. The first soaked in really well, and the second created a nice glaze. Yup, I spent the money, and yup I'm happy with the results

By the way, if you mix it in plastic cups, use two cups nested together and work fast. Once it eats through one, the other will work as backup so you don't make a huge mess

[S. Heisley]

Yup! Been there, done that! It seems to be the more brittle plastics that react with it.

If you save your old margarine tubs, they are usually made out of a more flexible, durable plastic. Wash them up with soap and water and dry them and they work great for the mixture and the CPES doesn't leak through. In fact, you can close the tub with its lid to make a small mixed batch last an extra couple days. If you forget about it and it dries up in the tub, it just lifts right out and you can re-use the tub for more CPES again.

[Facemeltingly Epic]

I've used margarine tubs for small quantities of CPES, and for larger quantities I mixed it in a five-quart ice cream bucket.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Sweet thanks for the tips!

[hull je]

there seem to be a debate about cpes.i used about 10 gallons of smiths cmixture on the bottom of a34ft.richardson.you are right it does not mean i know everthing about,but t\it does seal the wood.here is my point.i also mixed polestor and acitone and got the same results,less than haft the cost'by the way i have built two teardrops.sold oneand gave the other away..

[del690]

I'm a teardrop noob. You guys sound like you all make "bombproof" campers

[del690]

Your a good bunch to be around.

[48Rob]

Del,

Not bomb proof, just a lot more waterproof!

As you research campers a bit more, you'll find that most factory built campers suffer from water damage.
A bad design, a poor seal here or there, a little water coming in regularly can do incredible damage before you ever realize there is a problem.

The folks here are just trying to do everything they can to limit or stop the water from causing damage.

Welcome to the forum!

Rob

[del690]

So using this cpes stuff is way better than doing something like Thompson's water seal?

[48Rob]

So using this cpes stuff is way better than doing something like Thompson's water seal?

Yes.

I have no experience with CPES, but do have a lot of experience with waterproofing wood with other products.
Thompsons is an okay product for some applications, but is not designed to do the same thing as a protective paint.
CPES is not designed to do the same thing as protective paint either, but in some cases will protect better than paint.

If you know how to do general Internet searches, you can look up CPES, and waterproofing wood in general and educate yourself on the differences, so you can make a choice based on facts as to what product will work best for your application.
If you don't know how to do searches, perhaps someone else here can point you to a thread that explains CPES and its intended use for preserving damaged wood.

Rob

[del690]

Maybe I'm making myself sound dumber than I really am. Its just that up to a day or so ago I had never even heard of this stuff. So I just needed to make some comparison. Also, in Canada we dont always seem to have access to as many products as perhaps in the States.

[48Rob]

Del,

I sure wasn't trying to be mean or rude, and I'm sorry if if it sounded that way!
My point was that I could spend all day trying to explain all the pro's and con's and still not give you the information you really need.
If you are considering a particular product, you would be wise to research it to see if it will serve your purpose.
If you don't know which product you need, researching how to prevent leaks will help lead you to the product that will work best for the trailer or application you are trying to protect.

Doing Internet searches will quickly give you the general information, then asking specific questions about that product can give you knowledge from those who have used it.
If you use the search function here on the board, you can probably find a lot of discussions about CPES, or hopefully someone who is better versed in it than I will jump in and explain why they like, or dislike it.

Rob

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Maybe I'm making myself sound dumber than I really am. Its just that up to a day or so ago I had never even heard of this stuff. So I just needed to make some comparison. Also, in Canada we dont always seem to have access to as many products as perhaps in the States.

I had never heard of it until I joined this board. Some live by it, some think its over-rated. I used it on my first build and it worked extremely well, so I ended up using it on parts of my new build. I already had the money put away in my budget for it, so I went with it. Could I have mixed up my own epoxy/thinner concoction? Maybe... but I'd rather leave the chemistry to someone who knows what they're doing.