Day 6, History and Roof Tar

Saturday morning chores were first on the list when I got up this morning and by 10 am I had most of the inside projects done, clocks wound, the clutter on the counter sorted and filed, dusted the furniture, vacuumed and did two loads of laundry. Also, I fed the cats and chickens, no egg. Now I had time to play, or in this case work on the trailer.

The first thing I wanted to do was do a little research on the previous owner of this little trailer. The old registration from 1990 had been placed in the cabinet above the dinette and the owner was Mr. James of La Pine. I actually still have a phone book and don't totally rely soley on the computer, so I let my fingers do the walking and sure enough his number was listed. I placed a call and he answered, so I explained who I was and asked if could tell me a little about the history of the trailer. He explained that his father bought it in the early 60's and he would use it for hunting and fishing trips. His father came to Bend in 1920 and worked for the Brooks Scanlon Mill and in his free time would take the little trailer on outings around the area. He used the trailer for many years and then decided he wanted a larger trailer, so he passed it on to him. He said he only used it 5 or 6 times and then let it parked in the yard at their house. I told him I was going to restore the trailer and had started a blog about it. I also asked if he had any pictures of his father with the trailer and he thought he did and would look for me. Having the history of who owned the trailer I feel is an important part of the restoration. Documenting the history from the previous owners gives the trailer life. We had a nice chat and I gave him my name and number and asked if he would call if he could find some photo's and he said he would look and call me if he found anything.

The suspected egg layer a Buff Orpington aka "Buffy"

With the phone call done, I thought it was time to check the chickens again. Most hens lay eggs before noon, so if there were going to be any eggs today, now at just after 11 there should be something. I walked out to the coop past the pumpkins and the birds or the "girls" as Amy and her father call them were all out in the pen eager to be let out. First I checked the coop and there in the exact same roosting box was another identical pink egg. Seeing the egg I texted Amy and she immediately replied that she and Doug where on their way over. They wanted to see the egg and they wanted me to make them lunch.
With the egg being pink, Amy and I believe it is from the Buff Orpington, as the Silver Penciled Wyandotte, Rhoade Islands, Brown Rose Comb, Cornish and Blue Gray Americaunna's, should lay brown and blue eggs. I'll need to keep my eyes them tomorrow and see who the productive little hen is. I know have 2 eggs! I am now on my way to being an egg mogul. With an estimated $300 + in chicken fencing, food, birds and pen construction I am a long way from getting rich on eggs. I've been told you can sell farm fresh eggs for between $2 and $3 a dozen, but knowing me I'll probably just give them to friends and family and be happy.

Loosening the tar with Paint Stripper

With sun shining and a nice breeze, today was going to be ideal for working on the trailer. Doug and Amy and I ate lunch first on the deck and then went to work on the trailer. During its life in La Pine it started to leak and the roof seams were covered in roofing mastic or roof tar and a lot of it was slopped over on to the side. I had applied some paint and varnish stripper to part of the tar on the side of the trailer and started to remove it in big gooey mess. Doug worked on one end and it was evident that we could make progress albeit very slow. Realizing that we need to make a run to Lowes, Doug and Amy headed off and I gave them a gift card that I had to purchase the needed supplies we were going to need to work on the trailer today.

Tar removed

While they were off running errands I was able to remove the tar fairly quickly, using the paint stripper, a scrapping knife and some news paper. Once I had removed most of the thick tar I applied another coat of paint stripper and scrubbed it with newspaper. Once I had the thickest off I was able to scrub the side with my favorite cleaning tool the SOS Soap pad. The side of the trailer immediately began to shine. With a little elbow grease I had the once tar cover side looking pretty good. The silver sides of the trailer have been hand brushed on, so the paint remover took that paint off as well, giving a glimpse of how the trailer would look if the paint was removed and the metal buffed to a shine.

Here I am scraping away at the back roof seam.

After about an hour Doug showed up with the supplies and Amy had gone home to rest. With a gallon of Goof Off and a gallon of paint stripper, new gloves and another scraping tool we were ready to get to work. The process of removing old roofing tar is a very slow one, and one we were not so sure about. Doug started scraping at one end I on the other. It would take us over 4 hours to remove a 10" wide strip by 4' along the rear top left roofline and another section that ran across the back of the roof from side to side. Chip by chip we were able to remove the tar. I know, yes we did scratch the metal a little bit, but it will be up high and most of them will buff out, and who knows maybe we are going to have to paint the roof in order to seal it up tight. After a full afternoon it was now almost 7:30 and we had had enough. We scraped the last bit from the back seam and we were done for today. Amy gave us strict orders to be at her house for dinner at 8, and not to be late!

I am already looking forward to tomorrow and applying another coat of paint stripper and then using my scouring pad to clean the seams that we spent all day on. Bed is going to feel good tonight and Sunday will be new day.