Fiberglass coming through on tent trailer

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Jrdmerriam

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May 19, 2016
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I bought a used rockwood and it seems that the fiberglass is coming through all over the trailer. What can I do to recover it?? I went to wash it and my arms are itchy!
 
Jrdmerriam said:
I bought a used rockwood and it seems that the fiberglass is coming through all over the trailer. What can I do to recover it?? I went to wash it and my arms are itchy!
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Welcome to the forum.
Can you be a little bit more specific?  Do mean that there are fiberglass fibers sticking up on the surface of the siding?
 
It's mainly on the roof and you can feel the roughness when you rub your hand over it. The side is not as bad but some comes through.
 
1992. I called the RV places in my area and they said they don't do things like that. Would you suggest a boat shop or what?
 
A boat shop would be my recommendation. Some auto body shops are comfortable with fiberglass too. If you have a trustworthy one near you, give them a call.
 
Sounds as though the surface gel coat has worn away, perhaps through 25+ years of oxidation in the sun. The fiberglass mat (roving) underneath is beginning to show through. Frankly, I doubt if it is worth the cost of repair, since the only practical solution is to put a coat of fiberglass resin over it and re-paint, a very expensive proposition. For the short term, just painting with an epoxy paint would help smooth it over, and you can even do that yourself with a brushable marine epoxy paint or clear coat.  A professional spray job would probably look a bit better, though.

Marine stores are your best bet for a brushable epoxy paint or clear coat.
http://www.westmarine.com/search?Ntt=epoxy+paint
 
Pettit Easypoxy or Interlux Brightside are two paints I have had good luck with. on boats an dune buggies. If you follow directions and pick a Goldilocks weather day and follow the directions the brush marks will disappear. Not too hot or windy, and not too cold. Too hot or windy the paint will tack up too fast and the sections painted won't blend. Too cold and the paint will go on too thick. Either one of these won't affect much except appearance. This stuff dries to a brilliant, hard surface that is scratch resistant, shine will fade from sun but is easy to recoat if you need the shine, the lack of shine is only cosmetic and the surface will have many years left in it. The stuff is basically a polyurethane paint with color in it, similar to oil based polyurethane for hardwood floors. I have used it on dune buggy chassis in place of POR-15, don't think Ill ever pay the premium price for POR-15 ever again.

Bill
 
The result from the epoxy paint will depend on how rough the surface is. Paint only covers very minor imperfections, so if bristles of fiberglass mat are sticking up, they will still be sticking up when painted (albeit nice and shiny!). But if what you have is sort of a waffle look and a little roughness, the epoxy paint will smooth it out some and brighten it up. Sanding it first will help, and the more prep time spent, the better result. A sanding block helps the process by removing more of the high spots and thus leveling out the surface a bit more than hand sanding.
 
Would you go with the softest kind of sanding paper? I'm worried about sanding and making fiberglass stick up because as of now nothing is its just rough.
 
Jrdmerriam said:
Would you go with the softest kind of sanding paper? I'm worried about sanding and making fiberglass stick up because as of now nothing is its just rough.
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if you coat it yourself, I would probably sand it again after the first coat just to break off any glass that sticks up. It's the same as polyurethaneing wood.
 
I would probably start with about a #120 grit paper and then move up to #220, but it's hard to judge without seeing what you have. I've not seen an old fiberglass surface "stick up" as you describe. Usually you don't get pieces of the mat sticking out unless it is broken or punctured.  I'm havng a difficult time imaging what you are dealing with.
 
Very probably. Your phone probably has the ability to resize pictures for email or texting. Try that to reduce the size. There are also Android and iPhone apps for sizing.
 
Here are some pictures
 

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To smooth out that roof, I think I would want to put a coat or two of fiberglass resin on it, and that should be doable because it is more-or-less horizontal.  The roof looks clean and solid, though, and I wonder if that isn't the factory finish?  Other than collecting dirt in those many crevices, it looks to be on ok shape. The seam caulk looks like new, and no obvious cracks or deterioration in the photos.

The vertical sides would be more difficult, but maybe not impossible. That part does look a bit shopworn, though the decal trim appears in good shape.

With that degree of roughness, sanding may not do much except hit the highlights. Building up the surface to make it smooth seems like the better choice. Then sand lightly, prime, and paint.
 
Yea the roof is in good shape and the seam caulking I have recently done on my own. Yea that was my thought that the roof is rough enough that I may not need to sand. Thank you so much for your help!!
 
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