Floor design thoughts, ideas.

[Keith B]

Walls are done, ready to stand 'em up. Here's kinda what I had in mind for the floor - followed by rubber roofing applied to the bottom to protect it. Any thoughts ideas, likes, dislikes would be great. I'm trying to incorporate covering the wall edge grains - just that much more protection.

[SteveH]

Keith,

That looks good. A little heavy maybe, but it would be strong and should last a long time. The only thing I would add is a triangle piece at the corner of the wall and the floor to screw/glue to.

[toypusher]

Keith,

I would run the outside wall completely down over the rest, thus giving water little or no chance to seep in anywhere and lay there to cause rot. You can put a good sealant on the endgrain of your side wall to protect it from the elements and the water will just drip off the bottom. You could then replace the 2x4 with 1x4 and run the interior floor up to the outside wall, saving lots of work. The underside of the floor would then butt up against the outside wall. I used polyurethen caulk between the sidewalls and the subfloor framing.

[SteveH]

Keith,

One thing I do find interesting about your design...you are planning on insulating the floor, but not the walls. Personally, if I were insulating one, and not the other, it would be the reverse. The thing is, the floor needs insulation the least in a teardrop because it has the mattress for insulation, and in most cases, that is a minimun of 4" of foam rubber. Pretty good insulation, I would estimate.

Edit: Sorry. Just went and looked at your gallery, and you did insulate the walls. My mistake.

[Keith B]

Hey guys... thanks for the tips.. The walls are insulated. 15/32 plywood, then 1/2" insulation, then 1/8" Birch interior sheeting. I think on my floor design it is going to be WAY to heavy. I will probably go w/ 1/4" bottom and 1/4" top, 1 to 1-1/2 insulation inbetween. Thanks again for looking at my design, basically building a "hollow core door" design. Light yet strong. The trailer stringers will hold the weight and prevent bowing, I will just use good rails for beef to screw and glue into.

[Dooner]

This is what I planed for my floor. I am using the TS 4x8 no floor trailer and keeping the walls inside the frame. One reason is that the trailer is wider than 48". I will notch the 2x4 board to fill the gap on each side of the floor and notch for the wall to fit snug. I don't really have any legit reason for doing it this way, just my preference. Very similar to yours.

And I will use a high grade sealer at each of the edges of the angle, so water can not enter there.

[Dooner]

Oh yeah, I am insulating the floor due to the heatsink effect through the mattress. Someone here had that problem with their matress when they tried it out on their home floor. Just a precaution.
And I am going to insulate the walls a little with foam backed carpet. My plan so far.

[Keith B]

Hi Dooner... Well, this is kinda what I came up with. Just started putting it together... The weight should be just a fraction over 3/4" plywood, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to have insulation in the floor.


Let's hope my calculations come out correct.
1/4" ply is just over 25#'s... so x2 that's 50#'s, plus and extra 4 feet (10 foot tear, 2' extra on top and bottom), that's 62#'s, 2x4 frame at 18#'s and 5#s for insulation... that's 75#'s, roughly the same as 3/4" plywood. So my walls at 110#'s total and 75#s for the floor I'm roughly at 200#s, plus and est. 150#s for aluminum siding, etc.... that gives me 650#s for the roof, cabinets, trailer etc. to make my goal for 1000-1100#'s empty.

[angib]

And I will use a high grade sealer at each end of the angle, so water can not enter there.

That 'can not' is dangerous - some of the more delinquent forms of water can take this sort of comment as a personal challenge for them to overcome.

There's certainly a risk that when the top seal fails (sunlight, physical damage, etc), the bottom seal remains OK and so you get a natural water trap. I'd say it would be safer not to seal the bottom end of the angle.

Andrew

[Dooner]

Hey Keith,
What trailer frame are you using?

I noticed you dropped your notch idea for the sheetrock angle. The angle that I show on my diagram is the actual trailer frame. And if you are going to do it that way now, you could save a little weight by using 2x2 for the whole floor frame. Unless there is a reason you can't.
Looks like you have a head full of good ideas. Build it the way you are comfortable with.

Andrew,
I know you should never say never, but I have had great results on other things from the product I chose to seal my TD with. It is Sonolastic NP1. I've use this product many times before and it is the product of choice by many of the local contractors here. I think this will give me the best chance of a long lasting seal. My TD will also be garage stored and I'll try to watch the weather before I make camping plans. Below are some links to try for the details on this product.

http://www.epremier.net/public/NP1_PDS_112906.pdf

http://www.epremier.net/MSDS/MSDS.asp
If you have to use the second link, look for Sonolastic NP1 PDS

[dhazard]

Keith, IMHO I think it is better to have the Aluminum siding go over the frame. That will make it almost impossible for water to get to the end grain of the walls.

[Esteban]

Keith, the sheet rock corner bead at the bottom of your wall will probably rust away. It's not a durable enough material for outdoor use.

Steve B.

[Keith B]

My trailer frame will be 2x2 sq. tubing around the edges and channel for the stringers. I've scrapped the sheetrock corner idea. I will probably bend some aluminum over the bottom corner or just epoxy the bottom side or something.

[Keith B]

Hey, I've notices on these floors, many do not "enclose" it, or make a hollow core door. Pretty much just the wood on top, then frame, filled with insulation. They feel that IF water does get up in there at least it has a way to dry out. Makes perfect sense... I may trade in my 1/4" top and bottom for a 1/2" top... then I'll epoxy the endgrains and finish off with oil based primer and acrylic paint.