Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

So I believe I have decided on 2"X2" square for my framing, now to figuer out the walls. I definately want them to be insulated so I am going to go with stick wall construction. I think 1/4" ply on either side should be sufficient with 3/4" framing. I plan to have the outside skin sit on the frame and have the subfloor frame and flooring inset 1/4" from the edge of the frame. That way I can attach the outer skin into the subfloor frame and also sitting on top of the steel. I also plan to have a 3/4" bottom plate that is either screwed dirrectly down into the floor or attached with pocket screws. This will be glued and screwed to the outside skin and act as a cleat to hold the wall and floor together. I'll probably go with 1/2" flooring though I put 3/4" in the drawings. How thick should the framing for the sub-floor be? 2X4's seem like they would be heavy, though I do want to be able to remove the "cabin" to use the frame as a utility trailer. Here are some Sketchup drawings I did:

I too am thinking of using stick wall construction when I get to building my Tiny Travel Trailer. Although I am thinking about insulating the floor also. I want to keep the weight down, but I want this thing to be airtight and built to last.

I'm in the middle of my first build and am finding out it falls into the "overbuilt" category as I've heard most first timers talk about.

I think your 2x2 framing is overkill. 1x2s are more than enough. I used 3/4" plywood framing with 5/16" engineered wood flooring for the interior wall finish. The exterior will be 1/8" plywood and aluminum. My floor is 1x2s laid flat for framing with 1/4" plywood top and bottom. My walls are lapped over the floor similar to your detail. By the way, I don't have any steel crossmembers in my trailer except at the front and back to help support the floor.

Last weekend, I had my teardrop off the trailer. As it is, supported on three points, I climbed in the teardrop, and my 200 pounds did not cause it to flex.



My second teardrop will be much lighter.

Tom

Thanks, since I posted this i have come to the conclussion that a floor made of 1X2's with 1/4" ply top and bottom will be the way I'll go. It seems that with an all steel tube frame underneath the 2X2 floor would be doing little other than adding weight and taking up space. It seems you have alot of "sticks" in your wall, I was planning on just putting an upright 1X2-4 on 24" centers and then laying out the door hinge and cabinets so that they can be attached through the interior ply directly into an upright. Those 24" uprights will also be sitting directly above a steel croddmember. Sort of maximizing the minimal! My next problem is how to attach the spars? I originally planned on prefaabing both walls and then attaching the spars through the interior ply to the framing. It seems it would be better to have the spars sitting on top of the framing and interior ply and then screwed through the exterior ply. On walls made only out of plywood they seem to obe fine just screwed through the extrior plywood. I just like a little belt and suspenders. Having never built one I don't know where it's needed or not. Sure is fun thinking about it all!

If you're going with just the wood (painted, epoxied, varnished, etc) exterior I would suggest having it hang down below and somewhat outside the top of the frame. That way rainwater will drip off the siding and not wick underneath.

Davkrat

(By the way is Dave your first name?)

There are many different ways to attach the spars. Because of tight quarters and working by myself, I've had to build my teardrop in components, and then assembled them later.

I built my roof somewhat like others have built their hatches. My roof fits in between my sidewalls. I used a parallel 1 1/2" wide, 3/4" plywood "nailers" along on each side profile. For spars, I used 1x2 poplar - 12" on center for most of the roof; 8" on center at the tighter curves. I did double up the 1x2s on the only flat part of my roof which is at the vent fan. The spars were attached temporarily to the nailers with two 1 1/4" pocket screws at each joint. Then I fastened my 1/8" ply for the ceiling side of the roof (and hull liner too.)

The roof assembly was put back into place and held with clamps to the sidewalls. I removed one of the two pocket screws at each joint and replaced it with a 2 1/2" ceramic coated pocket screw that went through the spar into the nailer and into the sidewall framing. I then took out the other 1 1/4" pocket screw. From the outside of the sidewall, I used a 2 1/2" screw that ran through the sidewall into the nailer and into the spar.



Planovet (Mark) also built his teardrop in components and assembled them. He used a method similar to the one Steve Frederick's guide (worth every penny of the purchase price if you don't have one already.) Mark's website illustrates how he built his teardrop and is an excellent source as well.

Tom

I also wanted mine insulated so I used 3/4 ply for the outside-glued 1/2" ridgid insulation to the inside-just channeled out for my wiring-then glued paneling to the inside.

JJKC

Thanks for the info. Here is waht I plan to do. Like I said I'll have the 2X2 crossmembers in the frame so the floor does not need to be so heavily built.