Posted 2006-09-27 8:56 PM (#49254) Subject: Possible to make older trailer water-tight???
Regular
Posts: 63
Location: Canada
My 1993 Royle Trailer leaks like the Titanic :)
Mind you, it's all-original and sat out in a field when not in use. It's new to me. We plan on doing some repairs to it this year - but man, when it rains, it pours. On the inside :) The good news - the ceiling is water-tight. Not a drop. However, the sides? The windows leak. The sheet metal has leaks, which has resulted in ALL of the plywood lining the walls rotting. I pulled up the floorboards today (in really good shape) and there is surface rust on all the supports. Tried to stick knives in all manner of corners on the supports, no give, so that's good. Painted the supports with Tremclad, just for the heck of it. Don't know if that was a waste of time or not.
Really my issues are with the sheet metal. Most of this is going to be replaced, along with the plywood...Should I then run polyurethane caulking on the seams, to prevent (minimize) the leakage? The escape door no longer leaks, courtesy of some weatherstripping. But man...those walls. And what do you use to minimize leakage on the ramp? Weatherstripping again? The ramp is going to be replaced as it too has some severe rot.
I guess the good news is the ceiling and the structure is good....right????
Posted 2006-09-27 9:58 PM (#49256 - in reply to #49254) Subject: RE: Possible to make older trailer water-tight???
Expert
Posts: 2953
Location: North Carolina
You have yourself a full time job with that trailer. But I can tell you from my experiance... it can be made water tight. I would suggest looking at the floors again. If the water was in the walls, gravity would move it to the floor along the wall too. I had floor rot at the wall / floor joint.
Posted 2006-09-27 10:11 PM (#49257 - in reply to #49254) Subject: RE: Possible to make older trailer water-tight???
Regular
Posts: 63
Location: Canada
No kidding. Just cleaning it up has been consuming every day off I have :)
The floor was replaced this year, so hasn't had time to rot, unlike the plywood lining the walls.
So there is hope? I'm lucky - father-in-law owns a body shop and will be re-doing all the sheet metal work from the roof down. Thank God. Friends-n-family discount :)