Compare Finishes on your Tiny House Trailer
Duragal
Pros:
- Lower cost,
- Faster turnaround between ordering trailer and completion (6 weeks is typical).
Cons:
- Limited rust protection = requires rust maintenance.
Hot Dip Galvanized
Pros:
- Complete, A-Grade rust protection = zero rust maintenance.
Cons:
- More expensive,
- Increased turn around time (8 weeks is typical between ordering your trailer and completion).
Why does DuralGal require rust maintenance?
DuraGal® /AllGal® (DG) is a steel product that comes pre-galvanized as individual steel members that we then fabricate into your trailer chassis. When we cut and weld the steel members to create your tiny house trailer, we break the seal on the protective coating at the places where the welds are made.
In order to re-seal the welded areas of your tiny house trailer, we treat the welded area with a wire brush, followed by an application of Cold Gal (a zinc-rich paint to the surface) as rust protection of the weld and then a top coat of silver paint in a colour closely matched to DuraGal® / AllGal® product.
Our experience over many years is that a trailer made with welds treated in this way will still attract rust over time, so it is an imperfect finish. Consequently, a DuraGal® / AllGal® finished tiny house trailer will require regular & careful inspection to identify areas of rust and treatment of these areas.
For superficial rust on your trailer the recommended treatment is as follows:
1.) Saturate area with Penetrol® and let dry to tacky;
2.) Apply ColdGal paint and let dry completely;
3.) Apply silver paint to match DuraGal® / AllGal® (DG) colour.
Why is Hot Dip Galvanizing the A-Grade Rust Protection Finish for your Tiny House Trailer?
A Hot-Dip Galvanized (HDG) tiny house trailer is fabricated out of mild steel and the whole chassis is taken through a multi-step galvanizing process, which starts with removing paint, oils, rust & mill scale.
Once the steel chassis is clean, it is then dipped into a bath of molten zinc (450° C) which coats the chassis in zinc oxide, including the inside cavities of all the steel members.
This zinc oxide layer creates a perfect seal to the whole tiny house trailer, protecting the underlying steel against exposure to water and air, which are the two ingredients that create rust on steel. Because it is dipped whole, there are no interruptions to the seal, so it creates the best rust protection available for any steel product.
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