Justin's TARDIS Begins...

[willytron]

great looking box!  love the interior.

[ThisJustinOnline]

A sad sad post from me....

Took down my TARDIS last weekend as I could not get to the repairs I wanted and its going to need a big one, if not a whole reconstruction. I was never 100% happy with it in teh first place but it heald up until this spring/summer...the paint was peeling right off and I have no idea why. Its something that will need talking I am sure.

Heres some pictures of the various damage

[avadh]

Good luck with the repairs Justin. I am sure everything will be ok once the repairs are done.

[Doctor Iz]

Justin, cheer up mate!  Better days are ahead.  I am sorry to see the weather damage to your beautiful NST  .  I have decided to keep my indoors for the winter, so she'll go out in the summer months and back in garage for the winter. 

Jon~

[DoctorWho8]

All I can say is sand like crazy, salvage what you can, use pressure treated wood, and get the epoxy coating that other are using.  Then it should be OK.
Bill Rudloff

[purpleblancmange]

Look, if it's any consolation to you, I would say that paint is nothing more than a sacrificial coating.  No matter what you do, it'll always peel off, especially if you leave it out in the elements.  Take a look at the pictures back in this thread; it's been covered in snow, had ice all over it, been rained on and more than likely buffeted by the wind - it's no wonder that you've got a bit of damage.

For a build to be left outside, I often say to people (many of them here on this very board) that you should sand it down and repaint at least every other summer, if not, every summer.

I reckon that you can repair this.  Sand it down, get all the paint off and then re-primer it, then undercoat it with an oil based undercoat, then repaint.

Let's have a look at your pictures:




Okay. The base is going to fare the worst as it's in contact with the ground.  It looks as if you have some rot starting.  Either replace the rotten bits or rebuild the base entirely, coating the underside in a rubberised paint or at least apply a damp course sheet to it.  This is no biggie.



This looks fine on the whole.  Sand down and repaint.



This doesn't look too bad.  You may do well by adding in some filler here.  In fact, re-filler all your joins on the entire box.



Nothing a lick of paint won't cure.



Whatever this is, you could make again and replace.



You really do need to use an oil based undercoat as it looks like your original was water based which isn't effective for the great outdoors as it'll just wash away.  That said earlier about rebuilding the base, you may not have to... it looks fine from this angle - but obviously you can see what's wrong as you have it in front of you.


Nothing wrong here.  This wall looks fine to me.

Chin up, I think most of what's happened here is cosmetic, with a little bit of structural work needed.  It's not drastic by all appearances.  Put it this way, last week I was in Cardiff restoring a TARDIS, now that was in a state and when I got it into the workshop I thought that it ought to be binned, but once I stripped it right down, sanded it, I could see that it could be restored... all I had to do was apply some elbow grease, replace all the rusted and useless screws, take out the rotten wood, do some filling and then repaint.  When I finished, it looked so much better - even if I do say so myself.

Your TARDIS looks great, if you want to change a few elements, use this as your chance, but don't scrap it - it's too good for that.

[Scarfwearer]

Bear in mind that most American houses have wooden siding which needs painting perhaps every 3-5 years depending on conditions (Canada may need extra care as it's so cold in the winter), so it ought to be possible to keep that paint job in good condition. For outside you definitely need primer and an exterior grade paint.

The main thing with an exterior build is to keep water out, so use pressure-treated timbers at the ground contact, a plastic vapor barrier underneath to stop dampness from the ground coming up into the box (unless it's on a slab), caulking around windows and in gaps where the wood joins together.  Also pay extra attention to the roof: most wooden buildings don't have a painted wood roof - some people have used rubber-based paint to really seal the roof. Wood rot takes longer than paint peeling sometimes, but if the wood is wet/damp it's pretty well inevitable.

If it's going to stay outside, you pretty much have to treat it like any other wooden building, but wooden houses and sheds can last for many decades or even centuries so it's certainly possible to make it weather-proof.

EDIT: Hmm - I think  I just repeated some of what Purple said  . Oh well - it can't hurt to hear it twice...

Crispin