Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am getting ready for a new build.
I have come across some 24" aluminium flashing, free. I like cheap.
I am looking at woody sides and aluminium top.
Has anyone used this in their build?
What is your opinion for seaming?
Thanks,
Peter

I seamed mine with 24" aluminum for the same reason you are considering it. The aluminum cost me less tham 10 dollars (not as cheap as your free). I used windshield glue between the layers along the length of the roof.

My trailer is five feet wide. I first covered the edges along the sides. Then I covered the remaining uncovered foot down the middle. This gave me a six inch lap. I ran two beads of windshield glue down each side of the last layer and used tie down straps to hold them tight while drying. There are no screw holes in my roof with the exception of the edge trim. The glue holds the middle run tight.

It works well, but I prefer the look of one piece aluminum sheet and will replace my layered aluminum at some point.

I did my outside walls in a similar waydue to the cost and the hight (4'5") of my trailer.

Click the album button below for some pics or the build link for some more pics.

I too am considering a way to use some of the aluminum roof flashing. I have seen it in 24" X 10' rolls in brown, white or aluminum. About $35 a roll and less depending on color. At the very least am considering cladding the bottom of the trailer with it.

John,

That was a fantastic idea! I wish I had known about this before I built using those big 4x12 aluminum sheets. They were hard to deal with and this would have been way more affordable. Your teardrop looks great.

The other day I found a 2ft by 30ft roll of that aluminum flashing in the road......I'm glad I picked it up!!!

Ok .This thread would be a good place to ask the question of using .30 painted aluminum coil...... On the top.

Bear with me on this........ I have a brake that bends metal. I was wondering if I used 60" x !0" pieces of coil run across the roof...... Is .30 gauge enough ? I can bend my own siding in colors using coiled material if .30 would work .....

The 60" pieces that ran across the roof would have an interlock to snap each piece in as I go.........

I know that I can bend the aluminum stock to make anmything I want, but the part I would be concerned with is the lightness of .30 ga.

Any suggestions?

I had two thoughts on the seams.
First, to just butt them together and lay a piece of trim over the seam. (I am planning on laying the aluminium coil cross ways.)
Second, to place a bend of about an inch in the edge of each piece so to interlock each piece.
I am (maybe wrongly) not so concerned with thickness as I am with it staying put.

petertl wrote:I had two thoughts on the seams.
First, to just butt them together and lay a piece of trim over the seam. (I am planning on laying the aluminium coil cross ways.)
Second, to place a bend of about an inch in the edge of each piece so to interlock each piece.
I am (maybe wrongly) not so concerned with thickness as I am with it staying put.

Find a guy in your area who puts on siding for a living ...he can make up a piece for you that would be waterproofed when used with some hidden clear silicon. I have a quick pic here showing the female part of the interlock....... It would have better tolerences then the pic shows of course.......

I have bent thousands of rolls of coil in my life..... The key to prevent oil canning is making the seams ridged.....

And if you are interested, many colors can be bought too at siding wholesalers....... And you can ask at your big box lumber yards.....

Any ideas for trim to cover seams?

wolfix wrote:Ok .This thread would be a good place to ask the question of using .30 painted aluminum coil...... On the top.

Bear with me on this........ I have a brake that bends metal. I was wondering if I used 60" x !0" pieces of coil run across the roof...... Is .30 gauge enough ? I can bend my own siding in colors using coiled material if .30 would work .....

The 60" pieces that ran across the roof would have an interlock to snap each piece in as I go.........

I know that I can bend the aluminum stock to make anmything I want, but the part I would be concerned with is the lightness of .30 ga.

Any suggestions?

Wolfix, I am assuming you mean .030 and not .30 which is 1/3rd of an inch(rather thick stuff)....I am not sure about using flashing and having to put all those seams in but that is another matter...what I want to say is .030 (or even lighter) should be OK if used over an underlayment...the AL is just a skin to keep the elements out...the underlayment(ply or such) is giving the rigidity and stuctural integrity...we used .032 sheet on ours and it is more than sufficient...one thing to keep in mind...especially if using sheet is that the thinner it is the more susceptible it will be to bending/creasing/wrinkling while handling........
madjack

p.s. there are various profiles of flat trims available for covering seams if wanted...whether you use a trim piece or not, you should still overlap by a couple of inches with a good sealer/adhesive in between the pieces....

Thanks MadJack! I still am undecided on using the flashing on top. I am researching and may make a test to see. I am more interested in the look with seams etc. than anything.

Right madjack..I did mean .030....... Using the flat trim may work also......When I was a contractor I built a trailer with this aluminum for the sides, but the trailer was an open one and did not need a roof.

It worked OK for the sides...... I think my interlocking system would be 100% waterproof..... I installed windows over 20 years and we did some metal work that was touch and go and came out ok......

I would install diamond plate in the front however to prevent dings.....

I can get .019 aluminum coil free for a project like this, but I would feel better going with the .030 instead....

petertl,

My roof flashing was thicker than my side flashing (somewhere between .019 and .040). When unrolled my 24" roof material not only wanted to roll up along its' length, but also along its' width. It curled along its' width like a straight length of measuring tape. I thought laying it along the curve of the tear would flatten it out forceing it to bend along only one plane. ( kind of like when the measuring tape rolls up). It didn't. Anyway, for lapping reasons I found it best to put the aluminum on so that the edges would touch the tear first and not the middle.

I used Henry's to attach the aluminum and have had no problems except for one which was my fault. One run on one side has delaminated from the backing. It was the only run that I had applied, removed and then reapplied for some lost reason. On the up side there have been no problems caused by the delamination.

I also agree with Madjack on the seams. Definatly lap them. Pretend they are giant shingles. The sides of the tear don't need to have the seams covered because they are verticle. The roof on the other hand has a point where it is flat and I considered covering the seams for that reason, but covering the seams ment drilling more holes into my roof to hold the seam covers on. I decided no seam cover unless I found leaks. No roof leaks so far, though.

Seam direction on the roof: I chose to go along the length of the tear rather than to run the seams from side to side to keep to number of seams down and also for asthetics. Lines tend to run from front to back on cars, especially long ones.

just my experience.



Indycubby,
thanks