Woo-Hoo, got a trailer! Best finish for plywood deck?

[bmyers]

After putting it off several times and ending up in desperate need of one time and time again, I finally bought an HF trailer.

It came in an amazingly small set of boxes. I assembled it mostly in the living room and then carried it outside. This was so I could assemble it w/o heat-stroke in A/C.. My wife said nothing, isn't she the best?

ANYWAY... There is no deck to these kits you get from HF. Two sheets of 4'x4' go neatly on the top though. I purchased some outdoor plywood (and hauled it home on my trailer) but I'm wondering what is the best finish for the plywood?

I need to protect it from the elements, mostly sun and perhaps rain. It also needs to be a durable finish because it's the deck of a trailer. Would paint be good? Or perhaps a stain finish? I don't care really either way, I just don't want to mess with it again for a while.

Thanks,
Bill

[LinuxRandal]

Quite honestly, this is an area where I would be cheap. Go out and use the old, or buy mistinted, outdoor paint. So much the better if you can get some outdoor primer. As whatever you put will eventually wear.

[Russianwolf]

Not the cheap way, but what about Herculiner? I think you can buy it in quarts now and that would give you about as durable a finish as the plywood could get.

[paynea]

I love my folding HF trailer. I can't comment much on the durability, as I store mine folded up in my shop (er, garage), but I used some porch and floor paint from Home Depot, and it has worked fine. Or rather, it worked fine until I dragged a 300+ pound cast iron bathtub off of it. The staples in the crating dug gouges in the wood floor. Though I wouldn't expect many paints to stand up to that particular abuse.

The rest of the floor looks great even after numerous trips to the dump, and hauling of remodeling supplies, large tools, and furniture. Pretty cheap too, as I recall, and I'll use some of the remaining paint on the basement stairs one of these days.

I'd suggest throwing in some anti skid additive, as it is a bit slippery when wet (though that makes it harder to wipe clean, if such things matter for your utility trailer). I hear sandblasting media is often better for this purpose than the paint/HW store antiskid additive, but have not tried it myself.

Good luck,

Adam

[mschrank]

As a consultant in a former life, I often presented clients with several options for a project. One of the options always included "Do nothing." In this case, I think it is a viable option.

Whatever you use (short of the Herculiner), it's going to get scratched and dinged and abused. Paint and most other finishes are going to make it somewhat slippery...not what you want on a trailer deck.

Why not just plan on replacing the decking as needed? Unless you use it a lot, I'll bet you can get a couple three years out of it.

Maybe just try to get the edges sealed up as best you can. Otherwise, go the route recommended above and plan on slopping on a cheap coat of paint once a year.

If you don't have covered storage for it, throw a tarp over it when not in use.

[RayintheUK]

Would paint be good? Or perhaps a stain finish?

Paint would be better than stain, but I'd slap a coat of neat Unibond (PVA) over both sides (and the edges), then replace the ply when it wears out.

Ray.

[cabinetman]

My first delivery vehicle was a '68 chevy pickup that I fabricated a 6' x 10' flatbed with #2 Southern Yellow Pine T & G. It was beautiful. All I used was Thompsons Water Seal. Eventually it got all torn to heck. If you can get over that it will get scratched up, what you want to do is preserve the wood. You never know what you will be carrying. An oil finish might get you through the crisis. The next bed was made from 3/4" marine plywood. Other than the bedliner stuff, paints and stuff will just get scraped and look damaged. With the oil finish or Water Seal, just apply when needed.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[wardprobst]

When we had a similar trailer we painted the ply with latex primer and it held up until we sold the trailer. If I had to do it today, I'd use pressure treated plywood and no finish or Thompson water seal on regular ply.
DP

[bmyers]

Many great suggestions. I thank all of you for your input.

I think I'm going to go cheap for now. I like the Herculiner stuff but I'm already $400 in to this $239 trailer. I prolly need a gallon of the stuff which is about 90 bux. So for now, a gallon of $5 oops paint and throw a little play-sand in it for gription will be just fine.

Instead of the top of the line bedliner, I'll get a spare tire for it. Now that I have a trailer, I've been seeing alot of trailers on the side of the highway sitting on a jack with the tire and truck missing. I don't need that.

I'm sure it'll get scratched and gouged and thats ok. It's just that the desert is so brutal on wood, plywood, and everything else out here. Dry rot is a problem. At times, I feel like I am dry-rotting it's so dry. I'm talking dry here. It may not always be in the garage, in fact for now it can't be. Blue or silver tarp stuff only lasts about a month here before disintegrating.

Tags/title for it were $129 here in Arizona, it never has to be renewed though. Another $25 for ply,2x4's, and bolts and taxes for everyone puts it around $400. But, I still have no car payment and I can haul stuff.

I'd like to give honorable mention to the "do nothing" idea. While it is right in the middle of my price range, I felt obligated to do something as recommended by the manufacturer of the plywood. It said it was outdoor ply, as long as it's finished in some way. Just trying to follow directions..

I hear what you're saying. Just go rent a u-haul for the day right? They won't rent anything you tow to anyone with a Ford Exploder. I'm blacklisted. Plus I'm never that organized.

Thanks again for all the good suggestions.

Bill

[bmyers]

Hidden Bargin Alert

I was at Lowes and found they were clearing out the Olympic water seal for wood. I got a gallon of Stonehenge colored latex for $6. Threw some play sand in it and did the "drop and slop" routine to apply it. It worked pretty good. The sand is sticking in place and will provide no-slip surface when wet.

Thanks again for the great suggestions.

Bill

[thiggy]

A couple of years ago I was re-furbishing an old flat bed trailer. Several years previously a friend had given me a sail boat trailer. I burned off the uprights, installed a new axle assembly and slathered on a couple of coats of black RustOleum. I made the deck from 1/2" CDX which I painted with alkyd enamel. That lasted a few years, but the plywood eventually became punky and needed replacement. I wanted to try a better grade of plywood for the re-decking, so I chose 3/4" treated plywood. I also added brackets and removable sides & ends to turn in into a stake bed trailer. (When I completed it a neighbor asked me if I was going to be hauling livestock.) The point of this missive is I thought that the treated plywood would give me greater weather resistance, but after two years I am having serious delamination of the plys. I should have just used CDX again.

[WayneJ]

How about some of that "TREX" decking . It should hold up forever. Never have to be painted> Not slippery, it has a texture to the surface. Just a thought, I never tried it.
Wayne