Suggestion for best exterior glue for canvas to wood application?

[yy4me]

We have to make a new cellar bulkhead door and wish to use exterior plywood and cover that surface with canvas, then apply the paint. We seem to replace this slanted lift door every few years because painted exterior plywood never lasts very long here in New England. This time we'll use canvas over it and paint the canvas as we have done on the roofs of bird house we have made in the past. On those projects, we have used contact cement and it worked well. Perhaps there is a better adhesive out there for use on a project with a larger exposed surface such as this door.

This treatment may sound a little strange but this house is over 200 years old and anything available in the stores is either not appropriate or custom made and very expensive.

Have any DIY'ers ever done such a procedure and what did glue you use?

Thanks

[eleny]

1. I searched on Google and found this thread at a bulleting board

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=2886

They discuss gluing canvas to wood and it looks like someone gave a suggestion on what adhesive to use. Good luck!

[yy4me]

2. A million thanks, this link provided just the information we

need. It never ceases to amaze me what DUers will do for other members. Thanks for your time and effort. We struck out in our search. We've got to start this project very soon, the cold weather is just about upon us and working outside will not be good with glue of any type is it is too cold.

[eleny]

3. Best of luck with this project - let us know how it goes!

[tabasco]

4. Liquid Nails might be a good choice.

I would squirt it on the plywood with the caulk gun and then trowel it with the notched side of a trowel, then press the canvas onto the wood. Just my 2 cents worth. I looked at that other link and didn't really like their ideas. There are different kinds of Liquid nails, just be sure to get the right kind.

[Warpy]

5. I'd have suggested the contact adhesive

The only other thing I'd suggest would be an epoxy polymer and fibreglas cloth instead of canvas. The polymer can be made quite smooth, will be waterproof, and will likely hold up better than canvas and glue. I've patched boats with this combination and had them keep the water out for years. The resulting surface can be primed and painted with any good exterior paint.