Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I don't recall seeing any do's or don't's in regard to the mating of the floor, subfloor, and wall. The (bad) drawing below shows two different ways to do it. I believe the right side would be considered the "conventional" way---as if there's anything conventional in a foamie --- but I kinda wanted to get the inner skin to get a better grip on stuff too, even if it's only a 12-18" wide reinforcing strip, and the only way to do that is to give it something to shear against instead of pull away from, if that makes sense. (For your orientation, imagine you're looking forward along the wall from the back corner of the trailer.)

My thought was to TB2 a canvas strip to the underside of the floor before the black glop, and fold it up, around, and lay it on the top of the floor, then after the wall is GG'ed down, TB2 the wall and strip of canvas and give it a right angle to pull around so that the force applied would be a slipping/shearing force instead of just pulling the canvas off the top of the floor.

The left side of the (bad) drawing is what I propose. Due to the absolutely horrendous selection of 2x4x10's at our local blue box store, I bought 2x6's to go where the drawings say "2x4"...so that is a bigger ledge than a 2x4 would make. I'd cut the floor two inches in, where the foam rests on the 2x6, with the floor (3/4 OSB) tight against it on the inside. That edge of OSB is what's to have a loose flap which will be glued to the inside surface of the wall. Bottom part of the reinforcing canvas strip will be glued and pinched between the flat-laying 2x6 and the floor, and the floor still has 3 1/2" of board to lay on, same as around the rest of the perimeter....

Thoughts?



(Bad) drawing is on scale of 1 square = 1 inch.

2x6 seems heavy? Are you looking for compensating weight for the height?

Here are some ideas and sketches from me and some foams

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=65346

A pic of what I did

Pic of what I did, angled the lower edge to make water drip off efficiently

An easier method, less milling of wood.

On this method, glue a 2" rip of 1-1/2" board to the foam edge, wrap with canvas (glued) about 8"up the wall. Then screw it to the floor. Then wrap the final wall covering over that joint and under the floor.

A drip edge is important.

On the underside of my floor I rolled on a coat of aluminum/asphalt roof paint before I put on the walls, , I doubt titebond 2 would stick to that so maybe stop the asphalt paint short of the edge so your glue will adhere the canvas well. Maybe then go over that with asphalt. Just some ideas...

pchast wrote::thinking: 2x6 seems heavy? Are you looking for compensating weight for the height?

Yes, that, and rigidity. The metal frame doesn't have much flex to it but it is very lightweight. (I loaded it on the other trailer to transport it by just lifting it up and setting it on there one wheel at a time....several times as it kept rolling back off until I loaded the FLAT one first so it wouldn't roll as easily!)

Like I said at the outset, weight isn't an object with me as I tow huge and heavy with this TV regularly. I really worry about the fact that I'm going to be towing a sail down the road. And we have WINDY weather here most of the time. When we lived up in my wife's stomping grounds outside Chicago, an announcement came on the morning news that the winds were to be up at 12 to 15 mph sustained and gusts to 20, thus causing the local kite-flying club to cancel their plans. I still laugh when I think about that. Our weather man calls 20 mph a "light breeze" with a straight face. Could be why there's not many kite-flying clubs around here ...hmm...not enough logging chain to get much height out of the kite?

That ties in with why I want the sides as firmly attached to the bottom as I can get them. The outside canvas will have the face of a 2x6 plus the edge of a 2nd 2x6, both bolted to the metal frame, to shear against. That's 8" of wood the canvas is firmly glued to. I'd like to have the same thing done with the inside skin, if at all possible. Is this even necessary? Wish I knew how to draw on the computer, I'd add some more to my (bad) drawing.

An aside: The reason I call them such is that one time I sketched something up and asked the wife's opinion. I was too open-ended with my request, and she replied that ANY drawing I do should be referred to with the word "bad" prefacing it. She's right.

Don, I see where your method achieves what I'm shooting for: A good shearing glue bond to the wall, but with a twist: A mechanical (screw) connection to the floor. I could probably make this work with what I currently have, with the pocket jig from the outside and a 2x2 (actually 1.5x2 if I use a ripped 2x4 or 6) snugged up to the bottom of the foam. This would give me some continuity at the butt end of the foam, as well, since I'm >8' long. This will work, I think!

It's gonna be heavy as hell, which to me is not a bad thing.

Don L. wrote:An easier method, less milling of wood.

Easier floor.jpg

On this method, glue a 2" rip of 1-1/2" board to the foam edge, wrap with canvas (glued) about 8"up the wall. Then screw it to the floor. Then wrap the final wall covering over that joint and under the floor.

