Help with "patching" my camper

[Butterbunkins]

This is question not about The Fort, but about our camper, but I figured I could get a lot of help from this board.

My husband and I were given a pop-up from friends of relatives. We have never owned any type of camper. Both of us grew up camping strictly in tents and it's till our favorite way to camp. But now we have the pop-up and would like to try it out. And even if we "tent it" it's great way to transport our stuff and would make a better shelter if we get rain.

However, there are a lot of holes in the screening and canvas which they patched with bandaids. Eventually we would like the whole thing recanvased, but financially that's way down on our list of things we need to repair. So what can we do or use to patch these holes? How can we make our pop-up not look like it was on the losing end of a fight? The previous owners were nice enough to leave a full box of bandaids in one of drawers, but we would like something that looks a lot nicer.

Any suggestions?

 

[tiggerdad]

My father's pop-up was much the same at one point in time. He eventually had it recanvassed and screened, but that was after he got my sister and I through college. In the meantime, we bought a roll of screen from Lowes, It's a lot, but you can keep it handy for any new repairs. We cut out pieces of the screen to match the holes that we had, then used thin nylon to "stitch" it to the old screen. The smaller you can find it, the better, so it doesn't stick out as bad. The canvas, if I am not mistaken, was patched with a material from a local camper dealership. I would check with any that may be local to you, or search online.

Eventually he did have it replaced, but I can't remember what it cost him to do so.

Hope this helps...

 

[Butterbunkins]

My father's pop-up was much the same at one point in time. He eventually had it recanvassed and screened, but that was after he got my sister and I through college. In the meantime, we bought a roll of screen from Lowes, It's a lot, but you can keep it handy for any new repairs. We cut out pieces of the screen to match the holes that we had, then used thin nylon to "stitch" it to the old screen. The smaller you can find it, the better, so it doesn't stick out as bad. The canvas, if I am not mistaken, was patched with a material from a local camper dealership. I would check with any that may be local to you, or search online.

Eventually he did have it replaced, but I can't remember what it cost him to do so.

Hope this helps...

Thanks Tiggerdad! Those are great suggestions. As much as we would love to just have the whole things redone, our house needs a new roof and that comes first. But we LOVE to camp and I'm looking forward to using my first camper. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't embarassed by the bandaids, but I'm not trying to win any fashion contests so you ideas are perfect!

 

[retired and happy]

Call your insurance company and tell them you have hail damage on your roof. They will then happily pay for a new roof, and you can use the money you save for a new canvas/scren job.

 

[tiggerdad]

Call your insurance company and tell them you have hail damage on your roof. They will then happily pay for a new roof, and you can use the money you save for a new canvas/scren job.

Might even have enough money left over to pay for a Disney vacation!

 

[gillenkl]

What brand popup and year?

 

[2goofycampers]

Try popupexplorer.com

 

[Butterbunkins]

Call your insurance company and tell them you have hail damage on your roof. They will then happily pay for a new roof, and you can use the money you save for a new canvas/scren job.

Can't do it. Plus I'm out of work so we can only sacrifice for things we need right now and not things we want

 

[Butterbunkins]

What brand popup and year?

It's a 1985 or 1986 (sorry, I forget) Coleman.

 

[rock_doctor]

The pop-up tents are in parts (side walls, ends, so on...) so i would pick the worst section and contact Fleetwood about getting replacements. Just replace a section every 6mo or a year. Not a big deal really, they just snap or slide on. Very easy to change. I have a mid 90s Coleman Utah...great trailer. Super comfortable!

 

[parrothead64]

The pop-up tents are in parts (side walls, ends, so on...) so i would pick the worst section and contact Fleetwood about getting replacements. Just replace a section every 6mo or a year. Not a big deal really, they just snap or slide on. Very easy to change. I have a mid 90s Coleman Utah...great trailer. Super comfortable!

Fleetwood/Coleman doesn't exist anymore. The best place to get a complete canvas is bearcreekcanvas.com

 

[rock_doctor]

Fleetwood/Coleman doesn't exist anymore. The best place to get a complete canvas is bearcreekcanvas.com

$825 is not bad for a full tent. Shame Fleetwood was a good product.

 

[Disney Bunny]

$825 is not bad for a full tent. Shame Fleetwood was a good product.

Fleetwood does still exist: http://www.americancampersandtrailers.com/fleetwood_folding_trailers.htm


There are no longer Coleman popups due to this:
http://www.campingearth.com/coleman/

 

[vtjohn]

Actually that is Fleetwood California, a different company altogether. They would ship in Fleetwood trailers (even made a few) but never Coleman pop-ups. Colemans were made in Pennsylvania and the factory was shuttered in January of 2011. That logo on the site they have has just never been updated.

You can still get parts because Fleetwood (and just about every company for that matter) don't make parts themselves-- they outsource for existing suppliers.

Not allowed to post links yet, but you can a search and see for yourself by googling Blackstreet Capital Management and Coleman.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Call your insurance company and tell them you have hail damage on your roof. They will then happily pay for a new roof, and you can use the money you save for a new canvas/scren job.

And just what amount of jail time do you get for stealing?.its called insurance fauld!


AKK

 

[retired and happy]

That was sent somewhat in jest since the OP mentioned his house needs a new roof. It wouldn't hurt to have it inspected for hail damage before just laying out a few thousand for the work.

 

[CommaHolly]

We just bought a new PUP and it had two holes,,,,,,I did some research before patching them, and this is what I learned.

I found a kit on EBAY for 18 bucks,,,,,,it included a tube of VLP glue and 18 square inches of the canvas material,,,,,,,

you want to cut the patch larger than the hole by at least a half an inch all the way around,,,,make sure you are into "good" canvas before you do this. IOW, don't just patch a hole if the fabric around the hole is in poor shape. Patch all the way to GOOD strong canvas. Place the glue on the back side of the patch and apply over the hole, holding until it takes,,,,,then patch the same hole from the other side. When this has dried, go over the edges of the patch with the VLP glue,,,,,,,,this will keep any water from seeping into the edges of the patch and damaging the rest of the canvas.

You can use this same glue to glue pieces of screen (not included in kit) to the front and back of screen tears.

wait 24 hours before popping the pup down. And be sure to pop the camper up to dry it's wet when you pack it,,,,,,even if it's still raining when you get home, DON'T let that canvas stay popped down. Pop it up, and wait ti the rain stops and the canvas is completely dry before popping back down.