Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

While I am waiting on Red Trailer to ship me the correct rear rail for my trailer, I decided to take the plunge and start buying the lumber for the floor and walls today. I was all excited and almost skipped into Lowes with excitement. I had made a list of Mike's Generic Benroy Plans of what I needed to build the floor. I went and picked up the 1 1/4" Stainless Steel Screws-Check, Then got the big container of Gorilla Glue-Check, then went to look at the 1x2 lumber. I am one of those guys that needs to be told every detail so i stood there wondering if I was supposed to get 2x4s and rip them in half. I got confused standing there looking at all the crooked and picked over lumber. Nothing was straight. I headed down the "Fancy Lumber" asile where they keep the expensive Oak and Maple lumber. I found a section of 1x2x8 pIeces of Select Oak for $7.03 per board. I thought it was high but figured I wanted the best lumber I could get. It was straight as an arrow and excellent looking so I grabbed 8 of them. (I hope this will do)...Now the quandry, I went to look for 5'x5'x1/2 Baltic Birch only to find that Lowes and Home Depot neither carry that size nor will they order it since it isn't in their special order books. I essentially drove around for 4 hours to 6 different Home Depot, Lowes, & Ace with no results. I got frustrated and finally spoke with the Lumber Dept Manager at Lowes and he said in 30 years, he never ordered a 5x5 birch stock. not wanting the day to be a total waste, I decided to go ahead and buy the plywood for the walls. I ended upi getting two pieces of 4'x8'x3/4" Birch SelectFurniture Grade Plywood at $39 per sheet...I hope this the right stuff for the walls???

Some of you pros need to reassure me I can do this. I was about ready to chunk the lumber and just spend $5000 on a Little Guy. Where can I get 5'x5' Baltic Birch for the floor? Also on the 1x2 stock for the floor, do I lay it flat end down to butt it together or skinny end down? Make sense? It's been a long day and I need HELP!!!

The oak for your floor framing is overkill, I'd take it back or save it for your galley cabinets. Regular pine will suffice for the framing especially since you are never going to see it. And laying it flat is what I did except I used 1x3.

My sandman, you really are excited...

I can related to seeing a bunch of twisted and bowed studs... If your box store doesn't have straight 1x2 pine, you can always use clear pine, poplar or even aspen. I've seen all of these at the box stores. The oak will work, but it's a lot of money, as you already know.

Regarding the 5x5 baltic birch, you have to go to a plywood store for that. The box stores don't sell it. We have two in our area... If your area doesn't have one, you can use 4x8 plywood. But you have to adjust your spar spacing so that your joints fall on a spar. (We're talking the thin roof plywood here)

The 3/4" plywood will work fine for your walls.

You can use 4x8 plywood for your floor too. Just glue and screw a 1x2 under the joint.

The 1x2's can be laid down under the floor. You can even use 2x2's if you want. Just rip a 2x4 down.

Don't be frustrated. Some days are like that, and you did an awful lot of shopping today.

Just take one step at a time.

Concentrate on the trailer first....

Then the floor...

Here's a picture of my floor... made out of 2x2s and 2x4s and 4x8 plywood.



Mike...

sandman wrote:While I am waiting on Red Trailer to ship me the correct rear rail for my trailer, I decided to take the plunge and start buying the lumber for the floor and walls today. I was all excited and almost skipped into Lowes with excitement. I had made a list of Mike's Generic Benroy Plans of what I needed to build the floor. I went and picked up the 1 1/4" Stainless Steel Screws-Check, Then got the big container of Gorilla Glue-Check, then went to look at the 1x2 lumber. I am one of those guys that needs to be told every detail so i stood there wondering if I was supposed to get 2x4s and rip them in half. I got confused standing there looking at all the crooked and picked over lumber. Nothing was straight. I headed down the "Fancy Lumber" asile where they keep the expensive Oak and Maple lumber. I found a section of 1x2x8 pIeces of Select Oak for $7.03 per board. I thought it was high but figured I wanted the best lumber I could get. It was straight as an arrow and excellent looking so I grabbed 8 of them. (I hope this will do)...Now the quandry, I went to look for 5'x5'x1/2 Baltic Birch only to find that Lowes and Home Depot neither carry that size nor will they order it since it isn't in their special order books. I essentially drove around for 4 hours to 6 different Home Depot, Lowes, & Ace with no results. I got frustrated and finally spoke with the Lumber Dept Manager at Lowes and he said in 30 years, he never ordered a 5x5 birch stock. not wanting the day to be a total waste, I decided to go ahead and buy the plywood for the walls. I ended upi getting two pieces of 4'x8'x3/4" Birch SelectFurniture Grade Plywood at $39 per sheet...I hope this the right stuff for the walls???

