Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Bill, I don’t want to sound controversial , but we didn’t build our trailer(s) to be a Beauty Queen … if anybody doesn’t like the way it looks they can just walk away … We all build for a Purpose , and I think you’re doing just fine !!! JMHO

And once you park it outside in\ that Hot Texas Sun , you’ll be surprised how everything tightens up and lumps and craters just disappear ... it’s Foam magic !!!

GPW wrote:Bill, I don’t want to sound controversial , but we didn’t build our trailer(s) to be a Beauty Queen … if anybody doesn’t like the way it looks they can just walk away … We all build for a Purpose , and I think you’re doing just fine !!! JMHO

And once you park it outside in\ that Hot Texas Sun , you’ll be surprised how everything tightens up and lumps and craters just disappear ... it’s Foam magic !!!

Oh, I realize that, Glen. Just commenting on the diminished ease of working with it. The putty knife was picking up 'fur' from the canvas and depositing it in lumps here and there and that made skips here and there. Had to be vigilant not to miss one. It was a simple matter of picking off the hairball and re-smoothing it.

The shorter staple makes me wonder about the strength of the canvas, too. I mean, that's why we put canvas over the outside, besides waterproofing, is its resistance to being stretched when loaded with glue and paint. A lot of that has to do with the shear of the adhesives against the length of the individual fibers, and if the fibers are shorter then there's less total strength to the covering. Could be negligible, but I'm sure that diminshed strength is there.

Keep in mind that these things are used as a paint-soaker, not as a strengthening fabric. Meaning that the desired quality of a drop cloth is to soak up paint, not necessarily stay together when used in a tug-o-war contest What I'm getting at is, there's no need for the manufacturer to consider its lateral strength when selecting raw products. Only if it's a "side product" that is made by a tentmaker's supply house or something, would the strength of the canvas be even considered.

I'll stop rambling now

I am using Home Depot "Everbilt" 10 oz canvas. The 9x12 has a seam, and the 6x9 doesn't. I've used the 9x12 so far, half on each side of my slide-in camper. One side is definitely smoother than the other after being glued up. I noticed almost no shrinkage, and in fact I overcompensated for shrinkage and could have used the extra canvas that was left over. I got a glimpse of a tag before dropping it, and saw that there is some acrylic in the fabric, maybe that helps control the shrinkage. I haven't painted the canvas yet. Even thought the photo was taken in poor light, you can obviously see the "ghcoe" influence in the canvas application technique!