Our first build - a vardo

...ask your questions in the appropriate forums BUT document your build here...preferably in a single thread...dates for updates, are appreciated....

Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby KCStudly » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:18 pm

Love the hand painted "decals". (That is an old drag racer's trick to save weight and improve aerodynamics; instead of applying hundreds of vendor's contingency stickers to your race car, have the sign painter paint them on.)
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My Build: The Poet Creek Express Hybrid Foamie

Poet Creek Or Bust
Engineering the TLAR way - "That Looks About Right"
TnTTT ORIGINAL 200A LANTERN CLUB = "The 200A Gang"
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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby lgatlin » Wed Oct 05, 2016 12:18 am

Love the hand painted "decals". (That is an old drag racer's trick to save weight and improve aerodynamics; instead of applying hundreds of vendor's contingency stickers to your race car, have the sign painter paint them on.)


Love that! So I am trying to save weight wherever possible! LOL
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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby MatthewWorks » Wed Oct 05, 2016 12:42 am

Really, really love the build with the art integrated into all of it. Just makes me happy, and excited to get rolling on my own.

Thanks so much for sharing all of it.
Matthew.

lost, but enjoying it so far.

18Jan2018:
total days in camper 92 (since Apr 2017)
camper has paid for itself with hotel/rental savings: 209%
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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby catleppert » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:39 pm

What an amazing build! I truly enjoyed your thread and look forward to more pics in the future!

I absolutely LOVE the over the top designs and painting you do. Spectacular!

-Theresa

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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby friz » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:19 pm

Wow. That is a tiny trailer version of a microphone drop.

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Happy Halloween!

Postby lgatlin » Thu Nov 03, 2016 12:40 am

Just got back from a camping trip to Potrero - down by the Mexico border near Tecate, and we decided to leave the trailer at the end of the driveway, to decorate and use as a base to hand out candy on Halloween:
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Gave lots of tours! We dressed up as a fortune teller (me) and a pirate (husband), and enjoyed the little ones who liked wandering through our decorated vardo. Lots of spider webs, lights and skulls!
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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby alchemist77 » Thu Nov 03, 2016 11:11 am

Brilliant! I enjoyed the build. Great Halloween base camp!

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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby KCStudly » Thu Nov 03, 2016 2:07 pm

Pretty cool! :thumbsup:
KC
My Build: The Poet Creek Express Hybrid Foamie

Poet Creek Or Bust
Engineering the TLAR way - "That Looks About Right"
TnTTT ORIGINAL 200A LANTERN CLUB = "The 200A Gang"
Green Lantern Corpsmen
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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby nhstt » Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:00 am

Love your build. 8)
The Brooks bunch built a very small teardrop on the 40 by 48 Harbor freight trailer and although not complete
(we call her Patches bondo and she's a little bit tacky :lol: ) We've been camping in her for two summers now.
with the second tongue extension she tows like a dream. The first was too long and bent :?
The problem is she's just too small for my husband and I. We were warned :oops: So we're going to build a Ledge Vardo.
We need to keep it very light because we pull with an older Forrester and I'm worried about wind resistance. How's that working for you?
Also if you have other examples of your Poor-man's fiberglass I'd love to see them.
The trailer we're looking at has mesh bottom. Looking to keep the weight done and thought here would be a good starting piont.
Has anyone just added Grace ice and water over the mesh then a simple 1 by 6 and foam over 1/2 plywood?
Karen and the Brooks bunch
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Selling this one....(and looking forward to building another

Postby lgatlin » Fri May 18, 2018 2:33 pm

After a couple of years of travel and great experiences in our Stardust vardo, we are putting her up for sale. Here's a link to the Craigslist ad - had plenty of interest, hopefully have someone coming out this weekend to purchase, but we'll see how that goes:

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/rvs ... 91875.html

Image

We realized we have a few things we'd do differently with another chance, and we picked up another trailer. But we also realized that with this one in our driveway, we're not super motivated to start another, so we gotta move this one on! It's been a great little camper for us and we've gotten some good interest so hopefully we move this one out and get started on another soon. In the meantime, my daughter and her husband bought a vintage airstream and are taking a year off from their jobs to renovate (with our help) and travel for a year - so we need to clear this out and work on theirs before we get started on our own build.

So lots going on!
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Sold our little vardo

Postby lgatlin » Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:45 am

We just dropped off our vardo with it's new owner yesterday; they bought it with the intent of setting it up as an air bnb rental (along with some other small buildings on their property). We already have a new trailer to build our second vardo on - and lots of ideas for improvement. I'll put up a new build journal when I get that one begun! Sold it for $14,000.
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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby S. Heisley » Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:20 am

:SG ...Looking forward to seeing the "new, improved version"! (Although the original certainly is a beauty!)
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Re: Our first build - a vardo

Postby Alfred » Fri Feb 04, 2022 11:34 pm

Hi, I’m starting a build on a 4x10 trailer. When you were initially framing the walls, what type of wood are the 2x2’s on the side frame (that’s not pine, is it?) and what type of wood for the 1x2’s roof framing? Last but not least, what type of ply wood on the ends? I’m thinking most of my wood is going to come from the box stores. Thanks! AL in Asheville!


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4 minute video of our build - A 5x8 Camper for a family of 5 - http://youtu.be/CYGTlkfpIhY
How we built a 5x8 camper for a family of 5, using a utility trailer with an incorporated bunk bed for the kids.
From plain trailer to campground!

ImageImageImage
Also - More pictures here: http://flic.kr/ps/225piC
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