Some of you pros need to reassure me I can do this. I was about ready to chunk the lumber and just spend $5000 on a Little Guy. Where can I get 5'x5' Baltic Birch for the floor? Also on the 1x2 stock for the floor, do I lay it flat end down to butt it together or skinny end down? Make sense? It's been a long day and I need HELP!!!

Ok, so I make my floor just like the one pictured and bolt through that to attach to the frame but how do I attach the sidewalls? I dont want to screw from the outside walls through into the wooden floor frame 'cause I don't want the screws to show on the outside since I might finish it with a clear varnish over the plywood facing. If I screw from inside the framed wood floor into the backside of the side walls will that be strong enough? Guess I'd have to do that lying on my back from the underside. I don't want to come right through obviously -- I guess I could glue it also. What would be your advice?
Philip

Yes, you can glue it and screw it from the inside.. it's not the best situation, but if you use good stainless screws, with threads all the way to the tip, it should work.

you drill a clearance hole in the 2x2 sub-floor. I don't know how thick a wall you are planning, but if you have a 3/4" wall, a 2" long screw should work.

also put a bead of titebond III on the edge of the 2x2.



Mike...

Mike,

I am a fellow forum admin on site for my dirtbike group and we use this same software and everything. Anyway, I must say how great of an admin you are and very attentive to helping newbs like me. The reception I have gotten here has been warm and friendly. I spend so much time here, I feel guilty for being away from my own forum...lol.

I will slow down...You are right, I get into the hardware store and every aisle I walk down something jumps out and says buy me buy me. I am trying to concentrate on the floor right now like you said. Since I already bought all the high quality 1x2 Oak Select Lumber, I am going to go ahead and use it for framing the floor. I want the best possible teardrop I can afford to build and don't like scimping so my Benroy will probably cost me $8000 when I am done but at least I can say I did it myself.

Anyway, on screwing the floor to the 1x2 frame, do I screw from the top of the plywood down into the 1x2 or up through the 1/2 into the plywood? I bought zinc plated #10 1 1/4" screws but the thread don't run all the way to the top. They run about 95% of the way and then it's smooth. Will these screws be ok?

sandman wrote:Anyway, on screwing the floor to the 1x2 frame, do I screw from the top of the plywood down into the 1x2?

YES!

sandman wrote: I bought zinc plated #10 1 1/4" screws but the thread don't run all the way to the top. They run about 95% of the way and then it's smooth. Will these screws be ok?

You want as much of the tip to have good thread... since you won't have full engagement in your oak. The SS screws on the right, for example, would be a better choice than the drywall screws on the left...



Mike...

P.S. Thanks for the compliments on the forum...

sandman wrote:I essentially drove around for 4 hours to 6 different Home Depot, Lowes, & Ace with no results.

You sir, are hardcore!

Thanks again, Mike. I feel much more relaxed now. It's all good. I sat and just read some posts here and figured out what I need to do. I am going to head out and buy two 4x8x1/2" pieces of 7Ply Birch Plywood for the floor. I'll just cut the 8 foot width down to 5 foot and problem is solved. Am I right in assuming I should just not be such a stickler on getting everything exact as in the plans and use some free reign? If that's the case, I can relax now. As long as I build it my tear square all around, everything will fall into place. Hows that for calming down?

Thanks, SWolverton, I guess I have now earned my stripes since spending most of the day looking for luumber that doesn't exist. I have been following your TT build and very impressed with how fast you build. If I went that fast, the axle would be mounted on the roof and I'd have to flip the damn camper over just to tow it..lol.

sandman wrote:Mike,

I am a fellow forum admin on site for my dirtbike group and we use this same software and everything. Anyway, I must say how great of an admin you are and very attentive to helping newbs like me. The reception I have gotten here has been warm and friendly. I spend so much time here, I feel guilty for being away from my own forum...lol.

