Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Question for anyone out there.
I posted the on my thread about my trailer the spartan, but I thought this might be a better place to post it.
What type of wood should I use to fill the space around the edge of my Frame?

I have read how most of you feel about treated lumber. So what else could I use? This channel goes all the way around so I plan to attach the walls to it.

Ceder would be my choice...your not looking for strength, but rot resistance would be nice!

Hey tbeau , if you are concerned about the treated lumber, Google treated lumber & you can see that there are alternative treated lumber out there. I think that treated is the best way to go. Lumber treated with borate is very good. just check with your lumber supplier & they should be able to get it. Just a thought. Good luck with your build!

I would use treated lumber. It will be on the exterior and not in direct
contact with the interior. I would clean and repaint with a rust inhibitor paint before attaching the lumber.

you could avoid the decay issue by using some of the synthetic crap now on the market.

http://www.seiki.gr.jp/english/products ... umber.html


just do a dogpile; there's a gazillion companies making this stuff

madprinter wrote:I would use treated lumber. It will be on the exterior and not in direct
contact with the interior. I would clean and repaint with a rust inhibitor paint before attaching the lumber.

I am currently working on removing the rust with the help of my Daughter, and other neighborhood kids. Next step after that is appling a rust inhibitor and paint. I hope to do that in about a week. I have a week long break from teaching "Spring Break" in about two weeks, so I hope To have the frame done ready by then.

Its good to get the kids involved, and I noticed she had safety glasses on.
Make sure they all wear safety glasses around a wire wheel, even the small wheels. The wires are easy to come out. You can get one in your eye and not even notice until you start having serious eye problems.
Teach them to be safe first.

In some ways, this seems like a good place for the "synthetic crap", because it does not need structural stiffness, and rot resistance is important.

On the other hand, thus is just some sort of fastening block, and the recycled plastic products ("synthetic crap") is generally quite dense and quite expensive... it's a lot of weight and money for a component which doesn't seem to be doing much.

Is is really necessary to rim the trailer with 2x4's to fasten the walls? It might be... I'm just wondering

Is is really necessary to rim the trailer with 2x4's to fasten the walls? It might be... I'm just wondering

May be not, but that metal is real thin and I think it would be good support around the edge of the trailer.

tbeau wrote:

Is is really necessary to rim the trailer with 2x4's to fasten the walls? It might be... I'm just wondering

May be not, but that metal is real thin and I think it would be good support around the edge of the trailer.

That's the frame, right? If my frame was so flimsy that it was not a good place to attach walls, I'd be thinking of something other than wood; however, no structure will be perfect, and if a 2x4 plus a steel channel is what works...

brian_bp wrote:

tbeau wrote:

Is is really necessary to rim the trailer with 2x4's to fasten the walls? It might be... I'm just wondering

May be not, but that metal is real thin and I think it would be good support around the edge of the trailer.

That's the frame, right? If my frame was so flimsy that it was not a good place to attach walls, I'd be thinking of something other than wood; however, no structure will be perfect, and if a 2x4 plus a steel channel is what works...

We went to borate treated southern yellow pine when CCA was phased out for the bottom plates of our wall panels. The newer ACQ and the other 2 will eat up the metal fastners unless stainless or hot dipped galvanized nails are used. The Southern yellow pine is about 50% stronger than spruce pine fir lumber and would be a good yet inexpensive choice.

You are probably right about putting a frame around the sides. You can also put it on the top of the frame. Don't know about the new treated stuff but you can always epoxy and seal your framing. Or there is the evil smelling black goo They make a treatment for fence posts that works well too.

Lots of options and attaboy for getting the daughter involved.

Or there is the evil smelling black goo They make a treatment for fence posts that works well too.

Ok I have looked for this stuff, can find it. Might be looking for the wrong thing. Can any one give me names of products?

The black goo, I believe is roofing tar. Can be found at any box store in the roof material dept. The wood treatment is a liquid used to treat lumber( the same stuff they use on presure treated lumber) The stuff I used is made by Jasco, it use to be green, but now I think it is black in color. You may need to ask an employee where they stock it.

How about cypress?