Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well I've finally started on my build. I've installed my insulation in the ceiling and now i'm ready to install the 1/8" luan plywood to the ceiling. I need advice on What is the best to attach the plywood? I've thought of flat head self tapping screws and wondered is there anything better? I tried the search but drew a dead end. I'd sure like to do it right the first time.Thanks

A 1/4" crown stapler works great. If you don't have one (they're cheap at Harbor Freight), 3/4" flat head wood screws will work fine. I lay a bead of polyester construction adhesive down first.

Tony

Thanks for the reply. I should have mentioned I'm converting a cargo trailer with square/tube steel rafters.

I used 3/4" self tapping screws, but I predrilled the holes so as not to damage the paneling with slips and misfires...

I used the self-taping screws, and will put a strip of molding over the seams later on. I predrilled also.

This may not be the answer for what your doing but it seams like everyone but me attached a strip of wood wider than the metal tube and then it's much easier to screw into the wood, in my case I tried to screw it to the metal tubing and it was not square and was really hard to get both pieces screwed on to the metal.

Flat head screws with a finishing washer provides good support between screw and wood. Flat head screws themselves often pull through thin plywood. Use a metal self drilling screw makes the job easier. The self drill screws with the ears are nice as the ears cut the hole through the wood larger for clearance and then break off when the ears hits the metal rib.

Note that each screw that connects to the metal rib is a path for heat transfer. When it is cold outside and the inyerior humidity is high enough condensation and even frost forming on the screw heads is a possibility. That was one reason I "double layered" insulation and plywood in out CTC. I can expand on that idea if you want.

Also, you don't mention the walls, but with most CT's the factory applied interior wall plywood is a structural component and as such should be retained / reinstalled and tightly screwed to the ribs as it was manufactured. Again I applied a second layer of insulation and then the finish thin plywood. No screws with heads open to the interior contact the metal framing.

crumvoc wrote:I used 3/4" self tapping screws, but I predrilled the holes so as not to damage the paneling with slips and misfires...

Same here

That's great info and I'll go to the local hardware store in the a.m. I'd like to finish this tomorrow. Thanks

I had no idea how hard this was going to be! Nothing was square on my trailer. The rafters were not square and the last one was off by about 3/4" in width to the wide side making it almost impossible to screw the last edge down. If I ever do this again the factory will insulate and finish the ceiling!

Same for me (as far as "out of square" square tubing).

Hopefully not too late for you... I'm a terrible carpenter so this was a learning experience.

We screwed wood furring strips to the square tubing using self tapping flathead screws lengthwise, and crosswise at ~ 4 foot intervals. Then I bought an air stapler using narrow crown staples. This was the best purchase ever as it was fast on the ceiling work, and made it easy to re-attach the trim to the wall panels after I insulated the walls.

Once I had the strips installed, I worked to get the ceiling panels somewhat square to the walls, using luan strips to finish the crooked seams left by getting the ceiling square. Then I just stapled all the ceiling panels to the wood strips, adjusing the staple depth to what looked best without pulling through the luan. I previously had stuffed 1" foam insulation cut to fit between the square tubing throughout the roof. The goal was to reduce metal fastener contact to the "cold side", cutting back on condensation. Pretty good results so far.

To bridge the gap between wall and ceiling I built flat panels with trim the same width trim pieces as the wall/ceiling and stapled it to wall and ceiling after insulating the curves with fiberglass. (yes,lazy) This covered the "crookedness" between the new ceiling edges and the wall to dress it up. I had all kinds of ideas to make curved panels, build angular anchors and such, but once I made the panels, it was a cinch to staple them directly to the wall and ceiling (through luan and into the furring strips at most locations)

I realize I don't have pictures in my gallery of the process, but you can see the finished product, and this build is where my ideas for the ceiling came from:

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=40504

Here's a couple of pics of mine finished.



pic of fan install, ceiling detail


view of overall ceiling detail

It was really my bad.
I should have read everybody's post more carefully especially Jwhite's.
I haven't finished the trim out yet but hopefully I can cover most mistakes. Will post pictures when finis hed.
Thanks

MtnDon, Howdy;

MtnDon wrote:Note that each screw that connects to the metal rib is a path for heat transfer. When it is cold outside and the inyerior humidity is high enough condensation and even frost forming on the screw heads is a possibility. That was one reason I "double layered" insulation and plywood in out CTC. I can expand on that idea if you want.

Also, you don't mention the walls, but with most CT's the factory applied interior wall plywood is a structural component and as such should be retained / reinstalled and tightly screwed to the ribs as it was manufactured. Again I applied a second layer of insulation and then the finish thin plywood. No screws with heads open to the interior contact the metal framing.

In your second para. you mention adding a second layer of insulation, does the thickness matter in preventing the
'Bridge effect of could one use some thin foam and cover it with some luan?
Thanks for your thoughts.

hank