Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Looking to build my first teardrop style trailer and have a few questions. Been reading a lot and want to have painted wood sides as my finished sides of the trailer. No sheet metal, fiberglass just plywood. I would like to paint it with something to color match my Jeep Grand Cherokee though. So one of my big questions is what's the best word to use for the exterior finished side walls? Is 3/4" AC plywood fine structurally and cosmetically and weather wise? I live in Southern Utah and can't seem to find 3/4" Baltic Birch. Now Home Depot carries Birch but says they don't know if it's Baltic birch or not. And I have no way of knowing either. Anyone else know if it's Baltic Birch at a Home Depot? I know BB is the preferred type but can't seem to source it locally.

Next would be what thickness and type would best be suited for the outside top of the trailer? And finally the thickness and type best suited for interior use

If I use wood as my finished exterior and paint it what's the best technique for sealing to prevent warping and water coming in? Should I seal both interior and exterior? Also plan on using 2x2's and framing this sort of like a house for the structure with a bottom plate and the studs Krueger jigged in to place. Looking forward to this build and your answers on building materials.

Then my next issue since I'm a big guy at 6'5 260 will be learning how to join the sheets of plywood together as I want to make my trailer 5x10 meaning a 4x8 sheet will be to small. I'll have to most likely do 3 sheets per side.

I used 3/4" plywood for my side walls and 1/4" for the exterior top and ends. I just used cabinet grade ply from Home Depot. I used luan paneling for my interior ceiling and front inside of cabin. I had to splice my 3/4" sidewalls to make them 10'. 2X2's might be overkill. The 3/4" sidewalls were self supporting and I used 1X2 spars for framing the roof and front end. You can get some ideas on how I did this at my journal: http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=49333

I'd go with 1/2" ply, no use making your camper heavier than it need be. Also, make sure the ply is exterior, I believe the AC you're asking about is exterior. A few seem to have used interior plywood so have delamination problems.

T

Is this birch at Home Depot the right Birch? Seems I hear it called "Baltic Birch" all the time. The Hime Depot employees didn't know and neither do I. It's super smooth on the exterior.

lacofdfireman wrote:Is this birch at Home Depot the right Birch? Seems I hear it called "Baltic Birch" all the time. The Hime Depot employees didn't know and neither do I. It's super smooth on the exterior.

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I live three hours from the nearest Home Depot in a one-lumber-yard town. If I need two sheets of specialty plywood, my lumber guy will order it on Monday and it'll be in the yard on Thursday. Go check with a lumberyard.

What I'd be wary of is the glue used. AC plywood is really ACX and the X stands for exterior. I apologize for adding any confusion to the build process.

Either way, seal the cra@p out of your plywood. And I'm not talking paint primer.

Tony

Do not use the plywood shown. It is prefinished and appears decent. Look at reviews on their site. I bought five sheets for trailer six, just as the reviews say, as soon as I cut it it warped! What a waste of time, lost the whole day precutting many pieces until I noticed. If you can afford it, go to a lumber yard. Oh yeah returned the pieces for refund

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I found a local lumber yard that can get some in for me. Anyone know if you can buy Baltic Birch in 5x10 sheets? Hoping to make my trailer 4.5-5 x 10. Cutting out of 1 single sheet sure would be nice. That way I don't have to but joint 3 sheets together to make my sides.

Baltic birch comes in 5'x5' sheets typically. Sometimes it is available in 4'x8' sheets. Don't want to confuse things more but Russian birch is more common in my area (at specialty lumberyards). It is almost the quality of Baltic birch. That said you really don't need to use either for framing. I used a 4'x10' sheet of 3/5" MDO for my framing. Douglas fir plywood is available here in 4'x10' and 5'x10' sheets.

aggie79 wrote:Baltic birch comes in 5'x5' sheets typically. Sometimes it is available in 4'x8' sheets. Don't want to confuse things more but Russian birch is more common in my area (at specialty lumberyards). It is almost the quality of Baltic birch. That said you really don't need to use either for framing. I used a 4'x10' sheet of 3/5" MDO for my framing. Douglas fir plywood is available here in 4'x10' and 5'x10' sheets.

On Monday I'll see about 5x5 sheets and then decide how I wanna join them. I know there are a few different ways I just need to figure the best ways with the tools I have. Which as of right now is nothing as far as tools go. I'm planning on buying a router and also considering about a biscuit joiner. But not sure I want one of those as I feel the only time I'd ever use it would be for this 1 build. But Harbor freight sells one for like $75 or so.

Also as far as using Birch I plan on using it as my finished outside skin. Was thinking of framing up the interior with 2x3's and insulating with maybe 1" insulation. I want this to be warm in the winter and not noisy. Also will probably carpet the interior floors wall and ceiling.

Use an olefin carpet on your interior ceiling. It won't collect moisture or odors. I did the interior ceiling with 1/8" Baltic birch, obtained it from a lumber yard that supplies to cabinet shops. The exterior skin is 1/8" also. My sides are 1/2" birch. I went with the non AC kind since I store my camper indoors and baby it. The whole thing got 3 coats of elastomeric roof sealant topped with 3 coats of Dutch Boy Lifetime exterior house paint. I used aluminum trim from an RV supplier to cover the radius from front to back. Tight!