Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Wow! That is quite a trailer. Very nice.

McDave

Looks nice and shiny!!! Looking forward to the progress photos!


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Yes, I love the tip-out windows. Also like the rounded edges. I ordered mine with some factory work as well, and it was pretty easy to finish it out like I wanted.

Thanks guys. The windows are all vertical sliders with screens, the two large ones are also egress windows for emergency exits. Leaving on holidays for two weeks so unfortunately she’s goin to sit in the yard a bit before I can start building. I’ll be sure to post some pics of the process.

Nice trailer BCSteve! Wow all shiny and unsoiled...er I mean ready to receive massaging lol.
I just ordered mine as well so I know how the anticipation feels.
Enjoy the vacation!
M

Update. It's been a while but I'm finally starting to build. I used my trailer as is last fall for a quick trip, just used cots, it was nice to stay dry. Parked it in the yard for the winter. A couple months ago I decided to have a peek inside and to my horror, the plywood on rear portion of the walls on both sides was saturated with water and mold was starting to grow! Called the sales place and they told me to bring it in right away. After a week, they called me back, they had fixed the problem and it was ready to pick up. A few weeks later, I had another peek, the plywood still looked wet on one side. I decided to investigate myself this time. Pulled the plywood off and sure enough, still leaking under the window. Brought it back a second time. Lots of apologies and ready the next day. Bring it home and since the plywood was still off I figured I would test it again, just to be sure before re-installing the plywood. Get the garden hose on the roof and window, within 30 seconds, its dripping under the window! Brought it back again. This time the owner is pissed and calls the repair shop at the back. By the time I drive the trailer to the back, I have the shop manager and two guys waiting for me. They're going to take the window out, re-tape, re-caulk, etc... Finally, it's fixed. Turns out it was actually coming from the roof and running along the window. So every time they were messing around with the window, they were missing the actual leak. The shop has been good with me, they gave me a jack extension, a wheel lock, a bunch of extra trims to fix everything.

Ready to build now. One thing I noticed when I pulled out the plywood looking for the leak is that the builders were very sloppy with the insulation. Missing complete sections and just putting in random pieces of foam that kind of fit but not really.





First thing I did was take down all the trims and plywood. Kind of frustrating when I paid extra to have in insulated and trimmed to avoid having to do this. I kept the original Styrofoam and supplemented with some new one. I don't think the foil and green plastic cover makes much of a difference insulation wise so I just filled in the gaps and replaced the damaged or missing sections.




I'll fill in the smaller cracks with spray foam when its time seal her up again.

Installed two LED porch lights, one on each side.



I have other goodies in the shop waiting to be installed once I'm done with the insulation. I build a sofa/extending slate bed that will take a queen size mattress. I have a roll of vinyl HDX flooring from Home Depot for the floor. A Vortex vent fan and a Dickinson P9000 gas fireplace that I'll need to wire before re-installing the plywood.

I was a rough and frustrating start but I'm starting to make some progress. I'll post more often now that I'm making progress. Thank you guys for the ideas and inspiration!

That sux on the insulation. I have always wondered how the factory insulating looks. Well I guess we all know now. But I gotta say, you got it looking really good, Nice Job

Sorry to say, your story is very common among new trailer and RV owners. But one positive is that the water didn't damage much.. Imagine if you had already installed what you have planned.

Did they use silicone?

rebar wrote:Sorry to say, your story is very common among new trailer and RV owners. But one positive is that the water didn't damage much.. Imagine if you had already installed what you have planned.

Did they use silicone?

I was amazed at the lack of attention when those are built. I don’t know how to weld and I’m sure I could have done a better job on some of those welds. I probably collected half a box of screw from behind the plywood, lengths of electrical wire, etc... Not sure what kind of caulk that was used during the repairs.

I had a couple of hours free today so I installed the Vortex fan and ran some wires for the fan and led porch lights. I might tackle the chimney for the Dickinson fireplace tomorrow. I have to decide where the fireplace will go so I can run the wires for it before the plywood goes up again.

Glad you took it apart and were able to fix the defects. That is why I chose to insulate myself. First, they charge too much for it, second, you do not know if it is any good or not, and lastly, you do not know if there are any leaks.

I think insulating is something best done by the owner in process of building so a thorough inspection can be done. As you can see, if they can hide it, they will. The insulation should also be taped off so there can be no air exchanged. I have heard all sorts of horror stories on insulation installed by trailer manufacturers. Some just stuff reflectix in there which is useless the way they are using it.

In any case, great job!

More progress this weekend. Installed the chimney for my Dickinson P9000.

Measure twice, cut once. No turning back now!



A quick mock up to make sure that it lines up as plan. Yup, looks good.


Installed the cap and caulked it with clear sealant. Might add some Dicor on it later.


Poked the wires though for the fan on the fireplace and at the bottom for the propane detector. The plywood is back on. Need to put the trims back on and it will be ready to be painted.

So glad you discovered the leak problem before you put all of your time and money into it! I tend to agree with FlBoy---if you do your own insulating, you know it's done right and you get a good close look at every inch of the trailer.

Looks like your build is going well - the trailer looks great! Thanks for the pictures and keep us posted.