I am pretty sure I am going to build a canned ham soon...probably about 13ft long by 80" wide. The frame will either be from an old pop up trailer or from aluminum bolt together. I am trying to go as lightweight as possible with this build. I see a lot of posts that say most first time builders over build. I definitely don't want to do that but am concerned that the larger size (and height) of the canned ham design may need more support than a teardrop. I have looked at some of the construction techniques and some of the builder threads for ideas but wanted to get some input into a floor structure and the wall structure. For the flooring it seems like a fir-framed structure with plywood top set on the metal frame would be the way to go with insulation (?thickness) under the plywood between the wood frame members. What size frame members and thickness of ply would people suggest? Similarly I want to insulate the walls and it seems like a sandwich construction is a good approach. Maybe an inner skin of 1/8" ply with 1" stiff insulation (too much ?too little?) with aluminum as outer skin. I plan on painting the outside aluminum or buying pre-painted aluminum (will need to get more information about that later). Again, what size framing should I be using and will 1/8" ply be enough? I want to keep things lite and money isn't a huge issue so if there are more expensive alternatives that would be lighter I would like to hear about them.
Thanks in advance,
Lori