Question about covering up for the winter

[Roger C H]

I have a different question. We have a lot of Douglas Fir in our yard. There is no place I can store a trailer that a tree couldn't drip on it. Have any of you had experience with those covers they sell for trailers? They are supposed to 'breathe' and be of a softer material so not to damage the finish like a plain tarp would.
I had an old car alongside my house some years back and it was but a few months and there were toadstools growing inside of it. We do get some rain here in Western Washington - not too much freezing.

[Donna D.]

Roger has a question here, what's the consensus?

[Wayne D]

I don't have one but I have had basically the same as you. They are supposed to breath while the protecting from the elements and accumulation of dirt etc., but I believe that they also let some moisture pass through as well. I ended up just getting one of the metal carports from home depot.

[Martin D]

Roger, I live in SC and it is the mildew capital of the world. Have used covers for three and a half years and the Casita looks like new outside and is fresh as a new born on the inside. I leave the roof vent open and a side window open also. The cover billows somewhat in the wind causing air circulation under the cover and inside the trailer to provide fresh air exchange.

Got my cover from Cover Giant on the internet at less than $150 and the current one is two and half years old. About ready for a replacement but at the price it is the least expensive decent cover I have found. Easy to put on and off as it weighs very little. Their covers will fit most eggs and they have them listed under Casita covers. There are have two types - the Silvertech (which I am using) is the lightest but I may go with the other model they offer the next time - both about the same price.

Nice people to do business with. Martin

[Loren G. Hedahl]

With the original fiberglass gel coat, removing the mildew and other staining was a major operation each spring. Seemed that the warming weather in Feb & Mar caused the stuff to really grow. I tried various soaps and even pressure washing. I finally settled on ordinary bleach cut about 50% in warm water spread on with an auto wash brush on a long pole. Best time is on a cloudy or drizzly day. Once the mildew turns white, rinse it off. I use an auto wash brush connected to a hose.

A couple of years I did cover it with a blue poly tarp. The problem is I use the trailer more often in the winter months than other times of the year. Taking the tarp off without dragging it on the ground and getting it all dirty with grit is impossible, even with a helper. It seemed that there was more gel coat damage using the tarp. Perhaps one of those soft tarps wold help.

Last year I painted the Scamp with auto paint and clear coat and this spring, NO MILDEW. The stuff is shiny enough that there isn't any pores for the mildew to get started in. I don't know how long this will last, but I have a car over 10 years old with the same paint system and it stays free of mildew.

As others do, I keep the top vent open slightly and all the windows the same. There is also a computer fan that runs constantly. The elephant hide surface did collect mildew some until I painted it with a mildew resistant paint.

[Booker B.]

I have the same problem Roger, except in my case it's 5 fir and a couple of cedar all around my trailer spot.

We had one of those 10x20 tarp sheds but snow collapsed it last year - with my wife's VW convertible in it =( . I was thinking of building a 1x2 lightweight frame roof that sits on the front and back of the trailer roof and playing a tarp over that. Of course, we are selling our house so who knows where our trailer will be in a few months =)

[Carol Ann in TO]

We actually do use plastic but have a system for doing it so that the air can get around it and breathe.
I'm not even going to try to explain it 'cause Roy's already done that in this post

[AdamB]

Got my cover from Cover Giant on the internet at less than $150 and the current one is two and half years old. About ready for a replacement but at the price it is the least expensive decent cover I have found. Easy to put on and off as it weighs very little. Their covers will fit most eggs and they have them listed under Casita covers. There are have two types - the Silvertech (which I am using) is the lightest but I may go with the other model they offer the next time - both about the same price.

Martin, is your cover for a 13' egg. I looked on the web site and all I can see is the 16' cover. I need a 13'

Adam

[Sandra Lair]

We use a BeverlyBay cover that was made for a two-horse trailer. It's made of breathable material & provides great protection. I think they make custom sizes that would fit better than ours (it's a little long & too tall) but it works for us. It has zippers on the side that allow access to the door. We leave the windows open under the cover.
Sandra