How to Re Canvas a Caravan Roof

[Richard]

To start, strip off all of the mouldings holding down the original canvas, then after stripping off all of the old canvas and any debris such as dried adhesive or paint. The covering is quite a simple job, consisting merely of stretching a light canvas ( or unbleached calico )over the roof at the same time embedding it in a thick paint coating and then trapping the edges of the canvas under the drip moulding which was taken off in the first operation.
Get a good amount of thick enamel paint ( acrylic paint does not work as well ) for the embedding of the canvas. Most people have left over paint around the house, and as much of this old thick paint as can be obtained should be mixed together and strained to remove skins and should not be thinned at all.
On to the prepared and cleaned roof the thick paint is spread liberally with an old brush. While the paint is still wet the canvas is stretched across the roof of the caravan. Two people should hold and pull the canvas from the roof edges while a third person should work the canvas into the thick paint compound with the brush so that the paint oozes through the weave of the canvas under the pressure of the brush. This will make the canvas adhere to the roof and by permeating the weave of the canvas with the thick paint maximum protection is obtained.
It is unlikely that the canvas will be obtained in one piece large enough for the roof, so the widths can be pre sewn and the creases ironed out before fixing.
While the canvas is still under stretch by the people pulling the edges, the third person can next nail the canvas to the caravan can-trail ( that is the rail from which the roof rafters are fixed to ). This will maintain the tension and keep the canvas embedded in the paint. After the entire roof has been canvas covered, the drip mouldings are replaced and the work left untill the paint has had time to dry through the canvas. After that the roof can be coated with paint and finished in the desired colour.
Enamel paints are best for finishing all external surfaces of the caravan but Bitumen based paint should be avoided, as these will bleed through all types of paints.