Hello all, we have bought a used trailer tent and thinking of planning a few long weekends away. The thing is, we was thinking about waterproofing it before the big occasion, but I've read somewhere that you don't need to re-proof but to just soak the canvas through and allow to dry. We don't know if it has been waterproofed or not. We was going to use Fabsil(?). Unsure what to do now as we don't want to cause more harm than good if that's possible!! I know everyone has different thoughts from what I've read, but any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Put it up and soak it with a hose, if it don't leak, don't touch it, if it does allow to dry and reproof with fabsil. If it has not been up for a long time it may have dried out so much that it will leak on first application of water, probably best to let it dry then wet it again before making a decision.
Why not put it up and let the rain soak test it. As said, if it doesn't leak - leave it. If it does at least you will know where and can decide a plan of action from there.
------------- Phil
Blood, Sweat and Beers.
The more I learn the more I know, the more I know the more I forget, the more I forget the less I know
Booked so far:
June: Charity Farm
July: Gullivers MK
August: Tregurrian, Cornwall
Sept: New Forest
We used ours after the previous owners had left it in storage for 2 years unused.
It rained on us the first outages and let water in in one corner. Once it dried, and it rained again it sealed itself and never leaked again - So I personally won't be bothering.
Like above, I would get a hose on in in some nice weather, then inspect the inside. I would only consider doing it on an older canvas to UV protect it
------------- As a child my families menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.
As others have said, you might well have to give it more than one really good soaking and let it dry out thoroughly each time, to allow the dry fibres to swell and knit together again.
Once you start re-proofing, you'll have to keep on doing it at intervals. Also, if your canvas isn't really clean, you'd have to first clean it thoroughly. Avoid this, if you can (and you usually can, with cotton canvas!).
It's a good idea to make sure, before soaking, that it's all tensioned as much as possible. When it's totally drenched, see if you can raise the cabin poles up a notch or two, as it'll potentially shrink a bit when it starts to dry out so you don't want it on the lowest setting.
Love all the advice everyone, but what if the previous owner had waterproofed it? How long will it be before I need to do it again? And is there any way that I can tell its been done?
------------- If it can go wrong, I'm probably to blame!
Well, today was D-Day, and we finally got her up. Poles were already colour coded (thankfully) and was very surprised at how clean the canvas is! We gave it a fair old dumping of water, and it just rolled off it. I'm assuming this means its been re-proofed, but no leaks anywhere. The only problem was, I wanted to get out in it tonight (I'm like a big kid when it comes to stuff like this!) So looking forward to Easter now. I think a long weekend in Filey is on the cards. Thanks for all the advise from you guys, it made hosing it down seem a little less scary. I took some photos too and I'll upload them when I find my cable to the camera.
------------- If it can go wrong, I'm probably to blame!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Waterproofing or not?
