portafold.co.uk

Hi
When I got my Portafold it was just bare walls and ceiling I had no flocking anywhere. This is ok but some weather conditions actually make the inside of the roof damp and when the sun comes up early in the morning and the Porafold starts heating up we are not woken up by the sounds of birds tweeting or v8 engines starting o'know!! It's the big drops of condensation falling down from the ceiling and hitting you between the eyes

Hi,
I'm not flocked either- but I am quilted!
My van has had the flocking painted over with layers of white emulsion, which has been a nightmare to remove.
Not sure weather to re-flock or just line roof, but I must do something, I spent 7 days waking up with soggy bedding over the summer .
some of which I was unable to get dry before needing again, so this is now a 'priority' fix.

Koren

The problem you've got, which you've probably already discovered when you tried stripping it, is that the roof is an awkward shape. Trying to re-cover it successfully could drive you round the bend, while not even solving the condensation problem...

On ours, having completed the stripping alluded to above, I had a nice paintable surface. As I didn't at that time have Matthew's re-flocking information, I simply sprayed our ceiling with cellulose top-coat from aerosols, I used BMC Old English White, no primer, just straight over the bare fibreglass.

I wanted to keep it as light as possible, we find putting the roof up & down something of a struggle. We've had no condensation problems subsequently, the 2 occasions we've used it have both been cold, wet & windy but we've been nice & dry inside.

Possibly this isn't a fair sample of weather - does condensation occur more readily on cold, wet, still days?

Steve Lord

I know that this has been discussed before I joined the group but personally think it is the best way to trim the roof especially if you have the fins.

I went looking for a company to flock the roof on mine and in true Victor Kiam style ended up buying a company local to me as it was up for sale.

The company is called KP Flocking, and I'm on Facebook, just search for KP Flocking. So if anybody is interested in getting their roof or any other part flocked please contact me via the website. Basically anything can be flocked by using the correct adhesive. If you look in the KP Promotions photo album on Facebook you will be able to see the colours available some of which are very sympathetic to the age of our beloved caravans.

If you do not know what flocking is it is millions of electrostatically charged nylon fibres that are blown onto adhesive applied to the part to be flocked. The particles stand at right angles to the part giving a velour type finish. The benefits of this are heat insulation, sound insulation and a lovely soft finish. It also gives an anti-glare finish, which is why it is used in rally cars but that does not matter to us on the roof.

The roof needs to be removed and any previous finish removed, but the roofs come off anyway. The process would take about a week and you could leave your porti in my drive covered in a tarpy with a wheel clamp applied.

Just thought I would offer my services, plus if there is anything else you want doing, drop me a line.

Russell

Can you give a rough price guide for flocking the roof?

I would like a price for my Portafold roof please
Dave