Trailer floor

[stoveman]

I just put a HF trailer together and am using 3/4" plywood for the walls and do not plan to insulate the floor.I would like to hear thoughts/experience with bolting 3/4" plywood directly to the frame of the trailer with no frame and screwing the bottom of the sides to it.
Thank you,Bob

[SteveH]

Bob,

Take a look at my gallery. That's the way I built my trailer three years ago, and 21,000 miles later, it's going strong with no problems.

[stoveman]

Thanks for your reply Steve.

Nice looking Tear you built.I am looking forward to starting mine soon but things like leaking shop roofs grab my attention.I'll be caught up with prioritys soon.

Bob

[doug hodder]

I've built the same way, but do include a 1.5" cleat all the way around the perimeter of the frame to attach the walls to on the bottom side. That way the frame is tucked under the sides of the tear. Doug

[madjack]

Bob, while we do use a custom frame, that is how we build...we use a piece of 1x1x1/16 aluminum angle as a cleat to make the floor/wall connection............
madjack

[stoveman]

I do like the cleat idea and will use it.Thank you for taking your time to help.

Bob

[bobhenry]

I went over the wheels. I screwed and glued 2x4 perimeter around the osb floor that lays directly on the frame. The 1/2 osb sides were screwed into the 2x4 and a 1x4 cleat is added inside to help with the wall load and act as a nailer for the 1/4 luan interior

[Alphacarina]

See if you can find where your OSB was made

The flormaldehyde problems associated with the FEMA trailers was caused by the trailer manufacturers using OSB they bought from Honduras which outgases the flormaldehyde

If you don't know where it was made, I would suggest painting all sides/edges of it before you cover it up . . . . that should seal it well enough to mitigate the problem

Don

[bobhenry]

See if you can find where your OSB was made

The flormaldehyde problems associated with the FEMA trailers was caused by the trailer manufacturers using OSB they bought from Honduras which outgases the flormaldehyde

If you don't know where it was made, I would suggest painting all sides/edges of it before you cover it up . . . . that should seal it well enough to mitigate the problem

Don

Are you and chicken little related ?.... "The sky is falling"

The GP osb mills are located in Hosford Georgia and Fordyce Arkansas.

The MSDS sheets state " No harmful chemical residue is left on the surface of the board "

Nationa; institute for Occupational safety and health states" Wood dust from all hard and soft wood is a potental occupational carcinogen"

We better all start building 4x8x4 square "Cubedrops" and quit making saw dust. Breathing is a hazard , crossing the street is a hazard. These are the little hazards that keeps life interesting.

[stoveman]

I appreciate all of the suggestions and precautions offered. It just goes to show how many ways you can build one of these trailers using the same basic design.

Bob[/b]

[Trackstriper]

bobhenry wrote:

"Are you and chicken little related ?.... "The sky is falling"

The GP osb mills are located in Hosford Georgia and Fordyce Arkansas.

The MSDS sheets state " No harmful chemical residue is left on the surface of the board "

Nationa; institute for Occupational safety and health states" Wood dust from all hard and soft wood is a potental occupational carcinogen"

We better all start building 4x8x4 square "Cubedrops" and quit making saw dust. Breathing is a hazard , crossing the street is a hazard. These are the little hazards that keeps life interesting."



Don (Alphacarina) has a good point. My wife and I are chemically sensitive to some products, formaldehyde being the primary culprit. If you start looking for the chemical, it's in a lot of products as a preservative. With many glues used for OSB, plywood, particleboard, etc. they use a urea formaldehyde base. It may be different from product to product, interior vs. exterior glue. Many time, if not usually, the interior products are more of a problem than the exterior materials. Kinda backwards.

Caveat. This may pose no problem for many people, at least in the short run. But then you can get dosed with enough of a chemical to become sensitive to it and it then becomes a serious problem. Like an allergy. First hand experience. Why we're sensitive primarily to formaldehyde? Don't know.

This is the primary reason for me building a TTT, so I can control what goes into it and to be able to properly coat, as Don suggested, the materials to slow down the out-gassing to where it won't be a problem. It would be a whole lot easier and cheaper just to buy something. We've gone to RV shows and Suzan literally need to leave the exhibit hall, much less the RV/trailer. She's good for about ten minutes at HD or Lowes.

I like the lawyerly MSDS sheets that Georgia Pacific have apparently put out. I'm not concerned with a chemical residue on the surface of the material. It's what is inside the 7/16" thickness that I'm concerned about, as it migrates as a gas toward the outside (inside tear).

This may all seem like a bunch of nonsense to some folks, but you need to be aware that it is a real issue. Maybe a good analogy would be allergies to pollens. Doesn't bother some people, for others it's a nuisance, and yet others seriously suffer. You can take a pill for allergies to inhibit/mask the effect of the pollen. With the chemical sensitivity, you buy a really nice HEPA air filter with an activated carbon/potassium permanganate section, then go about life. Sets you back about a grand, but it will keep the air workable for our apartment. Replace the carbon filter (5 pounds) about twice a year and we're good to go, while home.

The ladies in our church love the perfume, which has formaldehyde in it (preservative), and after a few passes in the hallway, or sitting even near someone who has applied it rather liberally, Suzan is toast for a day or two. No energy. Obvious solution is not to go near folks with perfume...try that. She works at home. Standard office environments will wipe her out. One of our local radio pundits makes fun of those "hypochondriacs" who think they have a problem with perfume in the workplace. A bit like smoking, smoking is never a problem for a smoker. Like I said, if it's not a problem for you that's great.

Bit of a rant. But this may help some to understand what other people have to be careful about.

J.B.

[bobhenry]

I set humbley corrected for being a bit of an ass. Vickie suffers from the perfume problem at work. A good whiff and instant migrane with nausea and so times vomiting. If you really want to see her turn beet red spray some tilex or oven cleaner. I have seen this first hand and am not insensitive to it so I appologize for my cavalier attitude. At 57 my worst medical emergency has been for a few stitches and once a bloody nose that refused to stop. I forget how blessed I am.