Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Keep in mind, my trailer is a square box... the roof area measures out to be 49 5/8" wide by exactly 96" long

I can not find any flywood or OSB wider then the stock 4' width.... so what is the best approach at laying a roof down? Should I go with two exact sized boards and lay them sideways, or is there a better approach to this? How do I seal the two roof pieces to get a water tight seal and no leaks?

Any thoughts?

How do you plan on finishing the outside of your trailer? If you are planning on skining with aluminum than two sheets of plywood would work just fine. If you are planning on just painting then you will have a hard time sealing your trailer. If you are planning on fiberglass or canvas then you would just use one full size sheet of plywood and round over the corners. Overlapping the plywood sides with the roof plywood would not provide much strength.

Dan

If you're going above 48", you might as well go directly to 60+" so you get a queen bed.
Turn the sheets sideways and use the scraps for your cabinets or other projects.

Kharn wrote:If you're going above 48", you might as well go directly to 60+" so you get a queen bed.
Turn the sheets sideways and use the scraps for your cabinets or other projects.

If you look in his album it appears that he has already built some of the trailer.



Dan

steve_29045 wrote:Keep in mind, my trailer is a square box... the roof area measures out to be 49 5/8" wide by exactly 96" long

I can not find any flywood or OSB wider then the stock 4' width.... so what is the best approach at laying a roof down? Should I go with two exact sized boards and lay them sideways, or is there a better approach to this? How do I seal the two roof pieces to get a water tight seal and no leaks?

Any thoughts?

I'd tear those sides off, narrow the front/back/floor, and not overlap the frame, just the floor - then you'll be at 48" wide and eliminate the "problem".

I would cut two pieces of plywood and lay them across perpendicular to the sides. This would give the most as far as structural stability. You can skin over the top with aluminum and butt the ends together with an overlap and a seam trim piece, or just get a piece of rubber roofing to go over the top.

use two sheets of wood with a butt block under the seam, seal it with waterproof glue, PLpremium being cheap and easy to get at most hardware stores. As long as the seam is full it won't leak, polyurethane glue is waterproof and comes in many types, one of the most common is the cheap fiberglass resin kits sold at every hardware store and auto body type place. Marine epoxy is the other method, but it is very expensive compared to the rest.
a canvas and paint skin covering the whole trailer would render the whole thing waterproof.

rowerwet wrote:use two sheets of wood with a butt block under the seam, seal it with waterproof glue, PLpremium being cheap and easy to get at most hardware stores. As long as the seam is full it won't leak, polyurethane glue is waterproof and comes in many types, one of the most common is the cheap fiberglass resin kits sold at every hardware store and auto body type place. Marine epoxy is the other method, but it is very expensive compared to the rest.
a canvas and paint skin covering the whole trailer would render the whole thing waterproof.

Please explain canvas to me? What kind of canvas, where is it bought from, and how do you secure it to the wood?

read the thread in my signature, "poor mans fiberglass".
basically it is fabric, glued to the plywood with a thinned coat of TiteBond II or exterior paint (Glidden Gripper primer works well) once the fabric is stuck or bedded into the glue or paint, you fill the weave of the fabric with more exterior paint. the paint and fabric become a composite just like fiberglass and epoxy become once cured.
I covered my teardrop with painted drop cloth canvas from Home depot, 4 years later outdoors, it needs no maintenance.