Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

What are you guys using to spackle low spots on your foam walls ? Need something cheap and easy to work with, that will do the job right the first time. Any advise would be great, Also how much spackle is usually needed for the inside and outside ?

Low spots ? ... No worry just park it in the Sun for a few days and there won’t be any low spots ... We tried the lightweight spackle , it didn’t stick ... tried the Great Stuff as a filler , it kept expanding for days ... sand it flat , next day it was bulging out ... Thinking TB2 and lots of foam dust mixed in a slurry ... You may want to test that on a small spot before doing a whole trailer ...

I used about a tub and a 1/4 of Dap Fast n Final Light Weight spackle in my build. I probably used more than most since I had to fair in the flashing around the edges and doors. I never laid it in thick and applied Gliden Gripper after sanding and before the next layup. This builds up layers that should be a lot stronger than just layups of spackle. Keep a spray bottle of water with you, it helps to smooth out the spackle.

Maybe low spots was the wrong way to say gouges and handling mishaps . Some of my foam has some battle scares. That I need to smooth up. Before I do any PMF and canvas work. which should be soon, for the interior wall surfaces.

I'd wet a no nap dish towel and use an Iorn first, why you ask? I filled several places with vinal spackle now after sitting in the sun I have bumps, raised places. so try a damp heavy cotton towel an an iorn. It works. don't be in a hurry or have the iorn to hot keep looking at the spot, do it befor you fill

Mary C.

I'll try the towel/iron thing. But some of my gouges are deep. Foam fell on to shape edges of trailer. I'm sure that I'm not the only person building a foam camper that has needed to patch problems.

ghcoe wrote:I used about a tub and a 1/4 of Dap Fast n Final Light Weight spackle in my build. I probably used more than most since I had to fair in the flashing around the edges and doors. I never laid it in thick and applied Gliden Gripper after sanding and before the next layup. This builds up layers that should be a lot stronger than just layups of spackle. Keep a spray bottle of water with you, it helps to smooth out the spackle.

When you say that you used 1 1/4 tubs of spackle... is that quarts/ or 1 1/4 gallons ? (I would think gallons), also how well did the TB2/canvas stick to the spackle ?

rustytoolss wrote:

ghcoe wrote:I used about a tub and a 1/4 of Dap Fast n Final Light Weight spackle in my build. I probably used more than most since I had to fair in the flashing around the edges and doors. I never laid it in thick and applied Gliden Gripper after sanding and before the next layup. This builds up layers that should be a lot stronger than just layups of spackle. Keep a spray bottle of water with you, it helps to smooth out the spackle.

When you say that you used 1 1/4 tubs of spackle... is that quarts/ or 1 1/4 gallons ? (I would think gallons), also how well did the TB2/canvas stick to the spackle ?

They were the one gallon tubs. I have not used TBII on the spackle directly. I primed everything with Gripper before I applied my canvas. Makes for a more uniform texture and the TBII bonds well to the gripper.

ghcoe.......Hope for a clarification, please........Like Rusty, I'm near PMF time. I think (usually not too clearly) I recall you saying that you used a 50/50 tb2/water to bond your canvas to the foam, & it worked well. I was under the impression that you used Gripper only on the corner bead and spackle for the TB2 to bond to. Or did you paint the entire skin with Gripper before using the TB2 mix? Your last post to Rusty left me a little confused on this.............I'm still juggling the TB2 vs Gripper vs "some combination thereof" for my bonding medium.........thanks for all the info you've graciously provided.........JD

jondbar628 wrote:ghcoe.......Hope for a clarification, please........Like Rusty, I'm near PMF time. I think (usually not too clearly) I recall you saying that you used a 50/50 tb2/water to bond your canvas to the foam, & it worked well. I was under the impression that you used Gripper only on the corner bead and spackle for the TB2 to bond to. Or did you paint the entire skin with Gripper before using the TB2 mix? Your last post to Rusty left me a little confused on this.............I'm still juggling the TB2 vs Gripper vs "some combination thereof" for my bonding medium.........thanks for all the info you've graciously provided.........JD

I did paint the entire trailer with Gripper. I used it to make sure all looked like if faired out OK. Plus I did need it for the TBII to stick to the areas with flashing/beading. With the trailer all one color and texture I could see blemishes easier. I don't think you have to paint the whole trailer though if you don't want to.

Thanks George. Appreciate it.....I may well follow your lead on TB2 over Gripper - thus far in my build, I've become a big Gripper fan.........I'd even toyed with the idea of mixing the two in some percentage ( 50% gripper & 50% TB2 which had been thinned by 10%) for the bonding medium.......jd

jondbar628 wrote:Thanks George. Appreciate it.....I may well follow your lead on TB2 over Gripper - thus far in my build, I've become a big Gripper fan.........I'd even toyed with the idea of mixing the two in some percentage ( 50% gripper & 50% TB2 which had been thinned by 10%) for the bonding medium.......jd

7 posts down you can read my experience/test with the TBII over Gripper http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=6 ... g#p1160429

Again George, thanks. I'm gonna go with the TB2 over Gripper bonding medium as you did. (one more thing in the "got it" column). Your test of paper-on-foam was a precurser to, and mirrored my own wood-to-foam tests on Gripper vs TB2. But I hadn't really thought about using both as individual, but overlaying applications (duh). The Gripper allows the best bond to naked foam, while the TB2 integrates the hardness and, with heat, the forgiveness desirable for a foamie PMF..........jd