Newbie here from upstate NY

[peterlevins]

Hello all. I’ve been dreaming about building a TD for years, so figured it was time.
Got a 1996 Colman pop up and tore it down and finished the frame off. New wheels and now on to the build. So many options of “doing it right” is making my head spin lol. One step at a time. First the floor .

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[Gold5one]

Welcome- and I hope you have a nice heated work shop!
I went to work at the Oswego Nuclear power plant project in November of 1983- I just knew it was gonna be a bad winter, when that first weekend, I drove by a snowmobile junkyard north of Central Square-
and it was!
I live in SW Florida now.
Mark

[peterlevins]

Lol yeah winter is here. I used to live in VA but work brought me to this frozen tundra . Garage is ok with a heater on


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[pchast]

Welcome!

[peterlevins]

Welcome!

Thank you


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[mary and bob]

We are also in upstate NY near Hudson. Currently have a 1946 Modernistic teardrop and a 1996 Casita fiberglass camper. I spent all one winter restoring the teardrop. Fortunately my small shop has heat.

[peterlevins]

We are also in upstate NY near Hudson. Currently have a 1946 Modernistic teardrop and a 1996 Casita fiberglass camper. I spent all one winter restoring the teardrop. Fortunately my small shop has heat.

Hello . I’m near the Syracuse area. That sounds like fun and I just got my first shipment of ply to start the floor .
My friend has a Casita and it’s very nice. I was certainly tempted to go that way


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[mary and bob]

We are also in upstate NY near Hudson. Currently have a 1946 Modernistic teardrop and a 1996 Casita fiberglass camper. I spent all one winter restoring the teardrop. Fortunately my small shop has heat.

Hello . I’m near the Syracuse area. That sounds like fun and I just got my first shipment of ply to start the floor .
My friend has a Casita and it’s very nice. I was certainly tempted to go that way


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Can't beat a fiberglass camper. Less chance of leaks, and they hold their value. We just sold our Uhaul fiberglass camper after deciding we didn't need 3 campers, and the Casita was bigger and better.

[peterlevins]

We are also in upstate NY near Hudson. Currently have a 1946 Modernistic teardrop and a 1996 Casita fiberglass camper. I spent all one winter restoring the teardrop. Fortunately my small shop has heat.

Hello . I’m near the Syracuse area. That sounds like fun and I just got my first shipment of ply to start the floor .
My friend has a Casita and it’s very nice. I was certainly tempted to go that way


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Can't beat a fiberglass camper. Less chance of leaks, and they hold their value. We just sold our Uhaul fiberglass camper after deciding we didn't need 3 campers, and the Casita was bigger and better.

Maybe for my “next” one lol


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[rjgimp]

The round door looks fantastic!

[peterlevins]

The round door looks fantastic!

Thanks . Now I just need to figure out how to do it lol


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[tony.latham]

Now I just need to figure out how to do it lol

Peter:

I see three problems with the door.

The first is hinging it. Teardrop doors are somewhat heavy and need to be supported without any play. I just don't know how one hinge will work to support it and I can't see any way to use two. Think about a door in your house with only one hinge and how it would work.

Secondly is the window. Teardrops have to have good ventilation and unless you've located (round) windows that can open --and are screened-- you're not going to have any air movement. But perhaps you've got that figured out.

Thirdly is the issue of the bottom curve. Teardrop doors need to be set about halfway below the top edge of the mattress so that when you sit in the doorway while entering/exiting, you are sitting on the mattress, not the door sill. It's hard for me to tell if the sides of this curve will cause that problem. (I suppose it depends on your butt size.)

And along that same line, the door curve at the 3 to 5 o'clock position is going to be in the way of swinging your legs in.

I think you'd be a happy camper if you built that door as an inverted U instead of making it fully round.

Just trying to be constructive.

Tony

[peterlevins]

Now I just need to figure out how to do it lol

Peter:

I see three problems with the door.

The first is hinging it. Teardrop doors are somewhat heavy and need to be supported without any play. I just don't know how one hinge will work to support it and I can't see any way to use two. Think about a door in your house with only one hinge and how it would work.

Secondly is the window. Teardrops have to have good ventilation and unless you've located (round) windows that can open --and are screened-- you're not going to have any air movement. But perhaps you've got that figured out.

Thirdly is the issue of the bottom curve. Teardrop doors need to be set about halfway below the top edge of the mattress so that when you sit in the doorway while entering/exiting, you are sitting on the mattress, not the door sill. It's hard for me to tell if the sides of this curve will cause that problem. (I suppose it depends on your butt size.)

And along that same line, the door curve at the 3 to 5 o'clock position is going to be in the way of swinging your legs in.

I think you'd be a happy camper if you built that door as an inverted U instead of making it fully round.

Just trying to be constructive.

Tony

Thanks for the input Tony. All input is helpful. You're right that one hinge won't hold the weight but I've seen it done with 2 close together. might have to make a small flat area on that side. not sure yet. all part of the puzzle for sure. as for positioning, I think the actual location might come about once I dummy the walls up before cutting the hole. you make some good points. as for venting. I have a vent mocked up on top and was thinking about either another window or vent louvers to help move the air

[peterlevins]

Crazy thought but what if the door swung up vs sideways

[RJ Howell]

Crazy thought but what if the door swung up vs sideways

Tony makes the point of those lower points interfering with swinging in. Valid point. Swing upward (gull-wing) doesn't change it, in fact a little more involved with now something to hold it open). Hinging a round door isn't really all that hard, it's more of the weight of the darn hinge to do it (same goes for round windows).

A lot of good folks here to assist as you go along the build journey. You should start a separate build thread so you can keep track as well as others. Everyone's build helps another's build!