Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I made my doors the same way I made my walls:
3/4" frame (oak), pocket screwed together
1/4" exterior plywood skin, titebond III and staples
1/8" interior luan skin titebond III and staples
CPES (3 coats on exterior), rolled
UNIFLEX 255 Aliphatic (3 coats on exterior), rolled
Polyurethane (3 coats on interior), wiped on

So, I put weatherstipping (3/8" in a 1/4" space). Worked great initially. Now, the door is warping or bending away from the latch slightly, but enough so I can see light around the top of the door, thereby meaning the door is no longer waterproof.

I can go with a 1/2" seal, but my concern is the door will just warp more. I am thinking about re-making the doors with a 1" frame. Before I go to that much work, does anybody have a better idea?

Unwarp the door. There is no help for it. You will never be happy with it like that. Unless you can get the warp out. The thing you might try is screwing a wood bar or metal across it so it goes straight.

I would have suggested cpesing the inside as well, as that locks the fibers together..... it still is weird that it warps after being finished... it usually happens before you finish the door...

I would take the door off and try to correct the warp by weights with a board under the right place after sanding the inside down to bare wood......

Also, I might suggest you it a couple of coats on the inside. I think the outside is fine.

That's frustrating. I've had that happen to me. I'm beginning to think the best fix is to frame it in with angle iron.

Mike...

Arne wrote:I would have suggested cpesing the inside as well, as that locks the fibers together..... it still is weird that it warps after being finished... it usually happens before you finish the door...

I would take the door off and try to correct the warp by weights with a board under the right place after sanding the inside down to bare wood......

Also, I might suggest you it a couple of coats on the inside. I think the outside is fine.

It's not water damage. I think the door is too thin, and the gasket exerts just a little pressure on the door except where the latch is. the door has some flex in it, and it stayed that way.

That's what I think, anyway.

Somewhere on this board, I've seen doors straightened by fastening "stiff backs" to the inside of the door - maybe 1" x 3/4" x length of door.

Well...looking at the Cliffmeister build photos...if those doors warped...I'm a goner and might as well start building a set of spares. I really can't see anything in the construction that would explain why they warped, and I don't think I would have done much of anything different...

I'll look for that stiffening thread....

Iron sounds heavy.

Maybe I'll just increase the thickness of the weatherstrip and see what happens.

I'd add the stiffening bar to the door before trying the thicker seal. You could set it up to look like a bit of trim. Only downside is sanding the finish down so you can glue to the wood.

I've straightened things by using some strong backs on it, but doesn't really look as clean as it could, but if you are creative it could be a great design element. I've had similar issues on my doors in the past, all of mine are just 3/4" ply so they can move a lot. I am really careful to make sure I have an equal gap all the way around the door now for the gasket, and I don't use a lot of compression on them. Some of the closed cell gaskets can exert a lot of pressure and with a wooden door, it's going to look for a place to move to when under the gasket pressure depending on humidity and temp.

To counter act any potential problems. I don't leave the doors latched when storing for long periods of time, but then I have them in a garage (unheated) so don't have to worry about someone getting into them.

Just my opinion and experience, others may vary. Doug

Cliff,

Sounds like your doors are built the same as mine other than the fact that you used superior finish. Mine were coated on the outside and edges with oil based Kilz primer and Valspar Duramax exterior house paint. The inside is painted oak paneling, painted at the factory with who knows what. I cut dadoes in the interior trim to allow 1/4" for the 3/8" seal. I did put my hinges very near the top and bottom of the door which may have helped prevent warping at least on that edge.

I have a large piece of 1" thick phenolic which was being discarded at the place I used to work. It provided a nice flat and rigid base on which to build the doors. After they were built they ended up spending several months, probably over a year, laying on the floor of the TD with that heavy phenolic on top of them, so they could not warp. The doors were later installed with temporary hardware and no seals for the move to Kerrville (same for the hatch). I ended up towing the TD about 250 miles in a light rain. No water found it's way inside in spite of the 1/4 inch gap all the way around the doors with no trim. The trailer spent nearly another year inside an EZ Up in the back yard with the walls down and still no finish on the trailer. After which I relocated it close to my shop moved the EZ Up back over it and finally painted it due to the fact that aluminum is not currently in the budget. Still need to finish installing the hatch (hinge, seals, latch), and put some kind of bed in there and it will be useable. Not sure when I will get around to doing that bit of work though.

Oh, so far my doors have not warped. But one year in a press is probably not the preferred construction method for most builders......

As others have suggested some type of stiffener on the door would probably help. It could easily be made into some kind of a pull or handle.
Good luck.

Thanks for the input, everyone!

If anyone has used stiffeners on their doors, could they show a picture?

I'm with Doug. If you had a seal that required a fair about of pressure to close, then your door could be experiencing creep. A uniform gap and a light pressure would be the best bet to fight it. Try putting some weights and blocks so that you can slowly warp it back and the you could also glass both inside and outside surfaces to add strength and then use a lighter seal -- just an idea.

Cliff-

I would say it is a "unbalanced" panel

The exterior is 1/4" ply and finished to lock out moisture...

The interior is 1/8" luan and poly finished which will still pick up moisture...

I would try scuffing up the poly on the inside, gluing another 1/8" layer in the opposite grain direction, and finish like you did the exterior.

This will at least balance the door better & should take the warp out.

Cheers,

Coop