Re: 7x16x6.5 Featherlite Build
Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 4:00 pm
Yesterday afternoon, while standing in the trailer, much to my dismay, I noticed that I could see daylight coming through one of the seams where the exterior aluminum panel was riveted to the rear corner of the trailer, near the ramp door. I pushed on the panel a little bit with my finger and more daylight came through. The aluminum panels are lapped so that the seam is oriented towards the rear. So, I went outside, and with a little plastic bottle filled with water, squirted water towards the seam. I went back inside and saw that the water had leaked through the seam and puddled on the floor. Same thing with the other opposite rear corner.
I was especially concerned about road dust from a dirt or gravel road infiltrating the wall cavity … hidden from view … and then getting wet … repeatedly … over time, accumulating into a moldy mess. Or maybe I am blowing things out of proportion.
I went to bed stewing in my mind weather it was an isolated manufacturing mistake where someone forgot to caulk or use sealing tape or whether the entire trailer was built this way. If the latter, what kind of a piece of &^%$#@! did I buy?
Today I removed one of the interior wood walls on the trailer. I discovered that all of the exterior aluminum panels I exposed are riveted to the posts without any caulk or seal at the lap joint.
If I had known this in advance of buying the trailer, I would not have bought it. I would have bought a trailer with glued on exterior panels.
A contractor buddy of mine who build steel buildings recommended that I caulk the seams with Geocel silicone caulk. He said it is far superior product to anything he has ever used, by a large factor.
Now I am asking myself whether it is a good thing to allow the wall to breathe and dissipate any condensation that might arise. I doubt it, but pose the question. I am having a hard time justifying this kind of a design.
You can see the seams in the photos I just uploaded with this post.
By the way, I just spent three days reading every post I could find on this forum about insulation and about best insulation practices, including the practices set out in the 1,134 page long “2013 ASHRAE Handbook” (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers. My Gosh, this stuff is PhD level physics!
I hope to eventually share if an how I plan to insulate the trailer …. i.e., with or with air gap, which way to face a radiant barrier (if any), how to deal with condensation, and how to deal with solar gains and losses due to convection, conduction and radiation.
Teaser: Henry 587 coating is good for the roof!
Ron
I was especially concerned about road dust from a dirt or gravel road infiltrating the wall cavity … hidden from view … and then getting wet … repeatedly … over time, accumulating into a moldy mess. Or maybe I am blowing things out of proportion.
I went to bed stewing in my mind weather it was an isolated manufacturing mistake where someone forgot to caulk or use sealing tape or whether the entire trailer was built this way. If the latter, what kind of a piece of &^%$#@! did I buy?
Today I removed one of the interior wood walls on the trailer. I discovered that all of the exterior aluminum panels I exposed are riveted to the posts without any caulk or seal at the lap joint.
If I had known this in advance of buying the trailer, I would not have bought it. I would have bought a trailer with glued on exterior panels.
A contractor buddy of mine who build steel buildings recommended that I caulk the seams with Geocel silicone caulk. He said it is far superior product to anything he has ever used, by a large factor.
Now I am asking myself whether it is a good thing to allow the wall to breathe and dissipate any condensation that might arise. I doubt it, but pose the question. I am having a hard time justifying this kind of a design.
You can see the seams in the photos I just uploaded with this post.
By the way, I just spent three days reading every post I could find on this forum about insulation and about best insulation practices, including the practices set out in the 1,134 page long “2013 ASHRAE Handbook” (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers. My Gosh, this stuff is PhD level physics!
I hope to eventually share if an how I plan to insulate the trailer …. i.e., with or with air gap, which way to face a radiant barrier (if any), how to deal with condensation, and how to deal with solar gains and losses due to convection, conduction and radiation.
Teaser: Henry 587 coating is good for the roof!
Ron