So my uncle borrowed my trailer to goto kansas to pick up some goats. And my trailers a featherlite stock/combo. Its 5yrs old and i paid $4,000 for it last year and only used it about 10times and its in the same condition i paid for it. Well i dont have plexiglass for it but i have the track. So my uncle was going to put plastic or wood in there to keep it warmer for the goats. Well instead of putting the plastic in the tracks allready there. He instead drilled holes all along my vent on each side and into the support beams so he could screw plastic onto my trailer. So right now i am really ticked off. And i want him to pay for the cost of having the holes fixed. Because they are all sharp and will rust too and it looks like crap now as he literally put 50 or more holes on each side of my trailer and one into every support beam. But my step-dad just goes oh well and doesn't care, and my mom doesn't want to start a thing with the family. So if they dont say anything i will be saying it then. As i wont care if they get into a thing with me as its my trailer and he had no right to do what he did. Especially on a $4,000 trailer thats not even his. I had allready planned on getting it repainted this spring as its starting to rust but now i have the added cost of repairing the holes first before they can repaint the entire trailer. So i only want him to pay for the labor, sanding, welding and any materials needed to fix the holes. I wont make him pay for the paint and i had allready planned on painting it. So how much do you think it will cost to repair around 100 holes? By the way my trailers a 2000 featherlite stock/combo and it only has some surface rust as the previous owners didn't care for it that good. But this trailer is my pride and joy and i absolutly love it. But having the holes there makes it unsafe for my horses because they are all sharpe around the edges and i almost cut my finger on it. So i dont need my horses cutting there heads on the holes.

Well that's a bummer! I hear what your saying about someone else taking liberties with your property that you worked hard for to pay for.  But, you know what? 2 or 3 trailers from now it won't mean anything to you. Your relationships with your family is far more important than any material thing. Don't do or say anything that will cause permanent damage to that. You can do more harm with a few ill spoken words said at wrong time than any amount of holes can do to your trailer (which after all is a piece of steal that is deteriorating as we speak)

The main thing now is to make your trailer safe again for your horses, and to restore it as best as possible so it last as long as possible. Sounds like you all ready have a plan for making  cosmetic improvements with the paint job. Once you've arrived at a cost for hole repairs, ask your uncle to pay for it. If he won't, don't make a big deal out of it. It's not the end of the world,but could alter yours in a bad way if not handled properly. Just suck it up and be the bigger person here.  

I agree with the above, except one thing.  I would at least fill in the holes that are on the uprights to make sure they do not fill with water.  Other than that I would also leave the rest alone.  That way whenever you Uncle sees the trailer it will remind him that he still owes you a biggggg favor.

Your relationships with your family is far more important than any material thing. Don't do or say anything that will cause permanent damage to that. You can do more harm with a few ill spoken words said at wrong time than any amount of holes can do to your trailer (which after all is a piece of steal that is deteriorating as we speak)

First off- I strong disagree with this statement- in this case, as presented to us by the OP, its clear the uncle ( and by assocaition the stepdad and mom who are asking you to blow it off) doesn't give a damn about the family relationship, otherwise dear old uncle would not have borrowed the trailer then proceed to damage and not assume responsiblity for it. This is no different than borrowing a car, run it into tree ( on purpose) and walk away thinking they are not liable to fix the damage. I bet dear old uncle is banking on the fact you won't say anything,be a weanie, you'll just suck it up, fix the trailer yourself. Maintaining a good family realationship works BOTH ways.

I'd get estimates of what it will cost to have the holes repaired and hand them over. No need to shout and argue. Just matter of factly explain the situation- you drilled holes without my consent, damaging my property and now I want you to pay for it. If uncle  gets upset, its not your fault- its his. Odds are, you're probably going to pay it for. But I don't think there is anything wrong nor destructive to ask him to be responsible for the damage.

Is it something that you can actually use in the future.  Where are you located???

My trailer has screw holes to hold the plexiglass in place, they are not that bad to have.  Makes it easier on the horses to NOT hear the vibration of plexiglass when I put it in when it is cold.  Could you sand it down to make it smooth, maybe purchase correct "slots or screws" and use the current holes and use it to your advantage?  Even if you re-paint it, could you put Wax on it to cover the holes until you need to use them again?  Like the wax people with braces use... clear but enough to cover it.  Just an idea!

How big are these holes, are they screw holes?  If they are screw holes, trying to weld them closed will be expensive and just attract more attention.  I think I would just grind/file/sand them smooth and fill them with silicone caulking, then paint over it.   You don't want to leave these holes open as water will get in there, collect and start to rust from the inside out. 

On second thought, the  suggestion to use bondo would be much better than silicone.

Hello,

 Wow, you were nice enough to let someone (your uncle) borrow your pride and joy and they basically destroyed it. It hurts your feelings to have something you have worked hard for get defaced by someone who just doesnt give a darn. What was he thinking anyway ? That was really lousy of him. Whatever the case, now you have a trailer with 100 holes in it. In the end, you are the one who has to deal with it. I would definatly tell him how it hurt you and that you expect him to pay for the repairs. I think your family should stand behind you on this. It does not matter that he is family or not. Would they tell you to say something to a freind that borrowed the trailer ? There is a moral issue here that you have a dilema with as well as a costly repair. Take the trailer to a local dealer and ask them thier advice on the repairs. It may be simpler than you think. They might suggest filling the holes with bondo, or fiberglass filler. Once sanded and painted, you would not know they were ever there. They can file or slightly grind the burs from the metal and fill the holes easily with fiberglass filler, just like a body shop would do on a car. You are getting it painted anyway. Good luck  

Talk to a body man on what he would suggest to fill the holes.  I am not sure if the paint that he will be using will adhear to wax or silicone.  I would use body puddy.  Its cheap and easy to work with.  It can be sanded and painted over.

Turfa

What a jerk!  I don't see anything wrong with letting him know that you don't appreciate him defacing your property. Why didn't he just use the tracks that were already there? Birdbrain.

Get an estimate on repairing it  and painting it and tell hhim he owes you for repairing the holes. Sorry this happened.

I feel bad that you've been treated like that by your own family. If that happend to me I'd have gone postal by now. Reg is right, if you want the holes gone the only good option is to have a local shop with a wirefeed fill up the holes and grind them flat. It really shouldn't take all that long. I'm not sure I would use body putty as trailers tend to flex alot more than cars. Wax is a bad idea because of temp. variations eventually it will fall out of the holes. Have it fixed right and get your paint job at least you'll never have to think about it again. I'm not sure what to do about your uncle but mabey you could show up at Christmas with a cordless drill and chase him around the house untill he agrees to pay you.

Good Luck