Laminating and painting the cabin

June 21, 2022

After repairing the broken parts of the cabin, I was able to prepare the cabin for the first layer of epoxy resin. A seamless cover all around the cabin seemed more robust than local patches, so I wanted to follow the same approach as I applied when renovating the roof. I started sanding the front,

Sanding the front

and made all my way around the cabin.

Sanding the backdoor

Although the old paint was a little fragile, it took me quite some time to sand the entire cabin.

Laminating the cabin

After a couple of days of sanding, sanding and more sanding, I finally applied the first layer of epoxy and fiberglas mats.

Applying fiberglas with epoxy on the sidewall

I rolled one fiberglas mat after the other from the top down to the bottom, until all walls and doors were covered with epoxy and fiberglas.

Applying fiberglas with epoxy on the front

I was very happy with the progress I had made, until a heavy thunderstorm unexpectedly put my hard work into jeopardy. It poured down like crazy and I was afraid the storm would break the protecting tarp. I desperately hold the tarp during the storm, trying to prevent the rain to touch the fresh epoxy that wasn’t hardened, yet.

Thunderstorm putting the fresh epoxy into jeopardy

Luckily, the tarp didn’t break and to my surprise the entire cabin stayed dry. I was relieved that I didn’t have to redo all the work again. :sweat_smile:

Sidewall in the back covered with epoxy and fiberglas

Protecting the edges

When fixing the cabin, I had to remove most of the lower edges because they were all rotten. The new edges were properly sealed with epoxy. Nevertheless, I wanted to make sure that water wouldn’t flow along the edges, so I adhered 2mm aluminum angles.

Adhering aluminum angles to the edges of the cabin

The angles were folded by 135 degrees which would keep the water away from the edges while ensuring good ventilation.

135 degrees aluminum angles

I applied the aluminum angles to all edges around the cabin.

Aluminum angles on the edges of the front

To increase the stability and weather resistance, I enforced the corners with additional fiberglas mats and epoxy.

Corners enforced with fiberglas and epoxy

The construction passed the first test during a short shower of rain: The water nicely dripped down the aluminum angles without touching the underling construction.

Rain dropping down the aluminum angles

Doing the final paint job

Once all edges were properly protected and sealed up, I slightly sanded the entire cabin again.

Sanded cabin

The cabin was finally ready for the paint job.

Cabin painted in blue

I applied two layers in one go. I kept the original design of the cabin. Once the blue paint became hardened, I applied the black stripes on the bottom around the cabin.

Applying the black paint

Et voilà! After months of hard work behind my self-built tent, the entire cabin was completely renovated, enforced with fiberglas and weatherproof.

Renovated cabin

I was so happy! :tada: