Attach a Screen Room to Boler, Adhesive Velcro

[GordM]

I think this belongs here instead of the help section, as it is a modification. If I'm wrong, sorry about that. Anyway, my wife and I are going to attach a "screen room" to our awning. And her idea was to stick velcro down the side of the boler. Therefore the screen would hang down the the ground, we would weight it somehow to stay there, or use pegs etc, and then velcro the screen to the side of the boler. My question is, do you think this will work or will the velcro just fall off. And if it does work, can the adhesive damage the fiberglass? And if at some point I need to replace the velcro, or just take it off, is there a solvent to remove adhesive that is safe for the fiberglass? Thanks again everyone!

[Chester Taje]

To remove the adhesive i have used my wife portable hair dryer. That worked good. You could also by a heat gun, but i find them to hot on this application.

I don't believe that the adhesive will harm the FG but maybe try a hidden spot first to see what happens.

[Ricky 4]

On our Compact Jr. the vinyl windows had been velcro in but were old and the glue was sticky and had gotten on the inside of the camper. I used Goo Gone to remove the sticky and washed that off with soap and water. I also have used De-Solv-It, like them both.
Don`t know if the velcro will stick if it is in the sun and heat.
Good luck and let us know what you do.
Mrs. C

[Raya]

Years ago, I tried using adhesive Velcro to attach curtains in my truck camper. The adhesive never held in the long run. Eventually I went to either the Velcro that has no adhesive and then attached it with the special contact cement, sometimes bolstering it with a screw or rivet on the end, or a staple, or I sewed it on (had also tried the adhesive on fabric - no go there either).

Now, they do have some Velcros now with better adhesive - such as the marine grade stuff, but I still have my doubts as to whether the "sticky back" adhesive would hold up to the elements and repeated pull cycles. You'd hate to have the expense be for naught, but if your trailer is still gelcoat (and not paint), I'm pretty sure you could get the adhesive back off with acetone or denatured alcohol.

Raya

[GordM]

Thanks everyone! I started to think too that rain and sun would destroy that velcro. So now I'm rethinking my options. It might just come down to draping the screen down to the ground and using good old fashioned masking tape for the job. And when we pack up and leave, I just rip it off and throw the old tape away. Kind of bush league, but not sure what other options I might have.

[Donna D.]

I can't find the post, it may have been lost in the hack, but someone made a screen door that hung between the cabinet and door frame on a tension rod (like a curtain). They used weights in the bottom, and it only went to the floor of the door opening. It was actually two pieces of screen... think overlapping. They were able to go in and out of the trailer through the slit. And, they left the screen door on all the time.

Maybe this will help with the brainstorming for a screen door.

Or, you could build a bi-fold door: My post with PDF instructions in the topic "Screen Door"

[GordM]

Hmm, its not so much a screen door I'm after, more of a screened in "porch" that is attached to the boler and awning etc. A place to put the portable stove, picnic table etc.

[Donna D.]

Well dang, I did it again. Didn't read the post carefully. sigh if it were AM, I'd say I hadn't had enough coffee... what's my excuse NOW?

See if this topic helps: Velcro and awnings - CindyL's post about a Screen House with pictures!

On edit: here's some more pictures: Uhaul awning

[Donna D.]

Okay, just cruised over to Bolerama, seems the Interwest Sports Add-A-Room is a desirable item for Bolers, but requires an awning... either a bag awning or rollup style: Add A Room Awning

[Dave Bese]

Looking at a pic of a Boler; there is some type of trim rail above the door covering the length of the trailer. Perhaps this could be a awning rail or replaced with an awning rail?

[F.Bishop]

When we had our 17' Boler I made a screen room out of tarp material, window screening and velcro and it worked great. Only had the velcro come loose (an inch or so) in a couple of places over the years - likely because dirt got on it so lost its stickyness. The black stripes on the side of the Boler in the photo are the velcro that the screen room attached to. Also made a "floor" of the tarp material that came up 6 inches or so all around the 4 sides of the tarp floor and put velcro on the backside of it and velcro along the bottom of the screen room so that they matched up and then put indoor/outdoor carpeting on top. Also attached tarp material and velcro combination along the side of the trailer to the ground that attached to the velcro on the floor tarp as well as making an area under the stairs for shoes or whatever that also was all secure and attached to the trailer with velcro. We had a cat that travelled with us and the screen room was secured all around so made our Boler twice as large and also safe for the cat to go in and out. I loved it!
Julie

[Marinab]

Thanks everyone! I started to think too that rain and sun would destroy that velcro. So now I'm rethinking my options. It might just come down to draping the screen down to the ground and using good old fashioned masking tape for the job. And when we pack up and leave, I just rip it off and throw the old tape away. Kind of bush league, but not sure what other options I might have.

Gord, I have a vinyl basket liner on the bucket of my ladder truck at work. It's held on by velcro attached to the metal bucket and and the vinyl with no problems. I've had to replace the velcro once in 5 years. Not only is it in rain, sun and snow...It's always in the wind...100 km an hour. Hope this helps. Marina

[GordM]

Oh thanks everyone for the awesome tips. F.Bishop, your pics are EXACTLY what I'm after. And now that I can see that it works, I think I just might do it. I have the awning already so the rest should be easy. Actually, I think I'll use the awning as a template and make a new one that includes the screen room. Therefore if I want, or I'm in a place without too many bugs, I can just use my original awning etc. This is so awesome!

[stephanie reed]

I dont know if this will help at all but the screen you attach to the EZ up you buy at Dicks sporting goods has clips to hang from round hooks. The screen comes in two parts so it has two openings. You could add the velcro but also have the hooks to help hold it to the awning. It also comes with areas to peg into the ground. It comes in 10x 10and 12x12. Just a thought.
Steph

[theresa p]

hi---LOVE the photos of the screen room, F. bishop===sorry, don't know your first name!!===and i have a question regarding adhering any screen room---anyone have any suggestions as to how i might secure it to my awning--it's a "carefree of colorado" awning and it rolls into itself. i had considered velcro but i know that the bulk of it, once rolled up with my awning, will make it way too bulky to allow the awning to clip securely to close it.
any thoughts????
thanks

[GordM]

Bungee cords and little hooks maybe?