Trailer floor and wall coating/painting

Not wanting to highjack anyone else's thread - I may be purchasing a new 8.5x16 enclosed V-nose trailer with a plywood floor. I've searched the threads here on Apex and came up with a non-slip coating called Durabak (http://www.nonslipcoating.com/). Has anyone used it on trailer floors? It seems to be more impervious to race car-type chemicals than Herculiner. I like the idea of Line-X or Rhinoliner, but have read that they could add upwards of 1,000 lbs. in a trailer of this size. The Durabak website indicates about 3 gallons should do the job, including the ramp door -about 30-50 lbs. Are these products easy to clean/sweep/vacuum? I don't expect a home-applied coating to be a tough as the commercial spray-ons, but for the cost and time, Durabak seems like a good option.

Another option might be the "coin" pattern vinyl that can be cut to fit and either glued down or left in place held down by its own weight. One trailer manufacturer wanted $1200 to cover the ramp and floor! One website had a 8'x30' roll for around $300 with free shipping.

As for the plywood walls, will a regular paint do, or would a deck paint be more durable?

Let me know your opinions and experiences.

Thanks,

Joby Graham

Joby: Marine urethane works just dandy and does not cost an arm and a leg.

Joby,

For the walls I used some high gloss white paint (whatever Home Depot's brand is) it is a very bright white with a very high gloss (I think it is called ultra white). This makes it easy to clean and the white really brightens up the interior of the trailer. Make sure you use a good primer under it. You may also want to caulk around the joints in the trailer prior to painting (use a paintable caulk) as there are usually some gaps between the floors and walls. By caulking you seal things up considerably and keep the road dirt and moisture from entering the trailer. Let me know how the floor coating works for you as I need to redo mine as I tried the deck paint and that did not hold up.

Joe

I recently painted a Pace with plywood floor and walls. Paint dealer recommended a cross between paint and stain, (trade name escapes me, they should know). Hides the wood grain completely, better than stain does, but soaks well into the wood like stain so a slight scratch doesn't expose raw unpainted wood. Looks great so far, and the whole 20 trailer was less than a 100 bucks.

Jody,

How did you like the Durabak in your trailer? I am considering it in my Cargomate 20ft.

Thanks,
Kelton

My trailer has inexpensive all weather carpeting on the walls and I use the foam anti vibration pads on the floor. I bought the thicker pad and it's now been on the floor since 2003 and is still in perfect shape. My friends fv continously oils down the mats and we clean hmm with a little brake clean. The trailer lives in Florida and the walls and floors survive the heat and humidity just fine. Harbor Freight and Sears sell the flooring but buy the thicker one.

Rustoleum white oil base for the walls...Rustoleum grey oil base for the floor. Paint where your tires sit with epoxy so the tire heat won't lift your floor paint. I sprinkled sand over the wet paint the last two coats and put the paint sprinkles from Home depot in the last floor coat...looks really nice.

Instead of sweeping I use a leaf blower. That gets the grit off the non-slip strips & cleans out the cracks & crevices. Just do it when the trailer is empty. Rustoleum makes an epoxy garage floor coating that works well. I add the 'sharks teeth' no slip additive to the top clear coat. Oil base paint with clean sand (silica) mixed in is also an economical non-slip way to go.

6.5 years old. Not a record but pretty darn close.

Makes sense. Kelton was just checking to see how Joby's trailer floor looked after 6.5 years of use. :-)

If I see Joby this weekend @NARRC-OFFS I will mention he was being talked about.

Great. I am putting down some new flooring over top of the old, and plan to paint it soon. I ordered some e track from etrailer.com and I plan on putting it in this weekend before Formula Fest at Summit Pont. Hope to see you all there!

.....coin floor, counter-sunk "L" track (a nearly flush install with plastic channel block strip to keep out dirt on the unused portions) with discounted/surplus stock solid core mica walls (ally sheet would have been preferred but a bit more $) have served us for 6 years and looks the same as the day installed.

That sounds like a great idea. Any chance you can send a picture? I would like to see how you laid it all out.

I did my floor with the leftovers from my epoxy coating for the garage floor recently. Color, chips, and urethane topcoat with the antiskid. Has not seen much use yet but it sure looks better than the painted plywood.

Joby,

I agree with those who advised you you NOT use a pickup truck bed liner material. Yes it is heavy. I did an 8 x 20 in a custom blue color. Pretty. Heavy. On a few small places the load broke the wood away from the bed liner material, leaving a hole in the liner material.

$1,000 installed. Not worth the money.

If you're doing a small enclosed dirt bike or atv trailer it's a different story. Run the bed liner a foot up the walls. Then wash it each use with a pressure washer.

Jim Edmonds
RF85, RF94
Phoenix, AZ