Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am building a 7x12 (almost) stand up camper. It's decision time on wall construction and I am still undecided. The intended finish will be clear finished wood, probably maple. I can get decent locally sourced maple plywood in either 1/4" or 3/4. I like the idea of solid 3/4 walls for several reasons. Ease of construction and future mods without having to worry about where to put a stud. If I was building a small teardrop it would be a no-brainer, I'd go with 3/4 ' walls.

Benefits of a framed wall would be less weight and having insulation.

Has anyone here built a stand up trailer with solid 3/4 walls?

Thanks

If you build the walls using studs you have the advantage of being able to run all the wiring in the walls instead of having surface wiring. Also with the framed walls (using 2 x 2's) you can use standard camper windows and doors. The 7 x 12 is a nice size with lots of interior possibilities. Be sure to post some pictures of your build. Rarely does someone on this forum build a small stand up camper the size you are making, so I'm interested to see what you are building. Mine is 6.5 x 12, with a little over 6 feet interior height. Good luck on your build.

Jeff
I built several stand ups with plywood walls. You will need to splice the panels together somehow, by either butt joint with a spline, or rabbiting each panel. These walls were splined vertically then covered with aluminum, but if left exposed wood you might used trim strips to hide the joint if you wish

I measured and remeasured to get 3 vertical sheets to fall strategically so they could be reinforced with a 1x3 internal rib.

The galley wall was used as one splice and the door frame for the other. They can be drilled thru or simply saw out a portion if needed to wire.






When I veneered the outside I started with a full sheet at the rear and married the seams carefully one fell above the tire and the other above and below the door making them short and barely detectable. I let the veneer fly over the splices to help reinforce the entire wall.

I finally found a picture where you can see the veneer sheets a bit better.



After 2 days in the snow and slop you can see the division just above the tire. the other splice falls just above and below the end point of the door side of the hinge.

Gentlemen,
Thanks for your replies and all the good info.

Mustangcats,
A great point on the windows and doors. I'll need to figure that out. I am using the door from my base trailer, a 1965ish Jet canned ham that was too far gone to restore. The windows I am using were salvaged from some old Jayco. I just picked them up yesterday. I intend to run wiring within the interior built ins running the length of the street side. Thanks for the kind words.

Prohandyman,
I have found some really nice looking tongue and groove ply which I will either finish as-is or veneer over, wife has a big vote here. I plan to join them with west system epoxy and reinforce with trim strips. Your truck and trailer combo looks great.

Bob Henry,
Some great info and ideas. Thanks. I will use every bit of three vertical sheets of ply so i'll have to try to locate my doors ans window strategically as you say. I've seen your swing out galley, love it! What is the galley hatch covering that looks see through?

Measure twice, cut once. Sometimes I cut three times and it's still too short.

Thanks

"What is the galley hatch covering that looks see through?"

Bronze tint lexan. They were commercial hail protectors for large sky lites.

I answered an ad for plastic sheets and got 10 4x6 sheets for $50.00 (Thank you Mr. Miller)

Have you thought of using tongue and groove boards for both the interior and exterior sides? One board satisfies both. The boards would be nailed to the base and the profile cut once all boards were in place. I'm thinking this would make a cool looking woody.

T

Bob Henry,
That's cool. It looks great!

Tom,
That does sound like a cool idea.

I have been looking at all kinds of plywood: Oak, birch, pine, even some of the marine ply's I've used in boatbuilding.

The grain of maple keeps drawing me back. I just love that look.

M better half keeps saying she's fine with whatever I choose, which is very odd.