How can you tell if your trailer is painted?

[DannyH]

This might be a strange quesiton, but I'll be working on the exterior fiberglass soon and wondered how you can tell if your trailer has been painted? The surface is very dull, but I don't know for sure. I don't see any peeling like paint.

Thanks

[Eddie Longest]

Neglected gelcoat will become porous and get dull and rough just like a real egg shell. It is easy to stain and makes it hard to clean. On really bad trailers I use Jomax house cleaner with bleach to get off tree, fungus and algae stains. Let it set in the sun after cleaning and it will continue to brighten up. (But still not shinny.) I use Y10 or other boat stain remover on really bad stains and rust stains. There are other threads on painting and fiberglass restoration so I won't go there.
To tell if is painted first look for runs, or brush marks, then you can look under the edges of your trim for paint lines. i.e. front/rear window seal, door or bottom edge trim. You can also remove a couple of rivets from your bottom trim, pull down and scrape the surface to see if you have a layer of paint.
Eddie

[floyd]

This might be a strange quesiton, but I'll be working on the exterior fiberglass soon and wondered how you can tell if your trailer has been painted? The surface is very dull, but I don't know for sure. I don't see any peeling like paint.

Thanks

If it doesn't appear to be painted , it probably isn't.
Look in the door jamb, or peel back a little of the skirt trim.
Check for things like window frames, gaskets, or trim with paint on them.
During daylight, look from the inside of the trailer at any exposed shell, that will be the best tell. Gelcoat lets a lot more light through than paint.
Gelcoat commonly dulls over time, in spite of efforts to keep it shiny.Those who have kept their Eggs shiny have done so by restricting sun exposure and heroic and diligent efforts with polish and wax. They deserve accolades.

[DannyH]

Thanks for the reply. I looked and I it must be gel coat. It's pitted and scaped in a couple of areas, so I will be painting it, but this helps on how to tackle the outside part.