Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hey, that’s the spirit !!!

Well then , a little time and now temperatures are getting in the mid 80’s during the day . Time to work on the FS and get that nose “foamed “ (Great Stuff) . The “season" will be just around the corner .... Have to get the FS cleaned up and ready to go ...

Well now ... the closer we looked , the less we liked ... I can see now where in our extremely rainy clime , the water runs down the FoamStream and flows around underneath the trailer , where we want it to stay dry ... Now thinking of a simple drip edge attached all around to divert the water directly away from the trailer , never giving it a chance to flow around and underneath ...

Naturally a drawing is enclosed , showing where an added filler strip on the nose will be necessary .. somewhat exaggerated ...
Actually it will be an easy fix , as I can strip away the offending canvas underneath and fit some blue foam as a filler ..Then add another reinforcing strip over that and underneath . Or we could add a commercial drip edge material (?) on the outside and seal it and secure it with some industrial sealer .. (3M)

Just a thought...what about putting the drip edge underneath, out of sight ?
If you use something like aluminum angle, it would serve to back up where the edge of the canvas is secured to the underside of the floor. The best part is that you wouldn't have to rework any of the existing canvas, just bed the aluminum really well and seal the screws where they run up into the ply floor.

A thousand words:


Either way, I know you'll come up with the perfect fix....this is a case in point that we're never really done building.

Where the 45 degree bend is is rotted canvas... Behind it is an airspace that needs to be filled ... along with all the kerfs in the nose ... Once the kerfed foam is filled solid , no water can sneak in ...
And how would I bend the angled Al around the round nose ... ? I’m thinking of some kind of plastic ... It really doesn’t have to be that big as long as it protrudes below the floor line .... water running straight down and off .. What we have now is water running down , making the angle and wicking into the underside ... grrrrr!!!! Not like that on the sides or back , just the nose , where the Foam ended up thicker than the floor and protrudes over it a bit.

Out of the last 20 days , it’s rained 18 ... I should be working on a BoatStream ...

Behind it is an airspace that needs to be filled

Gotcha, missed the part about that void - figured the fill piece was just a backer for the outer piece.
I know what you mean - spaces like that on a boat are famous (infamous) for mold and mildew. We get a ton of rain as well and, with the weather starting to warm up, the hard surfaces in those spaces are now carpeted in mold bloom.

I guess my question is: how is the water getting in?
Despite the coating, is the skin still a little porous ? It would be interesting to see how Rosie's boat was doing, were she still around.
Is the water running down and wicking up the fibers from the cut edge ?
It seems that, with a truly watertight skin, the only moisture in that space would be the normal humidity humidity on the day it was sealed up.
Of course, water is insidious and works its way into anything.

Maybe the notched plastic trim one uses on drywall for curved outside corners ?


Looking forward to seeing how you fix this one - I'm sure you'll come up with something clever

GPW, that is sorta what happened to mine but I had put the canvas under the bottom of the foam not the wood on the trailer. Just remember to wash everything down with clorox and a little soap. befor you put paint on. I would like to see it , Pictures?

Mary C.

Yes , it s the old story of, I should have followed my own plan ...

But it’s a minor thing , with only a small amount of water intrusion that wicked in through a small split in the canvas (that’s all it takes) ... Had I followed up and done what I wanted to do , (fill in the kerfs) everything would have been OK , the foam (GS) would have filled in all the voids , avoiding the airspace or leak point ... But I got in a hurry and hurriedly slapped it together , omitting that important step ...
Clean up will be a little Lysol bleach spray and a brush .. Then we’ll stick a fan inside and let it dry completely (forced air) , Then do what were supposed to do and Great Stuff all those kerfs on the bottom where all this problem started.. Thankfully I caught it early and it didn’t seriously affect any of the flooring or frame ..

That and a spell of dry weather would help ... but I can’t really wait ...not wanting any more damage to happen ... now it’s just a cleanup and spray foam, replace a little canvas ( I saved scraps just for things like this ) .... it could have been worse.. Patching canvas pieces will be Thoroughly saturated with the glue mix (T2) to avoid any of this foolishness in the future .

It really comes down to “do it right the first time" and you won’t have to re-do it later !!!

Thinking the drip edge would really help , eliminating future problems by diverting the water away from any entry point underneath.

Still Raining .... Still waiting ... This is Crazy , rain never stops ... I need to build the FoamBoat , maybe quick too

No storm damage, I hope. They showed a line of empty boxcars getting blown off an elevated railway on the news this morning.

Thankfully that missed us (barely) , but we got lots of water , which drained off quickly , but there’s still some wet spots in the yard. I was more worried about the hail , but that missed us too . The wife’s new car , that could have been bad.
I knew the FS would be alright with hail as the foam heals itself ...and it would have been a good test of that 18 oz. canvas.

The Spring Storms ... FoamStream just sat there , didn’t move a bit ...
Note: It's "supposed“ to be dry for the next few days , I have the repair materials all together, ready to work .

Been dry (miraculously) for days... so today’s the day to work on the FS ... We’ll take pics as we go to document the event ...

Didn’t want to jack’ anybody’s thread so we’re going to post this here ...
Whilst not a Yak, here’s my latest Foamie’ boat drawing for consideration ... Still working under the assumption I can still get the Foam at the previous source.. size and price ... Not very elegant , just something floaty-stable for the Old guy to fish off of close to the house .. and Cheap .... the budget is 100 yankee dollars ... ( not counting trolling motor and battery ... just the boat eh ! ) The new project ... Schmaybe’ ...
Figured if we did this from 2” layered Blu or Pink foam , it would cost a LOT more ...

Still have to get the FS fixed first ...

Back to the FoamStream ... Removed the chipboard panels (no problems there) ... and saw light showing from the front underside ... So I used a can of Great Stuff to fill in all the low areas and up into the kerfs... There was some black mold , which I’ll spray with a Bleach cleaner... and a bit of de-lamination of the base (floor ) rib. So when the bleach cleans up the rib mold , we'll squirt glue into the gaps and re clamp it all flush again ... then paint the whole thing , fully knowing water CAN’T get in now ... You can see by the front pic that the leaks are sealed all the way outside...
More yet to seal , but this will make the whole front end Solid ,much more than it was ... 2 more cans of GS awaiting ...

This was the only spot on the trailer that had any problem at all ... and regrettably was caused by my inattention to detail ... Easy to fix though ...

Now thinking I forgot my own advice to use the mix on the floor rib .... Duh !!! Lesson learned...

At least you did not burn your shop down like some people I know.