A drip edge is important.

On the underside of my floor I rolled on a coat of aluminum/asphalt roof paint before I put on the walls, , I doubt titebond 2 would stick to that so maybe stop the asphalt paint short of the edge so your glue will adhere the canvas well. Maybe then go over that with asphalt. Just some ideas...

Why OSB?

Cheap factory built trailers use the stuff because they can save a few bucks and compete with the myriad of other producers. it will usually last through their three-year warranty. I would suggest you consider spending a little bit more on an exterior grade plywood and seal the edges.

Tony

tony.latham wrote:Why OSB?

Cheap factory built trailers use the stuff because they can save a few bucks and compete with the myriad of other producers. it will usually last through their three-year warranty. I would suggest you consider spending a little bit more on an exterior grade plywood and seal the edges.

Tony

That was a (passing) fit of ill-advised frugality. I have 5 sheets of the crap---um, stuff---laying around gathering dust. "Hey, I've *GOT* something for the floor!" Nah. Was already decided to get 3/4 plywood, then remembered that I've also got a sheet of really nice 5/8 so I'd only need 2 more to make a floor out of REAL wood instead of floor sweepings. It holds up her chair nicely, I've got a little utility trailer that's floored with completely untreated 5/8 that holds the chair up nicely, and it's got support on 24 inch centers. This will have more support than that.

For 40 bucks, it's not worth the very-likely regret on down the road.

Redneck Packrat wrote:

tony.latham wrote:Why OSB?

Cheap factory built trailers use the stuff because they can save a few bucks and compete with the myriad of other producers. it will usually last through their three-year warranty. I would suggest you consider spending a little bit more on an exterior grade plywood and seal the edges.

Tony

That was a (passing) fit of ill-advised frugality. I have 5 sheets of the crap---um, stuff---laying around gathering dust. "Hey, I've *GOT* something for the floor!" Nah. Was already decided to get 3/4 plywood, then remembered that I've also got a sheet of really nice 5/8 so I'd only need 2 more to make a floor out of REAL wood instead of floor sweepings. It holds up her chair nicely, I've got a little utility trailer that's floored with completely untreated 5/8 that holds the chair up nicely, and it's got support on 24 inch centers. This will have more support than that.

For 40 bucks, it's not worth the very-likely regret on down the road.

Hey... thanks for clearing the air! Had me scared!

Tony

Hey... thanks for clearing the air! Had me scared!

Tony

First time I've ever been accused of *clearing* the air. My darling wife accuses me of fouling the air, especially after a plate of beans!

Just trying to be Helpful , we noticed on our short lived Jayco RV, the untreated OSB ( whatever c**p they used ) was highly absorbent …whereas the OSB flooring we used on the FS was Not at all … like they used the cheapest floor material they could find ,and with no attempt at waterproofing , it’s as if it was used intentionally to fall apart … ( last out just the Warranty period) It just turned to mush when it got wet ( or just very damp) … They also used a Minimal amount of adhesive to hold the supposed vinly flooring on , which BTW also had a paper backing , that also held water … IMHO it’s difficult to believe years of trailer making experience would lead to using the worst materials ( by any name ) that caused the premature failure of the product , but greatly increased their PROFITS both at and after the sale … ( and the profits of the RV dealers who charge literally a FORTUNE to do most anything )

We went with the simplest method of wall attachment ( gluing foam to floor ) on both trailers we made and that worked just fine … The whole idea of a Foamie is to not overthink the building process ( not overbuild ) … a “Hard tent” ...we’re not doing traditional homebuilding so all that wood is just extra weight and potential for rot …

And yes , if you live somewhere WET , "drip edges" are essential to eliminating most floor problems …
Although we’ve discussed and tested this here for some years now Our testing overall this time has unexpectedly proven a simple Board floor ( with drip edges) easily outlasts everything else in our WET climate .. just sayin’ ...

But build what YOU want, that’s where the Fun is at … !!! Just store it Inside when you’re not using it … That’s the secret ...

Not worried about the wet so much as the 80+ mph winds impacting the thing. 60 mph with at least 20 mph winds. It's a rare day here with wind under 20-25 mph.

Water won't go uphill without either a pump or something to wick up on, and the coatings on the canvas will, if done properly, stop any wicking. I'm just wanting walls tied firmly to floor.... and floor to stay firm. So NOS OSB that's been sitting in the barn for 4-5 years might not be the best choice.

This area might not get quite as much rain as your stompin' grounds, Glen, but we probably can match you in humidity on a daily basis. It was only 86 yesterday but I felt like I was gonna melt into a puddle of goo. Humidity was higher than the temp.