Sealing my gap...

[minicamper]

Hi ho campers,


I'm looking for some advice/referrals on sealing my gap

No, not that one..

When recladding the skanky van, i was forced to use multiple sheets of ply because of the size of the wall and various points of deterioration.

The horizontal join halfway down is easy as I've sealed the join with a mastic, then covered it with a timber strip, that is in turn sealed on its edges with silicon, BUT, i have one large and one small vertical gap to join that i can't cover in the same way. Although not original, the timber strip looks like any other join cover or rubbing strip, but the vertical would look dumb.

Can anyone recommend a filling product? I want the join to be invisible. I thought of builders bog , but was worried that it might crack with any movement of the van...

Cheers
Chris
Van de-skankify er...

[Deleted]

Dear
"Van -de- skankifier"

Custom mini orb corrigated iron is the product for you ... It lends itself beautifully to vertical applications ...... ....Its all the rage with interior/ exterior van decorators ya know

Other alternative....

Reddotel are currently working on the application of "Canvas over ply" for van walls a similar process used on old plyvan roofs.
It is expected that this will hide all imperfections in ply preperations such as those that you are currently encountering.

Reddo

[Franklin1]

Hi Chris, my Franklin van has both horizontal and vertical joins and cover strips...



I haven't dismantled the van enough to see the joins clearly, however it appears at this stage that the walls were made from a number of sheets of plywood/bondwood of, say, 6ft x 4ft dimensions. There is another brand of van in the History section, the Hardy van, that has short vertical joins and cover strips above the side windows. So vertical joins/cover strips are not that uncommon in vans from the earlier years. However, if you feel it would look "dumb" on your van, a good option to explore is the gap-filling products available on the market (eg Selleys No More Gaps). This will give you a flat finish to the join and remain flexible. Gap fillers do harden over time (after 10 years or so) and will eventually contract away from the edges leaving a very small crack on the edges of the join. But they are not hard to re-do when they've cracked. This is the product used on joints in strip cladding on houses.
If using this method, first ensure the edges of the ply sheets that are butted together are well primed with paint (two coats is good), preferrably using oil-based pink primer, but acrylic primer will suffice. Then run packaging tape down both sides of the join (50mm wide, clear tape...the cheap brown tape leaves some of the brown sticky stuff behind when you peel it off). Next, fill the gap with the gap filler, and run a steel spatula (50mm wide) down the join to smooth the filler out. The surplus filler will spread out over the packaging tape. Peel the tape away, leaving a neat join. The gap filler can then be wiped smooth with a moist sponge if necessary (wipe crossways down the join), however if you are careful with the spatula you will get a smooth professional job. Paint the gap filler join with another coat of primer, and then apply whatever top coats you want.
If the "builder's bog" you are talking about is the one where hardener is added to the paste, then yes they will crack with flexing. They set hard and are designed more for nail holes, etc, rather than flexible joints.

Hope this helps,
cheers,
Al.

[greedy53]

many moons ago when the earth was young i was a straping young adontas with all the girls after me i was using a lot of a aluminum stirp with a black mastic on one side it was great for sealing the type of thing you describe it was available from all hardware shops and when it stuck it stuck and had a very permanite seal that was flat when finished
good luck ;D

[Roehm3108]

Have you already fitted the ply panels?? If not, why not consider using the plastic H moulding used by builders, filled with non-hardening butyl filler, which allows a fair amount of flex without splitting (much more than ordinary no more gaps).

If the panels are already stuck together, I would use an aluminium T moulding, with the leg of the T sitting in the joint. Again, fill with butyl filler to allow for flex. I think this moulding is also available in plastic, with feathered edges on the top part of the T, which makes it less noticable.

Ray

[earlee]

recommend using "Sikaflex".

It is the modern mastic for the applications we are looking for - as mastic eventually hardens and cracks ( ask anyone with a pre 1970 car )

Sikaflex is paintable, sandable and flexible for ever - is even used to stick bus windows in place.

There are different sikaflex grades depending on the flexibility requirement - check your local hardware store.

earlee. ;D ;D

[minicamper]

Gents, thanks so much for the ideas.

Al, the only reason i thought the vertical strip would look dumb is because it is only needed on one side. I had decided to economise and save time by leaving a section of the original ply in place, where on the other side, the whole lot had to go. (on this side, the only vertical join is a foot long above the door)
I reckon matched, your van looks good. I just ocurred to me to just add a cosmetic one on the other side to match.

This in conjuction with sikaflex, should fix my problem and break up what was originally a slab sided commercial van.

Cheers
Chris

[minicamper]

Hey Al,

You'll be pleased to know that the vertical cover straps won out. I spent all day yesterday filling sealing and covering all my gaps. With a lick of primer sealer, they now blend in quite nicely and look original, even though they aren't. They even add to the appearance. I got the passing comment "gee, that's starting to look like a real caravan now" !
I managed to get a colour match of the original yellow from inside and all i have to do now, is work out just what design/style the side stripe/decoration should be, then apply the white enamel and finish with the yellow..

Cheers
Chris