Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I receive a quote today for the plywood I'll be using in my upcoming build, there were a couple terms I am not familiar with, here is what the quote looks like:



I am lucky that I can get 10x5 birch ply in my area, this will prevent me from needing to splice anything together (and the cost isn't insane compared to the 5x5), however I do not know what 4B or 4BB means. BB for plywood, to me, means B grade on both sides, however I do not know what the number before it means. Anyone know?

As far as where it says 12MM - I assume this means it's just shy of 1/2 inch and is 12MM thick. Please correct me if I am wrong.

In the email, she also said "Keep in mind the 10x5 plywood, the grain runs the other way" - I am not familiar enough to understand what this means, can anyone shed some light on it for me?

Thanks!

As far as where it says 12MM - I assume this means it's just shy of 1/2 inch and is 12MM thick. Please correct me if I am wrong.

In the email, she also said "Keep in mind the 10x5 plywood, the grain runs the other way" - I am not familiar enough to understand what this means, can anyone shed some light on it for me?

Yes, on the 12mm being .47" thick. I would expect something similar on the 3/4" Russian birch.

On the grain question, I assume if the sheet is sitting on its long side, the grain will be vertical. I've never seen that but I've didn't realize Russian Birch was made in 10' long sheets either.

No 1/8" for the headliner or roof, eh?

Tony

tony.latham wrote:Yes, on the 12mm being .47" thick. I would expect something similar on the 3/4" Russian birch.

On the grain question, I assume if the sheet is sitting on its long side, the grain will be vertical. I've never seen that but I've didn't realize Russian Birch was made in 10' long sheets either.

No 1/8" for the headliner or roof, eh?

Tony

Thanks for the info! Unfortunately I can't seem to find 1/8" anywhere, so I'll be doing 1/4" and 1/2" - my walls will be ½” exterior, ¾” skeleton, ¼” interior = 1 ½” thick wall, which I am fine with. The trailer frame will be beefy as hell, has brakes and the camper itself will be a little overbuilt.

In fact, I am writing up a build order of operations that I'll be asking your permission to post here in the next couple days. Won't be nearly as detailed as your book but I am certainly getting inspiration from it, and it has page numbers for reference. Since it's my first build, so I want to be extremely thorough

I do want to be able to put heavy stuff on the roof and I think the thicker ply would be just fine for that too

In fact, I am writing up a build order of operations that I'll be asking your permission to post here in the next couple days.

No problemo, sharing is what teardrop building is all about.

That 1/2" exterior sheathing is gross overkill. 1/4" is fine. But perhaps you need it because yours will be a woody and they don't have 1/4" sheets 10' long?

Tony

tony.latham wrote:That 1/2" exterior sheathing is gross overkill. 1/4" is fine. But perhaps you need it because yours will be a woody and they don't have 1/4" sheets 10' long?

Tony

They do have 5x10 1/4" sheets (but not 1/8th). Do you think doing 1/4" exterior & interior with the 3/4" skeleton will be good to hold a lot of weight on the top?

They do have 5x10 1/4" sheets (but not 1/8th). Do you think doing 1/4" exterior & interior with the 3/4" skeleton will be good to hold a lot of weight on the top?

How much is a lotta weight?

Tony

tony.latham wrote:

They do have 5x10 1/4" sheets (but not 1/8th). Do you think doing 1/4" exterior & interior with the 3/4" skeleton will be good to hold a lot of weight on the top?

How much is a lotta weight?

Tony

I am kind of building for the future. I am definitely going to have a roof rack with a 180 awning on top and eventually might put a "solar" shower tube up top where the sun heats the PVC and therefore the water inside. There's a lot of possibilities and I don't want to push the limit, but I am kind of curious to think about how much weight it will hold.

I changed my order and got 1/4" exterior and interior (instead of 1/2" exterior and 1/4" interior), plywood delivers on Monday!

I am definitely going to have a roof rack with a 180 awning on top and eventually might put a "solar" shower tube up top where the sun heats the PVC and therefore the water inside.

A sandwich wall with 1/4" inside and out sheathing will support that without a problem. Of course, you should plan on attaching the rack brackets to the walls and not the roof.

Tony

tony.latham wrote:Of course, you should plan on attaching the rack brackets to the walls and not the roof.

Absolutely!