Question for tall guys and gals

[oldsmokey]

I'm building a Grumman 2 TD on a NT 5 x 8 trailer following the Steve Fredricks manual. Up until now I've been planning to use 4' wide (vertical direction) plywood for my walls. The trailer frame, the sandwich floor and ceiling construction, plus the mattress will all reduce the interior cabin height to something quite a bit less than 48" though. I'm 6'-3" and starting to get a little worried about interior headroom and now's the time to do something about it if I want to change my design. My question to you tall folks out there is, how much sitting headroom (dimension from mattress to headliner) do you have, and is it enough or do you wish you'd have built in more?

[tony.latham]

I'm building a Grumman 2 TD on a NT 5 x 8 trailer following the Steve Fredricks manual. Up until now I've been planning to use 4' wide (vertical direction) plywood for my walls. The trailer frame, the sandwich floor and ceiling construction, plus the mattress will all reduce the interior cabin height to something quite a bit less than 48" though. I'm 6'-3" and starting to get a little worried about interior headroom and now's the time to do something about it if I want to change my design. My question to you tall folks out there is, how much sitting headroom (dimension from mattress to headliner) do you have, and is it enough or do you wish you'd have built in more?

Smoke:

At 5'9", I doubt I'm qualified to answer, but I think you'll be satisfied with 48" sidewalls. Easy for us midgets to say. Our 'drop's internal height –bare floor to ceiling– is 44" and we've got plenty of sitting headspace.

What I would suggest is that you sit next to a wall in your house and measure your sitting height. Our mattress is 6" of traditioanal foam with a 2" memory foam topper. I think it probably compresses to 4" (and it's a sweet sleep).

You can gain an inch if you use doubled 1" spars (I use popular) set about 10" instead of 2" spars. They'll work for a 5-wide especially if you stiffen your roof up with structual foam (pink or blue, not the white styrofoam).

T

[MtnDon]

What I would suggest is that you sit next to a wall in your house and measure your sitting height. Our mattress is 6" of traditioanal foam with a 2" memory foam topper. I think it probably compresses to 4" (and it's a sweet sleep).


T

That is exactly how we decided on our window height in our CT. For that I had a cardboard cutout that had a picture on it to simulate the window. We sat on the stools and also tried standing to come up with a placement that worked. We've also done the same on the floor to mock up the interior floor plan; did that for a 16x30 cabin floor on the driveway.

[grant whipp]

Hey, "smokey" !

I'm 6'3" as well (used to be 6'4", before a couple of surgeries ... ...) ... and nearly all of my teardrops have been 42-1/2" to 43" floor-to-ceiling without the mattress (typically a 4" foam piece) ... I've never had an issue with headroom. Somewhere in the "Hall of Fame" above, you can find a picture of me in Li'l Bear #01, taken in 1984 ... I'm wearing a "10-gallon Stetson" cowboy hat and I've got plenty of headroom. IMHO, I don't think you'll have any problems with your chosen design ... ...! Good Luck on your build, and as always ...

CHEERS!

[rebapuck]

This brings to mind my favorite story...

I had a friend ask me to meet his sister on campus. She called and described herself. "I look like Frank. I have black hair in a beehive (1967!) and I'm re-e-e-al tall."
Well, how tall are you? "I'm five two"..... After I stopped laughing, I told her I was five foot eight. She said she was taller than all her friends. I'm shorter than all my friends.

It's all in your perspective.

[Esteban]

Smoke,

I'm 6'4" tall. I agree with Grant that you don't NEED a full 48" of height inside to be comfortable.

You may CHOOSE to have 48' inside the cabin height for extra roominess and more generous upper cabinet(s) storage.

I am using 4' wide (48" tall) paneling inside my cabin for extra comfort and to enable more generous storage room for the upper bulkhead cabinets over the mattress and in the galley. The outside walls cover the trailer frame so they will end up being about 53" high. I will use 5'x5' Baltic Birch for the taller outside plywood. The side walls will be insulated and built the Steve Frederick way.

[Jdw2717]

You will be surprised how much room you will have with 4 foot tall sides. I am 6'1" and remember looking at those walls laying on my bench and leaning against the shop wall and thinking "man there is no head room". But it is an illusion. You are looking down at the walls and it just feels like it will be short. Once I had the walls up and the roof stringers on, I sat in it and though "man this thing has a lot more room than I thought".

As several people have said, you have to measure your sitting height. Sit on your bed and measure the height on the wall where you head is. It will be around three feet or a little more. That will give you plenty of head room. If you are still worried you can buy some cheap 4' x 8' plywood, paneling or foam board and make a mockup of the four foot walls with roof. The foam board can be stuck together with duct tape for the trial fitting and then used for wall and roof insulation so you will not be wasting the purchase needed to make the model.that would be the best way for you to see what works for you before you commit to a certain size. Sorry to be so long winded but I remember how I felt and you want to be sure you are building what you will like / want in the end. Good luck.

[Vedette]

Yes I am only 5' 9" and we have lots of room in Miss Piggy..........where we have 38" above the mattress. Mattress is 5".
I am currently building our 2nd TD (Kermit) in which we have an extra 1"........and when I asked Sandi if she wanted the extra 1" above or below the mattress......she said below (we will have 9" of storage instead of the 8" we have in Miss Piggy)
Good Luck with your build.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[S. Heisley]

Check for yourself: Sit down on the floor, against a wall and have someone mark on the wall where the top of your head is. (You can use an erasable pencil mark or some painter's tape.) Measure that. Now, subtract the depth of your mattress from your measurement. Is the result less than the inside height of your teardrop wall where your head will be?

[pchast]

If you still have concerns you need to do the recommended 'refrigerator box'
test. Collect the cardboard boxes as large as you can find and tape up a test
camper. Cut in windows where you expect them. Then use it for a nap and to
sit in a little bit. Adjust it a few times as needed until you are comfortable.

[46Ford]

We used 4 x 8 sheets for the sidewall. Have roughly a 2 1/2 inch floor and a 2 inch ceiling out of the 4 foot. Our mattress is an eight inch memory foam and I'm 6' 2" +. I can't lean against the front wall due to the curve in the front roof line but haven't noticed a problem just sitting in the mid part of the camper. My height is also from my waist up more than waist down.

Hope this helps. Think you will be OK.