Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

What a better place to ask then where there are others who have been down this road...
In my search and ideas for a trailer one of the things is extra height. Despite being 5'9' I like the idea of a 7'ht so for instance I was looking at this 7x14 or either 16' with 1' of extra height for a total of 7'.
Being that many insulate the walls and ceiling I would like to do the floor as well. Many take up the floor boards and insulate between the floor rails then recover and then have to cover the insulation from the under side. I was thinking with a 7' ht you could keep the existing floor intact and build on top of that using 2x4's on their side so 3.5" height, insulate between those and also have a place to run pvc draining and water supply along the edge of the trailer. In the area of the side door I would more than likely leave the area the width of the door and about 15" inward the normal height, cover that area with a rubber flooring then wood flooring inside the rest.
Thoughts?
pic of a trailer I have in mind

The extra 1' height is a great idea. That is something you cannot do later. It does make a huge difference on the interior feel when you there. Insulation is another must do and cannot be done well after the build.

That is a nice looking trailer!! I like it. I don't know much about the brand, but do your homework to make sure the build quality is what you expect.

If your tow vehicle can handle it and if the added wind deflection will not be a concern to you, I say go for it. You and I are about the same height. My six foot finished interior is very adequate for me. And I have lots of (6 inches in spots) ceiling insulation. But I have a flat front and I can certainly tell it while doing 60 mph or more. My truck power is plenty, but my gas mileage goes into the tank.

tow vehicle is a 2003 Expedition FX4 4x4 with a 5.4, I am doing an upgraded trans cooler soon so I wont have any issues there

but what are everyones thoughts of building on top of the existing floor to have room to insulate and run plumbing draining?

You might even have the door raised when ordering it, so you won't have to keep the floor lower inside.
Hader did some above floor plumbing that worked out real well. below are page 3 and 7 of his build.
Page 3 has a bizarre concept pic of what he had in mind and page 7 is the actual build. Check it out!
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=67319&start=30
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=67319&start=90

I did exactly that when I insulated the floor on my NEO, except I used 2x2s, not 2x4s to save a bit of weight. I installed 1.5" rigid pink insulation in between the 2x2s.

I also made a point of adding 2x2 framing where my interior walls were going to be placed for additional support.

I bought the trailer off the dealer lot else I would have considered raising the door as suggested.

Hope this helps.

CoventryKid wrote:I did exactly that when I insulated the floor on my NEO, except I used 2x2s, not 2x4s to save a bit of weight. I installed 1.5" rigid pink insulation in between the 2x2s.

I also made a point of adding 2x2 framing where my interior walls were going to be placed for additional support.

I bought the trailer off the dealer lot else I would have considered raising the door as suggested.

Hope this helps.

It does, very ,much
EDIT: If the 2x2's are actually 1.75" (I'm assuming a 2x4 being actually 3.5" wide) I don't think there would be room for 1.5" PVC if you include the additional diameter of the couplers part, it has to add a total of .25" I would think for a total of 1.75"?

I used a false floor and had my door sill built off the floor to accomodate it. I ran 1/2” pex tubing for radiant heat. It works but I do not use it because of the hassle to drain in during non use in the winter. There is no reason the 1/2”pex could not be used for the water runs. Also ran several runs of electrical conduit from the electric area to the back for future wire runs. I used 2 x 2’s to support the 1/2” sub floor. Two pieces of 3/4” foam where sandwiched in the open space. See my build posting link below.

I think it is a great idea to get the extra height (at least 6 inches). I would not install insulation under the trailer. Mice are notorious for burrowing into the insulation and then breeding more mice … nasty!

On my trailer, I simply laid down 1 inch polyiso foam on the floor and covered with 5/8 inch plywood. My thinking was that the 5/8 inch thick wood would not flex much and would distribute the weight over a large area and thus not crush the foam. We shall see in time if this proves true.

And that is a nice looking trailer!

Since mine is a toy hauler I didn't want to mess with in floor tie downs. So I insulated underneath. I then painted it with waterproof paint. I painted it for looks and because bee's or wasps love ridged insulation. Mice not so much.

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Padilen wrote:Since mine is a toy hauler I didn't want to mess with in floor tie downs. So I insulated underneath. I then painted it with waterproof paint. I painted it for looks and because bee's or wasps love ridged insulation. Mice not so much.

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Mine is a toy hauler too. I have 4” wide e-track on the floor the entire length of the trailer. So, I cut 4” wide strips of foam and plywood where my permanent tie down locations will be so I can remove and replace the foam and plywood strips as needed. If I need more tie down spots, I will just cut out more areas. Works pretty good for me.

Here in Indiana, we have mice problems chewing into the foam. Never thought about bees and wasps. Good to know.

One can just screw thin aluminum or wood to the underside of the trailer to keep mice out.
It would also help to smooth the airflow under the trailer.

EDIT: If the 2x2's are actually 1.75" (I'm assuming a 2x4 being actually 3.5" wide) I don't think there would be room for 1.5" PVC if you include the additional diameter of the couplers part, it has to add a total of .25" I would think for a total of 1.75"?

2x2s are actually 1.5" not 1.75".