Painting the Exterior
Guest post by Mireya @1961alohatrailer
My first run-in with trailers and trailer remodels was a mobile renovation on the Nate Berkus show back in 2012. From that moment I started searching high and low (mostly Craigslist) for a vintage trailer of my own. I’m a construction manager and have contractors who work in rural areas so I was always spreading the message “if you see a trailer abandoned out in a field, let me know!” Low and behold one of my carpenters found exactly what I was looking for in May 2015! It’s a 1961 Aloha, made in Aloha, Oregon. My petname for her is Loretta, as that was a popular girl’s name from that year.
““The moment I saw the trailer I knew I was going home with it””
I kind of went into the purchase a little naively since I knew the moment I saw the trailer I was going home with it. We did a quick walk thru and didn’t see much to be concerned about. My husband and I lucked out that mostly everything was in good shape, we just had a few minor things that needed to be replaced or rewired and the rest was pretty much cosmetic.
The comments or questions we get the most are about the paint pattern and how much time it took. I knew I wanted to paint the trailer with scallops, but was concerned it was going to be a tremendous amount of work. I almost went with a much easier pattern, but my husband and in-laws encouraged me to do what I wanted to do since I would not be painting it again for many years.
To start, I searched Pinterest and Google for tutorials on how to DIY paint a trailer. I settled on a combination of a few different tutorials but mostly followed the directions provided by Whippy Cake.
Then my husband drew the scallop pattern in Sketch Up so we could get the exact dimensions of each curve for the taping. My father-in-law recaulked the seams with butyl rubber caulk and we used TSP cleaner to clean off the grime and any loose paint.
Then came the fun part.... taping the scallops.
Both of my in-laws spent several hours perfecting each arch. It was pretty amazing and I’m so grateful they spent the time and patience to do it!
We used Sher-Cyrl paint from Sherwin Williams (only available at certain SW stores so call ahead to see if yours carries it) and my father-in-law spray applied it.
The paint project was done towards the end of summer 2017. We didn’t go camping that year but it was well worth it! We’ve since moved and the trailer is now protected from weather elements but up until this spring, it has always been stored outside with full sun exposure. So far, the paint has held up beautifully!
I love our little trailer! I’ve done a few vintage trailer rallies and love hearing stories from folks who recalled childhood camping in similar trailers! I also recently joined Sisters on the Fly and can’t wait to go on my first adventure with them next year!
