On a Hot Tin Roof - Isn't That a Play About a Cat

 My trailer has been hooked up to my suburban since Easter. The tires are going to wear being in the sun all day. I need to get it finished. There is so much to do on it and it is so hot and I have been extremely busy with the girls so it really has been neglected. 

I can't even say that I am finished with half of it but it is getting close. The problem now is the heat. I go out and after ten minutes on an aluminum ladder standing next to an aluminum trailer and the top being reflective, I am drenched in heat and sweat. It isn't my favorite thing to do. 


I wish I hadn't used the pourable paint a few years ago. I didn't know that I should have used the tack instead. When I asked at the trailer shop, the guy told me to use the paint. I guess for old trailers and leaks in the aluminum, that would have been the thing to do. 

On my trailer, just removing the item and putting the putty back in would have been best but now I have to chisel it all off and try to get it clean and then unscrew the item and then put the putty down and screw the fixture back down. 
 
The bigger job on the trailer is the entire length of the trailer runs a little rain gutter and the putty is old and dirty and leaky. The other problem is the awning on the one side. I need to putty everything that is screwed into the entire trailer. Last year I did the door. 

I also want to sand down the metal on the trailer and to paint it up. It was done just before we bought it but I can see rust coming through now and so that is another thing I want to get done on it. 

While I was on the top, my neighbor came and asked what I was doing and they used to have a similar trailer and when I told her what I was doing, she said that is why they sold theirs. She then told me they went to the sand dunes last year and ended up sleeping in a tent. 

That comment made me think that the sealing job is worth it. The thought of sleeping on the ground in the sand makes me have a renewed energy to get the trailer done. I have no desire to go camping on the ground anymore. I have a hard enough time sleeping in my bed. :-) 

Anyway, if there are any of you that want to reseal your trailer, take the screws off, clean the tack away using a flat head scraper, use mineral spirits to clean off the old tacky stuff. Put new butylene tape on the seal, pull off the paper and then stick the fixture back on. Secure with screws.