Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I would like to know if there are any benefits or drawbacks to using
a marine grade ply. Is there a major difference in sealing with CPES,
as opposed to polyurethane and denatured alcohol? And lastly, is the
polyurethane some thing I can pick up at the local hardware store?
I'm sure to have more questions later, as I'm mulling over whether to
build or buy my first tear.
Thank you for your time and knowledge.
Mayne

Welcome Mayne! Marine is great if you can get it. I couldn't! If you use either CPES or Poly. be sure to put on several coats and be very sure your last few coats are UV resistant.

Miriam C. wrote::thumbsup: Welcome Mayne! Marine is great if you can get it. I couldn't! If you use either CPES or Poly. be sure to put on several coats and be very sure your last few coats are UV resistant.

I do have a line on marine ply here, as San Jose is a large area, there are lots of supply areas as well. It's a matter of getting the right supplies that concerns me. I'm either going with marine paint as a top coat, or alright is only 50 miles away, so aluminum? dunno. So the CPES or the Poly will work just fine I gather. Is the Poly your average local hardware stuffs, or am I looking for something special?

Thanks again.

I used Helmsman Sparthane. Can be bought in Walmart, Lowes, HD, and probably most better hardware stores.

Marine grade plywood is the RollsRoyce of plywood and the very best choice. Then two or three coats of what ever/CPES.

Great! I'll go with that! Thanks I do appreciate the info.
It helps narrow things down quite a bit.

I will address this question, to build or buy. That question leads me to ask you several to ponder while making your decision. What are your skill levels?, how patient are you?, how long are you willing to wait to go camping?, do you already have something else to camp in while you build?, Have you ever camped before?, do you have tools and a place to build? Can you afford to buy something already built? and the most important one, can you find the TIME to get it done?. A build is not a weekend project and takes months of free time. That is the problem that I have run into is finding the time and occasional helper to get it done. I actually have two chassis built, a standee and a kneely. See my album, but it takes help and that is hard to come by. I have one all framed and ready for sheeting, I have spent over 1k and still cannot camp in it. I could afford to buy one already built but that is NOT what I want. Lucky I have an old popup to go camping in. Good luck with your decision to buy or build. Bill

I do not know the price difference in ply. Both of mine were built with what I could get locally. First in 2004, second in 2008. Both were sealed with 2 coats of cpes. Neither had any wood problems.

Second was painted with marine primer and deck top paint. Looks as good as new... or it would if I washed it....

Build pics in link below.

As far as new or build, I've not located something in a price
range that I'm good with. I'm in the vicinity of American Teardrop
in Auburn, but their reviews were not all that great. I'm going
to take a look at them and make a judgement call there. I have
all the camp gear I need, the tear would be a luxury. As far as
build skill, I have the basics for wood work, and I'm more than
confident in my welding skill. It may come down to the boss saying
just buy one and stop mucking about.
Mayne

As with ANY "build"..it takes time,patience,help,skill,perseverence,and money.

AND..sumtimes the "boss" ain't always RIGHT !

If you build...the "boss' always knows where you are,what yer doin,who yer with...

AND...sumtimes the "destination" isn't as important as the JOURNEY !

"I" bought a "salvage" project and spent many a day/nite buildin and then rippin it out...the journey...and in the end.."I" love it !

Do what YOU wanna do...cause even YOU need to be happy !!

Just one more reason I'm glad I no longer have a "boss".

If they ain't a co-worker, git rid of em !

If they ain't puttin the wind IN yer sails..blow em OFF !

heh there are some pluses to single lol But back to the subject you have to decide what you want to do. It is fun makeing it yourself. I have my floor done and headin the end of the week to my friends house to start on the walls.

I used baltic birch plywood on one of my builds. Even with CPES on the endgrain, it wasn't enough to keep the plywood from delaminating.

So my first choice in plywood would be a marine plywood, expecially if you are not going to cover it in aluminum.



Mike...

Gosh Mike , that's depressing !!! Do you think fiberglass tape and resin would have helped ... guessing you'd have to do all exposed seams/edges huh ???