Wall and Doors

[greenchicken]

From what I see so far there are two type of wall: One solid wall on plywood, or a frame with panels attached.

The one solid wall looks like the most common. Anyone care to explain the pros/con of these two designs?

My profile will be larger then 4x8 so I will have to biscuit join, or other such method, to get one continuous panel.

But now I have to add the DOOR to the equation.

I want as large a door as possible, on both sides, and have it extend all the way to the deck. My friend's complaint about his TDT is that the door is a few inches above the deck so you can't comfortably sit in the door way.

So that add a concern about the structural integrity of the ONE-SOLID wall design.

Therefore I am thinking of framing the doorway and then attaching panels for the rest.

Very curious for opinions:

[Sparksalot]

Plywood does come in sizes other than 4x8, so those may be options for you. I used 4x10x3/4 red oak veneer for mine. it was $130/sheet in 2008. YMMV.

[tony.latham]

I'm a proponent of sandwich walls using skeletonized plywood. The plywood is easy to lengthen using spline joints followed by the sheathing that acts as a gusset.



You can gang-cut both skeletons at the same time:



You end up with a strong, insulated wall with a lip for your ceiling/roof that allows you to build it from the inside out. Which is huge.





That's a 10' skeleton by the way made from 4'x8' plywood. The joint is just forward of the door and the interior/exterior sheathing plys will butt in the galley.





It also allows for a nice deep mortise to slide your bulkheads into. And note the lip that covers the floor:

But now I have to add the DOOR to the equation.

I want as large a door as possible, on both sides, and have it extend all the way to the deck. My friend's complaint about his TDT is that the door is a few inches above the deck so you can't comfortably sit in the door way.

The door should be half-way into the mattress so you sit on the padding and not on the wall --not all the way to the floor. Your friend's door is probably level or above the mattress. (Ouch).



Tony

And p.s. --Your door should be where your hips are when laying down. Yours is too far forward. Otherwise, it'll be a pain to get in and out of. Just make sure your fender isn't in the way.

[noseoil]

What Tony said. It all makes sense & is based on his prior builds, & from many other people's mistakes, experience & input.

I second the idea of a "skeleton" panel for the build. I used 3 dowel pins which were 3/8" diameter to join the panels prior to cutting them to shape. While it sounds like a really bad idea in typical plywood (end-grain) panels, it actually works very well, once the interior skin is glued in place. Until the first skin is glued, be careful!

[Tomterrific]

I am not a woodworker so I built my poor hovel different. The sides were up first and every thing added after. All joints were done to maximise
glued surface area at the joint.

Door opening, the bottom: You will have a mattress inside, up against the door. This will raise your butt up enough to have at least a few inches of wall at the bottom of the door for structure strenght. I made my own doors using the cutout and using boards around the edges for a flange. Then while the door was 7in place, boards were placed on the wall surounding the door making a laberinth seal. This gave strength to the 1/4" ply door and wall and they have been water tight without a gasket seal.

Tt

[aggie79]

If you don't mind, I'll like to make a suggestion for consideration. The lower front and lower rear curves of your profile add a substantial amount of complexity. Some say that these add to the aesthetics of the teardrop - I'm in that camp - but they will take a lot of time to fabricate. The lower rear curve at the hatch is particularly hard to fabricate, seal against the weather, and construct so that you don't have springback on the hatch.

[Aguyfromohio]

... The lower rear curve at the hatch is particularly hard to fabricate, seal against the weather, and construct so that you don't have springback on the hatch.

Amen to that.
We did it, but it was a lot of work. Had to use bending board there to achieve a ten inch radius

[Tom&Shelly]

If you don't mind, I'll like to make a suggestion for consideration. The lower front and lower rear curves of your profile add a substantial amount of complexity. Some say that these add to the aesthetics of the teardrop - I'm in that camp - but they will take a lot of time to fabricate. The lower rear curve at the hatch is particularly hard to fabricate, seal against the weather, and construct so that you don't have springback on the hatch.

FWIW, we decided against the lower curves; straight gives us more space inside. But we like the aesthetics of lower front and rear curves so we plan on painting them in. (Remember Wiley E. Coyote's ACME tunnel paint? ) Figure we'll use a light color for most of the teardrop to reflect sunlight and keep the interior cooler, but black (or dark) trim, to include painting in the lower front and possibly rear curves.

Tom & Shelly

[tony.latham]

This is my sis's 4 x 8. I tried to talk her husband out of those front and rear curves. They lost 9" of floor space that way and that's a lot in an 8-foot long 'drop.



I gave him the 9" cutoff.

Tony

[aggie79]

The lower front and lower rear curves of your profile add a substantial amount of complexity.

But they do make it easier to roll over the teardrop by yourself to work on the bottom side.

[StrongFeather]

From what I see so far there are two type of wall: One solid wall on plywood, or a frame with panels.

Don’t forget about foamies!!!


I’ve been working on what I believe is a new construction technique using composite, e.g. fiberglass or carbon fiber panels....

Edit... I started going into detail about the idea, but realized that it should probably be a thread of its own. I’ll post a link to the thread later today.

Edit of the edited(?).... Here's the link to the new thread.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=71192

Steve


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