Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

The exterior of my TD is almost done and ready to go get registered and used. The interior is just a walled shell at the moment though. When should I polyurethane the interior, if I do it now will the glue for the cabinets etc stick OK or should I wait until the interior is complete before I finish the walls etc. The galley is the main area I'm concerned about as I'd like to get some protection on the wood that is there but then don't want hassles further down the track when I finish the cabinets etc.

Cheers
Steve

I tape the areas that will be glued, and paint the rest and remove the tape...

Me, I'd poly the interior first, then glue in the cabinets... seems easier that way.

And I would prefinish everything before it went inside. I don't like the idea of doing finish inside, once it is all assembled. It is a lot of extra work.

But, I am lazy.

dave

If I were just gluing I would do it then poly after. If you are using mechanical fasteners it won't hurt to poly first.

Too late now, but I would have put the interior in first and prefinished it before puttting it in. You could then put screws in from the outside of the walls for a really good mechanical bond.

As the outside is finished, I would suggest that you prefinish all of your cabinetry if you can and then us an epoxy glue and also use finish head screws in a toenail fashion where the cannot be seen. (like the inside of cabinets, etc. Make sure you use a very steep angle to prevent them from coming through to the outside)

I actually prebuild the sidewalls and prefinished them on the inside before assembly with the floor and bulkheads. I also prefinished all of the bulkheads and cabinet frame faces before installing. The interior roof was prefinished too. Take a look at my build photos and you should be able to see some of how I did mine. Of course I could put screws in from the outside as I put aluminum skin on later.

I like to prefinish everything first...Gorilla Glue and other poyurethane based adhesives will stick to the poly...Titebond(etc) won't......
madjack

I pre finished everything prior to installation. Finishing the interior while inside the teardrop, and breathing the fumes, would not be good for one's health.

Ok, so the consensus is to finish the walls and ceiling now and then screw the finished cabinets in place (which I can do as mine is a sandwich construction with plenty of thickness to screw into) and use a polyurethane based glue.

Easy

Cheers
Steve

We built everything then Sharon had the lob of putting the finish on. She did wear a fresh air breathing mask the entire time she was inside so she wasn't inhaling any fumes.

An other way is to prefinish all parts and assemble with pocket screws.
Brwbier

Steve F wrote:Ok, so the consensus is to finish the walls and ceiling now and then screw the finished cabinets in place (which I can do as mine is a sandwich construction with plenty of thickness to screw into) and use a polyurethane based glue.

Easy

Cheers
Steve

Yes!