This is a great forum isn't it? I know how you feel, I've been lurking around another forum and I have so many questions. I do use the search but so many tipocs come up that I get tired after sifting thru a dozen or so pages of threads. My latest strategy is to go to the first page (the earliest page chronologicaly) and start from there. I also feel bad about spending so much time over there.

sandman wrote:Mike,

I am a fellow forum admin on site for my dirtbike group and we use this same software and everything. Anyway, I must say how great of an admin you are and very attentive to helping newbs like me. The reception I have gotten here has been warm and friendly. I spend so much time here, I feel guilty for being away from my own forum...lol.

I will slow down...You are right, I get into the hardware store and every aisle I walk down something jumps out and says buy me buy me. I am trying to concentrate on the floor right now like you said. Since I already bought all the high quality 1x2 Oak Select Lumber, I am going to go ahead and use it for framing the floor. I want the best possible teardrop I can afford to build and don't like scimping so my Benroy will probably cost me $8000 when I am done but at least I can say I did it myself.

Anyway, on screwing the floor to the 1x2 frame, do I screw from the top of the plywood down into the 1x2 or up through the 1/2 into the plywood? I bought zinc plated #10 1 1/4" screws but the thread don't run all the way to the top. They run about 95% of the way and then it's smooth. Will these screws be ok?

Grasshopper.... you have to learn how to walk before you can fly....... Heed Mike's advice.. get pine 1x2's or 1x3's for the floor... save your oak for the cabinets. Also 1/2" ply, good one side is all you need to cover it. 7 PLY furniture grade ply is way overkill. Why spend all that money if your going to cover it up??(I wish I could get 7ply up here....)

AsianFlava-Yep, this place rocks. I also try the searches but since the forum is so big, it returns far too many results to sift through. It can be daunting at times so if I can't find an answer within the search, I'll post away and get the answers that way.

Micro469-You sir are wise beyond your years(However old you are?) I am trying not to get carried away. I suffer OCD very bad and it makes me overthink simple tasks and but on the other hand, it makes me meticulous and exacting. My nature won't let me half-ass anything I build...It really causes migraines but I do have some great friends willing to pitch in their time and knowledge to help me with my build.
The local hardware stores offer plain jane plywood but everything I looked at was very wobbly and crooked. I went digging through the racks at great peril to find the most perfect pieces. As far as the 7ply, since I got it, I might as well use it since I sluffed it home and stacked it in my shop. It would be a nightmare to get it back to the store. However, I am going to keep the nice oak 1x2s for the inside and go back tommorrow and just get some plain 2x4s and rip them in half.

Just for my two cents... I went for easy Pine 1x2's around me, but most had some bow to them. I ended up picking up Clear Aspen for most of mine for not much more than Pine. Anecdotally, it seems the screws bit into the Aspen much nicer than the Pine. We have Menard's around here, and they seem to put the Aspen on sale fairly frequently.

Sandman wrote:and just get some plain 2x4s and rip them in half.

I found that if I used 2x6's or 8's I got a straighter strip. We don't seem to be able to get decent 2x4's here.

Mr. Sandman,

I used 1x2 poplar for all my framing. Floor, spars, and cabinet face frames. If you can't find 1x2 get 1x4's and rip them. I was able to find 5x5 1/2" underlayment plywood at a local lumberyard that was reasonable in price. I am building my TD 5x10 and got frustrated because I couldn't find 3/4 4x10's at a reasonable price. I ended up using 1/2" exterior ply and 1/4 birch and gluing them together. See my album.

Like you I'm OCD to some extent. I tend to think things through too much and overthink the smallest details that should be simple. I'm screwing everything from the outside in as I plan to skin the TD in AL. The only problem with that is if I need to dissassemble anything for any reason the screws will be coverd and not accessable. Hopefully that will not be an issue.

I would wait till your trailer is assembled so that you can match the crossmembers in your floor to the crossmembers on your trailer. I started mine without the trailer and the crossmembers don't match up. Now I'm obcessing over the fact that the xmembers of the floor don't rest on anything.

Good luck with your TD.

Jim