Walls

The walls of the trailer are made from 5.2mm lauan plywood with a 1×2 / 1×3 /1×4 frame.

  • Laid out a sheet of lauan.
  • Marked/measured where the galley wall will be.
  • Cut the lauan so that the galley wall will be on the plywood joint.
  • Laid the pattern out on the wall and traced the profile and door opening
  • Cut/Glued 1/4’s to frame the outside, clamping glued pieces for 1/2 hour until dried.
  • Cut out door with Rotozip tool.  I used the 1×3’s that I had cut for the door frame as a guide to be sure the cut was straight.
  • Put a 1×4 at the location of the galley wall and the cabinet wall in the front of the trailer.  I will be making a dado cut in these locations once the inside plywood is in place.
  • Placed braces where the galley counter and interior rear cabinet will be located.  I also put a vertical brace half way between the back of the trailer and the galley wall so I will have an attach point if needed.
  • Added insulation
  • Skinned the interior side of the walls.  I used 1/4″ oak plywood for the cabin area and lauan for the galley area.  The galley will be covered in Laminate when completed.
  • I routered a 1/2″ notch for the galley wall and a 3/4″ notch for the cabinet.
  • Cut a 15/16″ rabbet 1/4″ deep into the top inside edge of the cabin portion of the walls. This will hold the inside skin of the ceiling (3/16″ lauan) and the roof spars (3/4″).  To do this I made an adjustable fence for the router and used a 3/4″ bit.
  • Trimed the galley portion of the side walls down 3/8″ to make room for the gasket seal.  I did this by using the fence I made for cutting the rabbet and cut a rabbit about 1/2 way into the wall.  Then I turned the wall over and used a trimming bit to finish it up.
  • Epoxy Coat 1. Sand. Epoxy Coat 2. Sand.  Get really frustrated with epoxy.  Break down and buy the expensive stuff.  Epoxy coat 3. Realize why people are willing to pay $100+ per gallon for the “good stuff” (i.e. West Systems Epoxy – low viscosity – low odor – long setting time).
  • Attached the walls to the floor/chassis.  I first made pilot holes with counter sunk holes for the screws.  Then I put down a bead of Silicone II roofing caulk along the corner between the frame and the floor then I set the wall in place.  Then I tacked it with two screws.  The first side I also tacked in pace with a brace so it wouldn’t fall over during the rest of the process.  Then, dipping each screw in wood glue I securely fastened walls to the floor.  I added a temporary spar when installing the second wall to keep it in place.