PE - Canvas source for Mid-Atlantic area

[John LaTorre]

Ceridwen/Jessica McMahan wrote:
> 
> Okay, I've finally done it - I have the hardware, wood and plans for my 16' ger.
> 
> I was thinking on making the walls out of muslin, but would prefer to have canvas for the roof covering. Suggestions for sources of canvas for a small budget? Or if a great source for moderate/cheap, decent canvas can be found, I may consider making the walls canvas too.

I think that, since you've got lots of structure touching
the fabric at the roof (like all your roof poles), the best
material would be something relatively immune to
capillation, like Pyrotone or Excello. But these can be
pretty pricy. 

Or use something like Sunforger, which you can get from
several sources. The drawback for this cloth is that you're
likely to get some bleed-through, because this cloth will
capillate when really wet. You're talking about 25 yards,
which shouldn't cost you much more than a hundred bucks. If
you make the sides of the 50" wide stuff, you'll need about
20 yards of it, for another $120 or so, I think (I don't
have my price list in front of me). So you're still pretty
much in the budget.

By all means, DON'T economize on the roof fabric.
> 
> I don't mind waterproofing the canvas myself. I've spent around $200 so far on wood & hardware and really can't afford to go over $400 for everything.

If you buy the cloth already treated for water resistence,
you'll have saved money on the water-proofing compound (plus
any application equipment you may have to buy), plus lots of
time, messiness, and the possibility of the job not going
perfectly. 

-- 

John LaTorre (Johann von Drachenfels)

"Always do right. It will gratify some people & astonish the
rest."
--Mark Twain

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