Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **GPW** » Mon May 23, 2016 10:27 am

And one more ...

by **KCStudly** » Mon May 23, 2016 11:09 am

Woohoo!

by **mikeschn** » Mon May 23, 2016 4:20 pm

Looking good Glen! :thumbsup:

As the winds on the oceans start to pick up!!! :shock:

Mike...

by **GPW** » Mon May 23, 2016 5:04 pm

Yes , it’s that happy time ... again ... We’ve been Lucky for several years now

... Stayed (shelter in place ) for the smaller ones ... Big one comes along and we Have to leave ... (mandatory, except for the Looters... :roll:

) People ask me why would I live in a place that gets Hurricanes ... I tell them because we don’t have Volcanoes or Earthquakes ... Likely we will eventually get some earthquakes as soon as they do more FRACKING ... :thumbdown:

Grrrrrr!!!!

by **mikeschn** » Mon May 23, 2016 5:53 pm

I just did a quick look... ouch...

But on the lighter side, pick a name! :surrender:

I found that stuff here: http://crownweather.com/index.php/discu ... -forecast/

2016 Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Names:
Alex
Bonnie
Colin
Danielle
Earl
Fiona
Gaston
Hermine
Ian
Julia
Karl
Lisa
Matthew
Nicole
Otto
Paula
Richard
Shary
Tobias
Virginie
Walter

by **GPW** » Tue May 24, 2016 5:42 am

Mike, the only Good thing about hurricanes ,is now with all the new technology we get some decent Warnings , so we can have time to load up the trailer and get out of Dodge (~3 days) ... Usually driving just a couple hundred miles away puts out of storms fury ... and it’s usually just a 3 day stay , then return to whatever is left ... However sometimes a really Big storm , or really big blunder ( or crooked contractors ) by those that build levees, causes something like Katrina where, the storm caused damage to improperly built structures that flooded most of the city . :frightened:

Your humble narrator however, lives on the West bank of the Mississippi river on High ground and so suffered no damage , save losing 60 very large oak trees ( blown over) ... Still we were blocked from coming back to the city for 5 weeks and had to sneak back in town in broad daylight , on back roads ,dodging the armed National Guard ...

It was this experience that caused us to come here and build a TD trailer(3 now), Everybody that had a little travel trailer was parked out in somebody’s driveway , out of sight , out of mind, and they did well .. That became the plan ...

Note: for many years we just went to our in-laws in Texas, but they got old and passed away , so that Luxury was no longer an option ... Trailer is it Now !!! We tested this during a minor storm , by driving our then "commercial trailer" 200 miles away and “camping” in a friends driveway ... Perfect ... We were never in their way and no bother , and I cooked for them ... Something we always end up doing for everybody anyway ...

This is different than all the camping done when I was younger, old BS(although we never were one ) Pup tent , WW2 surplus backpack ... pretty basic ... which just doesn’t play for the wife anymore... :roll:

by **GPW** » Wed May 25, 2016 10:52 am

Now that Sikaflex sealer is dry (yet rubbery) we really can’t decide on whether to canvas over the drip edge upper part or just use the Gorilla tape ... The canvas would take some effort to put on now , whereas the Gorilla tape may take some effort to get off later when /if it finally wears out ... I don’t want to use Eternabond , because we’d have to surgically remove that stuff if we ever wanted to do some patching (?) :frightened:

All a question of Now or later ... :roll:

I doubt the Sikaflex is ever going to leak , but just want to make sure , maybe “overkill” on my part ...? :duh:

next up ... The Mix in a spray bottle ...

Note: the drip edge is amazingly effective , parts that felt damp yesterday (underneath) now feel dry today ...although the trailer skin on the outside felt WET this morning from the dew ... :thumbsup:

After seeing how well this works , I’d recommend a rudimentary drip edge on Every trailer ... It “could" be the thing that saves that plywood floor ...

by **GPW** » Thu May 26, 2016 7:43 am

Not being able to decide on G-tape or glued canvas , we finally chose to make a “TEST” out of this and Not use anything , except a little paint over the sealer ... :thinking:

If we don’t like it we can always add something over it ... That’s the beauty of using Canvas ... Patch-ability !!!

We do have to go back over and fill in a few sunken areas that might provide a pocket for water ... small as they are .. we don’t want that .... We want the water to roll right off the trailer just like on a Duck’s back ... :thumbsup:

by **GPW** » Fri May 27, 2016 11:22 am

Well we went back over and smoothed on more Sikaflex sealer so there’s no way it will hold any water... (smooth transition from trailer wall to drip edge to ground) .... Water Not EVEN coming Near the floor underneath :thumbsup:

... Going to let it cure a bit then paint it Green after we WASH the outside thoroughly ..... Only a few days left , and already action in the Atlantic ... :frightened:

by **Ned B** » Fri May 27, 2016 11:41 am

Deep breath GPW... You're ready as always. If EVAC is required you've Got the FS! I know it isn't fun, but you know the drill. Besides , the FS is like taking the umbrella to work. Since you have it, you won't need it! (It has worked fine so far as a talisman)

by **GPW** » Fri May 27, 2016 12:49 pm

Thanks Ned, fingers crossed ...

by **GPW** » Mon May 30, 2016 5:57 pm

Now with drip edges installed , and the underneath dry now ...

We started cleaning the outer shell .... Got a bit Nasty over the Winter sitting under the Crepe Myrtle tree, but cleans up pretty well with just a little scrubbing with a brush and some 409 ... We do have Spic and Span for the rest ... :thumbsup:

Have my scaffolds now to reach the roof (safely)

by **GPW** » Tue May 31, 2016 6:16 am

We promise not to let it get this dirty again :roll:

... The canvas underneath is still sound and tight .... A surprisingly very Hard surface ... ( 18 oz. canvas )

by **GPW** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:08 am

Well, here it is now and there’s some stubborn spots we’ll have to use a brush and some Mr.Clean on... but so high we
We’ll have to scaffold up for that ...

When it was cleaned (as best we could for now ) we checked the floor underneath .... Bone dry ... the drip edge worked like a Champ ... :thumbsup:

Also we made a new hatch as the old one never was “ant-proof" and the little blighters snuck inside , but thankfully didn’t do any damage ... But the dampness caused the 1/4” plywood on the old hatch to delam... Surprise Surprise...

Plywood again...grrrrrrrr!!!!!

... inside the trailer too :roll:

... The new one is TIGHT fitted to the opening and taped shut with Gorilla Tape ...

Which is where we found out the next totally amazing Fact .... Gorilla tape will peel the paint right off your foam (down to the canvas) , primer and all , and in an Instant ... :shock:

So then , when you get ready to remove it , best have the touch up paint ready ... Ask me how I found this out ... :duh: