Paint Roof White

[dwightdi]

Airstream adopted the white roof aboutthe time they changed the cross section of the trailers when they went to wide bodies(1996). The wider body had a flatter profile and squarer corners for more interior walkable space. This also resulted in the roof becoming less visable when walking by the trailer. They had already gone to prepainted (clearcoated) aluminum by that time and so it was easy to just order the aluminum for the middle of the roof already prepainted white. I painted the roof on my 77 in the center section white about 10 years ago. It did help keep the temperature down. I used a high gloss exterior durable enamel to make it easier to clean and minimize the cauking that could leave white streaks down the side of the trailer.

[balrgn]

Originally Posted by n2916s

We used:

Product Detail (Snow Roof)

So far, so good. It has made a marked difference and as we live in Miami, there has been ample opportunity to garner results.

Looks pretty good and it rolled on painlessly.

Mike

This looks interesting, any new developments from the summer heat? Can you post a pic??

[3 Dog Nite]

I've been thinking about this on my 89 Classic MH. Does any one know if I must strip 1st or can it be applied right over the clear coat.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by 3 Dog Nite

I've been thinking about this on my 89 Classic MH. Does any one know if I must strip 1st or can it be applied right over the clear coat.

My foggy memory brings up a post from another member about using an aluminum etching primer then Interlux Marine Enamel. I don't know much about the subject but I would strip the clearcoat.

[GlenCoombe]

Interlux Brightsides marine paint is what I used. I scuffed the surface with sandpaper and did multiple light coats.

I used Interlux Brushing Thinner to slow the drying of the paint and you wouldn't know it wasn't sprayed on.

The finish is highly reflective and has been durable for the past two years.

The problem in the past with the elastic roof coatings has been the flat finish collecting dirt and then as it ages it chalked leaving streaks on the sides. I've only seen/used this on mobile homes in Florida.

[JimGolden]

I recently did this to my 1987 34' Avion (which is shaped pretty much exactly like the new Airstreams....or rather they are shaped like it ) because in 95 degree sunshine the a/c was getting over powered and a guy with a 34 foot 'stream told me he'd painted his roof white for the same reason and he saw a 10 degree internal temperature drop.

You do have to etch aluminum for the paint to stick to it well.

Through a friend of a friend that works at US Air I was able to get some self etching aluminum primer that they use on their airliners. I also got some metal prep cleaner / etcher called "Metal Prep 79" or something very similar. You can get that from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty or places like that. You soap and water wash it really good first. Then you hit it with the metal prep 79. Roll it on heavy, let it sit 10 minutes, then rinse it off thoroughly. After it dries, I put on the self etching primer (get a good mask, the VOC's in it are nasty) with a roller. After that, you could use about any good oil based paint. I had some US Air gloss white, but the VOC's gave me a headache from the primer (and I was outside doing this with a mask on....apparently not a good enough mask) so I used gloss white Rustoleum. Like I say, once you get the primer on, the hard part is done. It turned out really nice. We had an 80 degree day the other week and the coach sat out in the sun closed up all day. About 4:00pm I went inside and it was very much cooler than it would have been before. There is something to the gloss white reflective paint.

I do still plan to replace my 21 year old 13,500 btu Coleman with a new 15,000 btu model. I'm hoping that the two combined will fix the problem. If not, then it's a new 60amp intelipower and I rewire the coach and put a second a/c in the bedroom.

Cheers,