Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

We moved into a "new to us" house just over 2 yrs ago. Finally got to digging around in the basement. More paydirt: five (yep FIVE) gallons of interior latex flat paint. And my grandson's girl friend said she has some she will give me to get out of her way. If I may paraphrase Daffy Duck: It may be a little yellow trailer called "The Duck", but not a stupid "Duck". Especially when things are free.

That is an interesting concept, and air gap roof. What kind of climate and terrain are going to camp? I am asking because of this air gap roof feature. There are perhaps some similarities with your and my build lifting roof design. I could not see from the concept drawing, do you have hard walls folding inside? Did you figure out the details of the lifting roof, the weather seal detail between the walls and the roof? I am still thinking of the weather seal details yet, which is slowing my build down.

Werdahekrwe wrote:Thinking again Anybody out there use "residential" windows? If so, did they work ok? May have a shot at getting a couple of 18x36 sliders, with double pane windows, and vinyl frames, for a good price. Any and all input welcome. Thanks in advance.
Thinking is makin' my head hirt at this age.

I was thinking of using shed type windows sold at hd. Since I have folding walls, I decided to make lighter lexan or acrylic windows myself, but I am not there yet.

Plan is to have front and back fold in, side will be in two removeable sections each, due to total length (12 ft), 2'2" at front, 1'10" at rear to give some slope for runoff. We will be camping in WV & TN mostly. But in summer it can get hot. Near 90 daytime high 70s to low 80s at night. Gatlinburg/Smoky Mountains can really cook in summer.The paint I found at the new house is INTERIOR latex. I am hoping I can use it with the sheets to cover the outside, especially since I am going to use a good grade of EXTERIOR latex over it. Any input welcome. This forum is the best I have seen for giving good advice. Thanks to all .

I do not know about using interior paint for outside skin gluing. I've read that mostly TB2 is used or exterior paint/primer for gluing canvas.

I think that you do not need to have the side walls removable, they also can be hinged and made foldable inside, if you would like it, of course. Such design is well known as Esterel and Gobur Carousel caravan brands in UK, you can find many photos on the net - https://www.google.ca/search?q=esterel+fold+trailer&rlz=1CAASUA_enCA600CA600&espv=2&biw=1097&bih=540&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=RPyEVYKQA4qjNpKUgBg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg

There are also some builds successfully finished with lifting roofs on this forum too.
There are guys in Europe who built small trailers with foldable walls, many photos there to see details of one of them - http://www.caravaning.in.ua/forum/viewt ... =36&t=1017 will need a google translator to read in English as it is in Russian, but pictures are self-explanatory for the most part.

Thanks OP, I will check those pictures out. I am new to this type construction, so I am open to all the guidance I can get. Another reason for thd airgap roof is that I was raised in a house with the old fashioned "tin" roof, and LOVE the sound of rain pattering on roof. Put me under one and I am asleep in about 5 minutes. Speaking of rain, here in the hills of WV, we have been "blessed" with an abundance of it. Guess California and the southwest of the US would love to have some of it. Guess I really need to double check about using the paint I found in the basement before I start my build. Thanks for the pointer.

OP, just got back from Bob Villa's Community Forum. He was answering a fellow's question about using interior latex on the outside of a house. He said: (full quote)"The chemical difference between interior and exterior latex paints is minimal, and the primary variant is the amount of pigment with exterior having a lot more. For the stucco portions of your house, latex paint is the appropriate choice and the greatest detriment your accidental paint formula will experience is fading color. If you decide to paint it again in the future, never use oil based paint on top of latex. It will flake off because latex breathes and oil does not. For the exterior wood, since it expands and contracts readily, the paint may peel off sooner than you'd like, in which case, it will come off easily and the surface can be repainted. Again, the more likely result will be the color quickly fading." Looks like I may be in luck to use what I have. Gonna keep looking though.

..... another “test” ...

I do not know how much we can trust the internet knowledge base these days , anyway just found this answer on ask.com - http://www.ask.com/home-garden/differences-between-interior-exterior-latex-paints-69ce5e01e0b9e611, that is quite interesting, so interior latex paint could be providing even stronger surface than exterior paint?? Did you also aks about shelf life of the latex paint? I got two gallons of Behr exterior latex acrylic paint I took from ecostation free of wonderful lime goo color that I would like to use, but when I tested it for lamination it did not really dry to solid within a couple days, it remained kind of rubbery and kind of weak, but it looks ok, the consistency seems normal, the paint was mixed and beatifully tinted by home depot in 1995, i simply missed to look at that date on the cans, my bad , that eco station leaflet says that "the paint quality is not guaranteed"

I remember someone on this forum mentioned to stay away from using flat paint as it is not as strong as gloss or semi-gloss paint, as it contains less resin in it to hold it together. Looks like some testing maybe in order as GPW suggested..

Matte paint includes a “flattening agent” which replaces a bit of the pigment and binder (the glue) ... All Latex paints in a thick coat will take a week or more to really harden ... older may take longer ...
From an artists standpoint , we’ve been working with paint for over 50 years now ... You can paint the interior Latex first , and then cover over it with an Exterior Latex ... I believe the Exterior paint has UV inhibitors.. and the better the paint ,the more UV inhibitors (and anti- fungals, etc. ) the better it will last in the Solar radiation and weather extremes ... Cheap paint is fine for a base coat ... as long as it’s protected later on ...
Note : for the large Portrait commissions I do , we save the very Best paint (Old Holland) for all the sweet spots in the painting , otherwise I’d have to charge double just to cover the paint cost ... The "block in" and background is painted with the less expensive product.

Paint for trailer , best exterior Latex.. ~ $35.00/ gal ... Artist oil paint ... ~ $35.00 for a small tube , no bigger than your thumb.

Use the best paint you can on the outside , or keep it in the garage when not camping ...

Haven't figured out some of the details yet (like the sealsñ etc.) But I am researching those things. I know, as the saying goes, "the devil is in the details". So many of the little things are verry important. A leak during a rain storm would NOT make DW happy. And i would pay dearly.

It would take a good deal of effort to make a properly built Foamie’ leak !!!

Frozen turkey comes to mind.

That's one eh !!!