I'm so excited. After reading Gard's post about doing this about 100 times, I finally went and bought all the stuff!
Today was clean out the trailer, pull the mats and take the rear tack out for easier access. It is a new trailer to me and we had just pulled the mats a month ago to pressure wash the floor. My husband then donned his respirator and away he went.
Here it is from the beginning. We won't seal it until Sat afternoon due to other obligations, but I'll post more pics when we do that too...
Posted 2011-04-20 4:55 PM (#133258 - in reply to #133004) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Regular
Posts: 70 Location: PA
We're planning on doing ours this weekend. Iwas able to get the duplicolor that Gard used at NAPA. They did not have it in the store, only the Herculiner. However, they had a lot of other Duplicolor products so I asked & they said they have it in their warehouse & could have it in a day. $79.95 a gallon. Went to pick it up today & they had the Herculiner, not the Duplicolor. Guy I phone made the mistake but the clerk remembered me & apologized! They should trust women to know what they want! There was another guy standing at the desk & overheard the conversation & said he has used the Herculiner and more coarse than Duplicolor and possibly more durable? I told him what I wanted it for and do not want to have a hard time sliding the mats out & horses wouldn't be standing on it so he agreed that Duplicolor might be better for our purpose. Our pickup truck bedliner (Rhino) is smoother than the Herculiner sample on the box and I like it because we can slide stuff in & out of the bed quite easily & that surface has held up for years. I also found Rustoleum bed liner at a local super Walmart for $47.95 a gallon but don't know anything about it. Since we are only going to do it once, it would be nice to save the $$$ but I trust Gard's opinion and he was happy with the Duplicolor. Just wanted to let you all know where you might find the Duplicolor. Guess there will be a lot of posts after the weekend. Hope everybody's turns out to their satisfaction and thank you Gard for all your great advice.
Posted 2011-04-20 7:04 PM (#133264 - in reply to #133004) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Regular
Posts: 92 Location: iowa
Not sure about duplicolor, but I have seen the results of a Herculiner years after the application. WOW, what a mess is all I can say. you may have also seen them you just wondered what the heck did that guy do to his truck bed, bad flaking paint.
In doing this I would do the acid wash 2-3 times just to make sure it is totally clean and prepared for the application.
HUH, still this doesn't get rid of the dang work of the rubber mats, I had WERM professionally installed 5-6 years ago and could not be happier, spendy but well worth the hastle.
Hope all the work you are putting in pays off and is lasts for you. Good Luck. I am also curious to see the finished application.
Posted 2011-04-20 8:15 PM (#133272 - in reply to #133004) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Member
Posts: 48
Ok Ok here it is! Just a sidenote to the Herculiner/Duplicolor. We did use Herculiner for two reasons. One, I couldn't find the Duplicolor and 2nd, I googled Herculiner. Seemed like the responses were more positive for Herculiner than Dup. But whatever, it's what I used and hopefully it works. Seemed easy to do and it looks great! The pics don't really do it justice.
Starting out on the edges. I didn't tape anything off as it didn't matter to me if it got up on the walls at all.
We did 2 coats with about 4 hours in between each coat. We could have gotten away with 1 gallon and a quart but I think we applied a little thick and ended up using 1 1/2 gallons. I love it--Thanks Gard!
Posted 2011-04-21 5:23 AM (#133285 - in reply to #133004) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Regular
Posts: 70 Location: PA
Great job and pics! Did you buy the kit or just buy your own rollers? Looks like you brushed it on around the sides? I appreciated Rick's comments about the Duplicolor/Herculiner products but I think in this case scenario, the product will hold up since the mats will be over it and it will not be exposed to the elements like the p/u truck bed. It will be so great to only pull our mats once a year!
Posted 2011-04-21 8:37 AM (#133287 - in reply to #133285) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Expert
Posts: 2615
If I go to all that trouble and expense,I'm sure not planning on pulling my mats out once a year.I'm doing that,now.Gard says he just rinses underneath them but he didn't say he still pulls his out yearly.We don't use ours enough to take them out more often as it is.
Posted 2011-04-21 9:52 AM (#133292 - in reply to #133004) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Elite Veteran
Posts: 714 Location: Minnesota
Just curious what is the box in your tack area for? I had WERM in my last trailer and really miss it. Yes, it is expensive, but worth it in time, labor and peace of mind. I am planning on doing the Herculiner/Duplicolor whenever it warms up. A little expense and labor for peace of mind that your floor will be protected is always good.
Posted 2011-04-21 10:36 AM (#133295 - in reply to #133004) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Member
Posts: 48
The box in the tack room is my gas tank for the built in generator. I did actually tape that part.
I bought the kit because that was the only way I could order it in quickly from Ace Hardware. My father wanted to come into town to help :) I wouldn't get the kit...just the gallon if you can. The brush, rollers were pretty cheap.
I don't plan on ever pulling the mats regularly now. I'll still pull them maybe once every couple years just to check, but Merhow has a TON of drain holes in their floor so that's a nice bonus.
We used the little 1/2 rollers and a brush to do the edges. They say not to "paint" it on, but kind of squish it on in order to get an even coating of the rubber pieces (or whatever the texture is..probably not rubber). We used a regular paint roller to do the large portion of the floor.
We used 1 gallon to do the acid wash.
And really, the hardest part was taking out and putting back in the dividers and collapsable tack. The floor itself wasn't bad at all! And BTW, my husband said the mats weren't really that much harder to get back in due to the texture on the floor.
Just in case anyone wants it---I got my respirator and filter from pksafety.com I specifically asked an employee which filter to get. It was the 3M 6006 Multi-Gas Cartridge. I think it was like $32 for respirator, cartridge, and safety googles.
Posted 2011-04-22 6:27 PM (#133350 - in reply to #133004) Subject: RE: Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Regular
Posts: 70 Location: PA
I got my Duplicolor but it turned out to to $67.99 a gallon vs. the $79. the guy originally told me. I'm glad to hear the mats slide easily even on the Herculiner. We bought a used 06 K/B last spring that was like brand new. We have a horse that sometimes urinates in the trailer so over the years, we have always pulled mats regularly & let the floor air out. When I read Gard's post, I was thrilled. Our new to us trailer is a lefe long dream come true & is lined & insulated in the horse compartment like yours so at the end of last season we shop vac'd all the loose dirt, covered the tack area with a plastic tarp and power washed it to get all the dirt from horse sweat, hay, & flies that accumulated on the white walls. It looked just like brand new! The trailer is parked inside so we just store the mats under the trailer for the winter. It was a real major purchase for us and we intend to keep it & so to be able to put it away at the end of the season looking the same as when we bought it, made us feel really good & we are looking to keep it for a very long time. It was too cold today but by Sunday it is suppose to go up to 70 so I am hoping to do get it done then.
Starting my aluminum floor sealing w/ pics!
Can't wait to see the finished product!
