wood?

[BillZ]

I am very close to beginning construction on the tear body myself and after seeing all the comments on this thread, I am wondering if I shouldn't have bought Baltic Birch for my floor. Looks like I need to consider marine grade for the floor and walls and maybe keep 1 sheet of BB for the cabinets.

[mcspin50]

I too am just beginning my build.
The trailer is a Northern Tool No-Floor 5x8 with the welding all done. I was just about to drive over to Menard's (northern plains big box) to pick up two sheets of 4x8 3/4" T&G underlayment plywood. (The guy down the street is using it for the subfloor in his new shed. He's constantly building & remodeling and thought these were good quality.) I was going to cut 3 feet off each and lay them crossways on the trailer bed with the smooth and pretty side up for my 5x8 base. Bottom and edges of the base would be coated with either autobody undercoating or herculiner. Then 2x4s laid vertical for frame for underbed storage in sleeping area. I'm copying this idea from Sid on his Dragonfly build:


...except it'll probably be a glass of wine, not a beer, in my pic.

So, now I'm worried that I should only be using exterior plywood for the bottom layer. Someone I talked to used pressure-treated, but I'm not so fond of sleeping so close to PT. Should I rethink my plan?

For the sides, I'm following Sid's plan as well, and using 3/4" cabinet grade birch for woodie sides, but I'm having a tough time finding any local lumberyard with a sheet of the quoted $75/sheet cabinet grade birch plywood to even show me. Seems I have to order it and take what comes. I'm a little hesitant to do that.

Stopped at a local cabinet-making business and the guy was going to call his supplier and check on prices, but haven't heard a word in over a week. Maybe it's time to visit another cabinet shop. Or maybe I'll just give him a call back. BTW I called his supplier and they don't deal directly with the public. They only work with cabinet shops, etc. Is it normal to have this much trouble finding good plywood to see and touch? Or am I looking in all the wrong places?

Thanks for your help.

[afreegreek]

I too am just beginning my build.
The trailer is a Northern Tool No-Floor 5x8 with the welding all done. I was just about to drive over to Menard's (northern plains big box) to pick up two sheets of 4x8 3/4" T&G underlayment plywood. (The guy down the street is using it for the subfloor in his new shed. He's constantly building & remodeling and thought these were good quality.) I was going to cut 3 feet off each and lay them crossways on the trailer bed with the smooth and pretty side up for my 5x8 base. Bottom and edges of the base would be coated with either autobody undercoating or herculiner. Then 2x4s laid vertical for frame for underbed storage in sleeping area. I'm copying this idea from Sid on his Dragonfly build:


...except it'll probably be a glass of wine, not a beer, in my pic.

So, now I'm worried that I should only be using exterior plywood for the bottom layer. Someone I talked to used pressure-treated, but I'm not so fond of sleeping so close to PT. Should I rethink my plan?

For the sides, I'm following Sid's plan as well, and using 3/4" cabinet grade birch for woodie sides, but I'm having a tough time finding any local lumberyard with a sheet of the quoted $75/sheet cabinet grade birch plywood to even show me. Seems I have to order it and take what comes. I'm a little hesitant to do that.

Stopped at a local cabinet-making business and the guy was going to call his supplier and check on prices, but haven't heard a word in over a week. Maybe it's time to visit another cabinet shop. Or maybe I'll just give him a call back. BTW I called his supplier and they don't deal directly with the public. They only work with cabinet shops, etc. Is it normal to have this much trouble finding good plywood to see and touch? Or am I looking in all the wrong places?

Thanks for your help.

you're going to have a hard time finding suppliers that deal with the public.. that's the way it is here anyway. the trick is to open an account. unless you're opening a credit account they don't check...

don't look for another cabinet shop. look for 'custom millwork' 'commercial millwork' or 'architectural millwork' in the yellow pages..

stay away from pressure treated wood. not only is it covered in poison, it's hell on glue and metal plus it's usually taco shaped and poor grade material all around..

whether or not to use exterior or marine grade vs interior grade has a lot to do with where you live and more importantly where you store the trailer.

here in the coastal rainforest, it's pretty much mandatory if you don't want it to fall apart on you in a few years..