Who can NOT build a Foamie ...

[GPW]

just deep thoughts ... I sometimes erroneously assume everyone else has the same skills I have for making things ...and sometimes post my opinions in a somewhat idealized light... Building anything is Easy for me , been doing it all my life ... But (the qualifier) there are good folks out there that can’t build Anything .... My wife for example .. Multiple degrees , Brilliant woman in her field (published) , can’t build S**t ... Has trouble assembling one of those flat folded cardboard boxes... She can NOT build a Foamie !!!

Seeing the great levels of skill and creativity displayed here , I’m not worried , believing that “those who cannot” will avoid these discussions altogether knowing their limitations .. or I hope so anyway ...

So lets just generally say, if you can assemble a flat fold cardboard box , or assemble a swing set from Sears , you CAN build a Foamie ....

[bonnie]

Boxes I can do, swing sets, well they take awhile.

[GPW]

Bonnie , you’re MORE than qualified !!!!

I also think if you can assemble flat shipped /disassembled furniture ,by yourself, you should have a career in Architecture ...

[pete42]

I helped build two houses and a part of a third.
I wired both houses that I could do I never did any woodwork projects my brother always did them.
I never ran a router (powertool kind) until last year i have installed several routers the computer kind.
built two airplanes one fiberglass one metal which was the easier, metal you could stop and start when you wanted
using fiberglass doing a lay up you had to finish there was no going back later
so I guess if health allowed I could do a foamy
I still have questions about how the foam is connected to the trailer.

getting old is ok it's getting old and not in good health that sucks.

pete

[GPW]

Pete , what are your questions?

[pete42]

I don't remember how you guys connected the foam to the trailer I know you used wood frame inside foam
while I know it stays together do you have any pics of how it is hooked to the trailer?

pete

[GPW]

Pete, like this ?

[Wobbly Wheels]

Pete, there was a thread with a few different ideas drawn out in SketchUp (the big thread ?...)
One suggested dowels glued into both the wood floor framing and the foam wall, and another was to run a low 'curb' around the perimeter that would become the lower plate of the wall.
I used the dowels to secure the foam door jamb to the fir threshold. My seam is going to be glassed inside to the top of the floor and underneath to the bottom of the deck.

GPW, I think pretty much anyone can build one of these, whether it's on the scale of Louella's camp-proven build done primarily with a steak knife or what KC has been up to in the dark recesses of Fab Mecca. Some of the woodies are pretty sweet...but they take more tooling and skill than these do.
Foamies are definitely a....'Volks-Kamper'...but sometimes people aren't willing to jump in and learn something new.
I see it a bit like boats: at the end of the day, it's perseverance that got the project done. All the skill in the world won't help when you hit a wall (like what bonnie's been up against).

[mezmo]

Just some of my thoughts on the matter. If you feel
differently on the matter -that's fine with me - everyone's
happy that way.

Don't forget - besides the initial affixing of the foam sidewall
to the floor - by what ever method works for you - that the
BIG THING that [helps] keeps the Foamie together is the
[at least the] outer skin that is wrapped under the floor on the
exterior and is then/thus securely glued by either TBII/TBIII or
epoxy and the accompanying fabric ['canvas/fiberglass].
Depending on the interior finish - fabric&glue/epoxy&fiberglass/
plywood - etc. you also need to overlap the interior wall fabric
onto the interior floor, or use a "tape" and glue/epoxy over
the interior junction/joint of the wall bottom and the floor. I'd
go for at least a 6in overlap myself, but probably a minimum
overlap would be 3-4in. And just remember to glue it all
together ['glue' to 'glue' or to the 'bare' material] before you
paint for UV protection on the outside. As far as I know 'glue'
to paint doesn't work well for holding power.

Since, so far, this has been/is a traditional waterproofing method
adapted for our building use here and there has not been scientific
testing done of it when used for our purposes,that I know of, I'd
not use paint as a glue for these junctions. I'd use TBII/TBIII
or epoxy as the glue with the fabric for these joints myself, then,
if you want to use paint as both the fabric glue and covering in
the panel field, decide that for yourself. I just feel that since
glue and epoxy are formulated as "glues", they should handle the
higher stresses of the joints we're discussing much better.
Whatever little extra cost in $ or time [if any] that they'd entail
would be well worth it to me.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[pete42]

Thanks guys I remember now how you'all did it
sometimes my mind jumps the track and heads off into yonder land
things I knew I no longer know, you know?

pete

[GPW]

Yeah we know ... My “senior moments” are happening with increasing frequency ... Too much “clutter” in the old files ...