Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

The PO of my TD cut the galley hatch after putting the roof supports in place. He didn't have cabinets, so once I put in cabinets, the walls squared up slightly, but the hatch didn't. The end result is about 1/2 inch gap in some places. Any ideas on how to close it up, short of making a new hatch?
Here are some pics to helps understand my issue. The ribs are 2 1/2 with about 3/4 space below them.
Thanks for any ideas
Tom

I am know I will be corrected if this is a bad ideal. I would use plastic wood filler. Use oiled wax paper as a release and a spacer to form the filler space when the hatch in closed.

Take the metal trim off your sidewall, and laminate strips to the edge.Then sand a new curve to match your hatch and replace the trim. You will have to touch up the paint on the side tho.


Oh, and the area where your hatch curves (by that black line) , the wall might need to be sanded down so the hatch closes closer near the bottom. At least that's what I see looking at the pictures......

I don't understand the root cause. If the walls were bowed slightly (curved from floor to ceiling), or racked (both leaning to one side or the other... parallelogram) I'm not sure how that would have caused this and have the hatch still line up with the side of the wall.

It is important to understand the root cause in order to make an informed decision on the remedy.

Are the walls now straight and square to the floor?

Is the gap the same on both sides?

There are several contributing factors,
1 the "racking"
2 The hinge was originally cut about 2 feet further forward, I reattached the top as best as I could, closed that seam, then cut a new hinge point at the existing location.
3 I had to do a little trimming to get the hatch to line up well with the body when I installed the hurricane hinge.
4) I may have over sanded in some areas in order to get things lined up.
5) The gap seems worse after I installed the trim and gasket material.

The racking is dealt with to some extent when I pull the hatch closed.

Sanding more on the lower part of the body ( or hatch) to allow the hatch to close more might help, but I though I would ask for opinions before I start doing more stuff.

I was actually wondering if it would make sense to take a 1 x 2 or 1 x3 and create an guide/gutter on the body inside the hatch. It would stick up about 1/2 above the existing trim, it would help guide the door in place, and seal along the inside against dust, and create a gutter to direct water outward.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to develop a solution.
Thanks
Tom

KCStudly wrote:I don't understand the root cause. If the walls were bowed slightly (curved from floor to ceiling), or racked (both leaning to one side or the other... parallelogram) I'm not sure how that would have caused this and have the hatch still line up with the side of the wall.

It is important to understand the root cause in order to make an informed decision on the remedy.

Are the walls now straight and square to the floor?

Is the gap the same on both sides?

The walls are not straight and square to the floor

The gap is very similar on both sides.
Tom

Seems to me that the hatch sides were cut from the wall, so they should fit perfectly.

Also sounds to me like the root cause is that you changed the hinge point so that the hatch is no longer related to the walls the way it was before it was cut free.

Correct the hinge center pin location and most of your problems should go away, IMNSHO.

Sorry. Cross post there. Either your installation of the cabinets squared up the walls or it didn't. Which is correct?

I get some flak on my build for being a detail freak, but when it comes to building accurately and avoiding downstream issues, attention to detail counts for a lot.

If you want good help, you need to provide good information when you ask for help. You are the one that can measure and check to see what the problem is. From there we can provide informed help to get you out of trouble.

GIGO.

Measure, check, check some more. Analyze. The problem will become apparent and the solution will present itself.

Sorry if this seems harsh, but I truly am trying to help.

The trick is figuring out the real problem so that the correct answer can be figured out.

Sorry I think autocorrect added a "not" above walls are straight. Hatch is not straight.
The questions you are asking is helpful, I've been looking closer, and something is keeping the hatch from closing tightly. I will have to investigate further, and get back with answers.
Tom

If the walls need to be built up, I like Micro 469 idea's best. Once the wall matches the hatch, you might also consider going to a wider T-moulding: https://www.socalteardrops.com/parts.php?cid=2&pid=23

TL

Socal Tom wrote:There are several contributing factors,
"
2 The hinge was originally cut about 2 feet further forward, I reattached the top as best as I could, closed that seam, then cut a new hinge point at the existing location.
3 I had to do a little trimming to get the hatch to line up well with the body when I installed the hurricane hinge.Thanks
Tom

Can we see a picture of that??

The best pics would probably be in my build journal

So I've been looking and analyzing. The top of the hatch lines up well with the body. The bottom of the hatch aligns well with the bottom of the body, though there is a pretty good sized gap between the bottom of the hatch and the uncut section. I think this shows in one of the pics. I think that the issue is primarily that the cut between the hatch and body is too big. It may have been exacerbated in some areas by additional sanding when I was trying to make it tight without any gasket material. Now that it is aligned better the over sanding is more evident. A combination of building up the body and the wider trim maybe my best bet.
Any advice on how to laminate more wood on?

Would it be better to just remove the sides of the hatch and make new ones by templating from the edges of the walls and the hatch framing?

Sometimes it is no more work to cut away a larger portion and add back what is needed, than it is to try and get a patch to look correct.

Just trying to offer another perspective from what I like to think of as an experienced perspective. (All relative, of course.)

This only vertical spars on this hatc are the side pieces. So removing them probably means remaking the hatch. I've considered that as an option, but honestly my skills, tools and patience level leave MF with little confidence that the result would be any better.
I suppose, I could try making a new hatch, without doing anything to the old hatch, and if I fail I can revert back to this one.
Tom