How much material waste on a TD over 4 ft?

[surveytech]

Asking those that built a tear over 4 ft. if there was alot of material waste.
what did you do with all of the plywood pieces from the roof?
I guess I am assuming using the standard 4x8 sheet.
It seems like there might be some pieces of ply that are just too small to do much with. Or is there a way to work them in someplace else?

whatcha think?
thanks!

[Woody]

My second build was 58.5 w x 10'. I found that it left approxx 2 pcs about 1/2 sheet give or take. I used them to add the extra 2 foot on the double radius of the front of the trailer to make it 10' long. I guess you could use them in the cabinet framing some where if you were make a eight footer. Trust me you find a use for them somewhere

[asianflava]

For the inside ceiling and floor I used 5X5 Baltic Birch so there was minimal waste. The outside roof will be 4X8 luan. I managed to use some of the extra for things like drawer bottoms or cabinet doors.

[KZ76017]

There's not enough waste that would have made it not worth doing. Mine is 68 1/2" wide outside. it sure looks and feels alot bigger inside and out.
I'm very happy with the width of mine.
Check out my build journal below.

[doug hodder]

If it were me, I wouldn't worry about the waste. Build what you really want, you'll find places to use the drop, either around the house or on the tear. Just my opinion...........I know that I don't cut every piece perfectly and have to redo things, so it's great to not have to go and get more material.......... Doug Hodder

[SteveH]

I built a 5'X9' tear and at that size, nothing was a standard fit. I did, however, use up most of the smaller pieces on cabinets and galley and such.

I agree with Doug. It is much more important to build what you want, rather than what will fit the size of lumber available.

[Arne]

I've had all kinds of ply left-overs.... and since the build last fall, I've been using some of the extras and have saved money by not having to go to the home depot and buy more wood...

[Guest]

We use 5'x10' plywood some there is not much waste. Only the back radus cuts. We also use Baltic Birch 5'x5' for cabinets and hatch face.

Merlin

[Joanne]

Asking those that built a tear over 4 ft. if there was alot of material waste.
what did you do with all of the plywood pieces from the roof?
I guess I am assuming using the standard 4x8 sheet.
It seems like there might be some pieces of ply that are just too small to do much with. Or is there a way to work them in someplace else?

whatcha think?
thanks!

I'm building a 5 x 10. So far I've only build the floor and walls but there hasn't been much waste. I used half-lap joints to create the floor so that used up two of the smaller pieces. You can see pictures of how I joined the floor and walls on my website.

I also used a couple of the real small pieces to make gussets for my sawhorses. Building sawhorses is the mini-project I'm doing to try out the different glues I'm going to use on my build.

Joanne

[Arne]

Remember that your tear will last you years.... If it cost you another $200.00 in waste, which I think is way high, that figures out to about 20 bucks per year for a better end product......

There are several folks who went with 4' wide who would probably pay that much for a queen sized tear right now.......

[Geron]

Remember that your tear will last you years.... If it cost you another $200.00 in waste, which I think is way high, that figures out to about 20 bucks per year for a better end product......

There are several folks who went with 4' wide who would probably pay that much for a queen sized tear right now.......

Yep.

Geron