Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Last night we had snow, today got into the high 50's Nice and warm out side, So I decided to go take one sheet of plywood off to take a peek... well once I got started it was too fun to stop! well until it started getting cold again! I started by removing the cheesy trim they installed over the plywood... Ha.. only to find there was about an inch gap between the two pieces of ply wood... Now I have been reading everyone else's builds and post, so I wasn't expecting perfection... but a little surprised....





I wasn't too surprised to find the rust on the metal beams, but was a little surprised by the poor workmanship such as screws missing the beams, gaps and holes,





One more complaint, the dealer offered for $300 ( I think.. I don't want too look now) to insulate the ceiling and put a ceiling in... they used cheap paneling, but that's ok, I was going to cover with something different anyway, The insulation looks hit and miss....




Now on a good note, I pulled up the floor plywood in the V nose to take a look, and they did under coat the frame and bottom of the Plywood flooring

That seems to be how they all insulate! I'd snap a few more and send them in. Try to get some or all the money refunded. Glad the frame was rustproofed.


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That looks about right on the gap between plywood panels. :-)

That's a good place to run wires later if you plan on leaving just the plywood finish.

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flboy wrote:That looks about right on the gap between plywood panels. :-)

That's a good place to run wires later if you plan on leaving just the plywood finish.

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Cool! no we will put some sort of bead board on it...

Well made it out today to work on it some more.. I bought some of that Rust oleum rust transformer that Don used, but some of the rust was so bad... I had to wire brush it, and I went and bought some Por-15 Rust primer and brushed it on the beams






Then I sprayed the rust oleum where it wasn't real rusty, and then brushed all of the bottom pieces....





Not sure if it was a good idea... I sprayed some foam insulation in the channels of the beams... I also sprayed some of that Rust oleum Wet no more... or what ever its called, I have used it on roof flashings before and kept water from coming in through bad flashing...

Got a little bit more done today, ran into a few delays, but started putting the insulation in, put the floor piece back in... almost ready to run the wiring up to the kitchen area,







I found some foam insulation at Home Depot today that is suppose to stop bugs!! so I sprayed it around the bottom



Finally figured out what I am going to do with the propane Instant hot water unit... I will put a box on the front outside, and put the heater inside the box, so I left this area to put some extra support behind the box.



I also decided to put some Reflectix on the ceiling since they used cheap Styrofoam on the ceiling when the dealer insulated it... instead of replacing the foam... but could not find it at Home depot, One of the workers told me to go to the flooring section... I found a roll of floor underlayment that has the reflectix on one side, and a sound softening material on the other... made by Traffic Master might help dampen any sounds like rain....

Well I didn't get as much done today as I hoped to, but got enough to move on tomorrow! Today I started running the wire to the front end of the trailer, I ended up notching out the foam insulation for the wiring... Got the wiring ran for the Kitchen Outlet, Kitchen Light switch and lighting, The A/C / Heater plug in, Ran a wire to the Vent for the Maxx Air fan I ordered...







I mounted a piece of plywood on the ceiling, for a ceiling light, not sure if will put one in or not, but if I do all I will have to do is cut a small hole and pull the wire down through and mount the light.




Afterwards I filled all the gaps in the insulation with spray foam... So tomorrow, I can trim the foam and reinstall the front end plywood!

Next will be the sink area...waiting for the Water pump and water tank to come in... still need to do some research on the board here on where to put the water fill, because the tank will be on one side of the Toilet/bathroom and the pump will be on the other...

Plugged along a little bit more today, Trimmed the spray foam, sealed any gaps with silicone, Then I taped all the edges with Foil tape! finally able to put a couple of pieces of plywood back on!! I also decided to paint the floor and up a couple inches on the insulation with some mold killing primer... just incase any water does get in.... Now back to work... hopefully Thursday or Friday I can get a few more hours on it!!

Hey mrwall1,
You are making good progress. It's not a race, so it is worth it to take your time and do each step well. You're building the quality in, and the end result will pay off. Weather, time requirements, budgets and just plain life will try to stop you, but just keep chippin' away at it.

McDave

Nice work on the insulation. There is a lot of labor in all that cutting and taping! Are you going to insulate the floor also?

flboy wrote:Nice work on the insulation. There is a lot of labor in all that cutting and taping! Are you going to insulate the floor also?

Thanks Don! glad you plowed the way first.... I keep going back to your build constantly and search for ideas!! Yes, but I decided to just do it from the bottom...side... Since they did undercoat the frame... doesn't look like I will need to do any extra work on it... I will probably paint some drylock... or other type of water proofing material on the bottom of the insulation before I install...

Looks like you had a fantastic riding weekend! Nothing like giving the bike a good bath!!!

McDave wrote:Hey mrwall1,
You are making good progress. It's not a race, so it is worth it to take your time and do each step well. You're building the quality in, and the end result will pay off. Weather, time requirements, budgets and just plain life will try to stop you, but just keep chippin' away at it.

McDave

Lol Mcdave! you are right... we can only get away for one week this summer and probably a couple weekend bouts... so even if we have to throw an air mattress in the back and the toilet is working the wife will be happy! Its been a long boring winter here in Washington... so excited to actually be able to go outside and do something! but then it snowed again today.... we are not suppose to get snow here after January...!! lol

Yep, we are familiar with the long winter. In fact, we just got nailed with another 8" of heavy, wet snow yesterday. But it's calving time and it has to be cold, wet and miserable or it just wouldn't be any fun. We had our first 50 degree day on Sunday, snow on Monday, and it's 12f as I write this. We hadn't put the winter coats away or turned off the boiler yet, so it's just another day, closer to spring.

McDave

I got a little more time out in the trailer yesterday and today! Working on the drivers side... The rain let up enough yesterday so I took the chance and cut the hole in the side for the water fill hatch. I finished the insulation on the lower half, made sure to put in one outlet in the back where the bed will be.



I sealed everything up with the foil tape, got the plywood buttoned back up also Ran a 12volt wire to where the water pump will be.



Then I removed the top piece of plywood to do the same... I decided to do it in half, not knowing how secure the window is so that way I would only unscrew half the window at a time...

Looking good. You are sealing that up well!