Trimming out the doors

When we framed out the door openings in the side walls, we knew that they would eventually be covered with some sort of aluminum trim to provide some protection to the exposed wood edges.  We also figured that it would cover any imperfection in our cuts and framing too!

 

 We purchased some simple aluminum flashing from Home Depot which usually comes in 10’ or 50’ rolls.  From this Darrell was able to fabricate custom bent c-channels using a press brake he had access to at his work (which he did way ahead of time before he left).  Each of these c-channels had a short ½” long leg that would be on the inside of the trailer, a 1½” bottom to span the width of the wall, and a longer 1” long leg that would be on the outside of the trailer.  He also made sure to hem the edges of the strips so there would be no sharp edges along the sides.  The c-channels could only be 4’ long – the length of the press brake – but that gave us just the right amount of length to cut down for each side of the door.

For each door opening we used three individual lengths of c-channel on the straight sides and then had to hand cut pieces for the arched top.  On the straight lengths, we decided to leave short ‘tails’ so that we could wrap the pieces over or under each other to help protect against water penetration.  After a quick test fit, we trimmed the ‘tails’ to length to give us even corners. 

For the arched top we couldn’t use the c-channel since couldn’t bend along the curve.  So to trim out the top, we decided to use three separate pieces of aluminum – one on each side of the wall with a strip to cover the top.  Darrell hand cut a strip of aluminum 2” wide following the curve using tin snips.  The top 1” would be left alone, but all along the bottom 1” he cut small slits so that it could be folded into the trailer.  He then repeated the process for the other side of the wall.  This made for an unattractive detail, but I really wanted to cover the edge of the wood and we could cover it over with another strip of aluminum later.

After everything was cut down, folded around and fit into place, we were able to glue it all on using construction adhesive.  Since we had a limited number of clamps, we used a whole bunch of blue painters tape to secure everything in place.  We then let it cure over night so we were sure it was completely secure and dry.

The next morning the tape came off and it looked great!  There were a couple of spots that didn’t adhere quite as tightly as we wanted on the outside, but that was fixed with some evenly spaced twist nails (the same we used to finish out the galvanized trim in the cabin).  Unfortunately I didn’t take a close up photo of them, but they gave it a really industrial look we ended up liking a lot

Mattresses!

One of the best parts about building this trailer was knowing that I would be able to sleep on something thicker that the ½” thick ‘air mattress’ we use for camping now.  Granted they are better than nothing and when you can’t bring anything larger they are great!  But as a side sleeper I wanted something more comfortable.

We ended up buying two sheets of 24”W x 90”L x 5” thick foam from Joann Fabrics.  This was defiantly one of our more pricy purchases – I think it was about $80 per yard.  But luckily we had access to a 40% off coupon which helped lessen the blow.  We also tested it out in the store so we knew that it would be really comfortable and worth the price for a good night sleep! 

Since we have the recessed storage in the floor of the cabin, we knew that it would be better to have three or four smaller mattresses that could be easily moved around to access the doors.  With the size foam we ended up purchasing, all I had to do was cut the two sheets in half and this gave us four sections of foam that measured 24”W x 45”L x 5” thick. Three of these halves fit the length of the cabin perfectly.  It leaves us with one leftover piece of foam, but I’m sure we’ll find use for it somewhere.

Even though I figured we would be using sheets and blankets in the cabin for the trip, I wanted to make some removable covers for the mattresses to protect the foam.  They needed to be made of a durable, washable material that would hold up to being on the road and moved around.  After another trip to Joann’s, we decided to use duck cloth which is a 100% cotton, heavy weight canvas – we purchased the rest of the bolt which was a bit more than 6 yards.  We also bought 48” long dual-separating parka zippers which are ‘sport-weight’ zippers which were heavy duty and, most important, long enough for what we wanted to do! 

My plan was to basically make a simple box cushion with a zipper running along one of the long edges.  I thought using the long edge would not only make the cover easier to get on and off, but also keep the zipper away from the wood floor and us.  Though I have some sewing experience, it was usually with my very experienced Mom helping me or at least within shouting distance.  This time I was on my own and she wasn’t even reachable by phone (they were on vacation in Spain when I decided to tackle this).  So I turned to the internet and found these posts; Honeybear Lane and this post, AlternativeWindows that were invaluable.  I was able to mush these two instructions together in my head to make my covers.  This is my first attempt at writing any type of sewing instructions but I will do my best and add lots of photos!

First I cut the fabric to the sizes I needed for my foam.  I basically added 1” to every length to be able to give myself a ¾” seam allowance when I sewed everything together (this meant that I would have a ¼” of wiggle room all the way around in case I really screwed something up).  So what I ended up with were:

·         (2) 26” x 47” pieces for the top and bottom

·         (2) 5” x 26” pieces for the two short ends

·         (1) 7” x 47” piece for one of the long sides

·         (1) 7” x 48” piece cut down the middle (so there would be two 3 ½” strips) for the long end with the zipper

I started by sewing the zipper because this was the scariest part in my mind – I’ve never sewn anything with a zipper!  Luckily Honeybear Lane also linked to a zipper tutorial that was extremely helpful which I will paraphrase.  I pinned the zipper to the first strip of fabric with the zipper facing down.  I used the zipper foot attachment and played with the needle position until I got it close to the teeth while allowing the zipper pull to still get by with the needle down.  This is important because in order to keep the zipper flat while you are sewing, you start with the zipper open.  Then after you have sewn a bit, you lift the presser foot while the needle is in the fabric, carefully pull the zipper past the needle, lower the presser foot and keep sewing.  After you are done, you flip over the zipper and press it down.  Huzza! One side done!  The second side was done with the same process.  

I then top stitched along the zipper as my tutorial suggested.  This was a little more complicated for me because I can’t sew straight unless I can line my fabric up with something.  What I did was to put a piece of tape on my machine that I could line the teeth of the zipper up to.  This gave me about an 1/8” from the edge of the fabric along the zipper to where I was sewing.

Wahoo!  Now on to the rest of the cushion…  The next part was really easy.  I sewed the two short strips onto the long edge strip with a ¾” seam allowance.  Make sure that you leave ¾” open at either end of this seam so that you can easily pin the finished ring to the top and bottom pieces (I missed this step on my first cushion and had to rip out a lot of stitches!).  This gives you one long side strip.   Note: before I sewed the strips together, I switched back to my normal presser foot from the zipper foot attachment.  

Since my zipper was two inches longer than the long edge of my cushion, I knew I would have to wrap the edges of the mattress with the zipper.  Luckily this is what was done in the tutorial I was following.  As she wrapped the corner with the zipper, it ended in a pocket on the short edge of the cushion – which was easier that it sounds.  After doing a mockup on the foam, I found I had 1½” to play with on each of the short edges to make the pocket.  I first folded over one edge ¼” and sewed it straight across to finish the edge.  I then folded again 1¼” and pressed it in place with the iron.

 I pinned the piece with the zipper to the folded fabric so the zipper was facing down.  This is where I had to vary from the tutorial.  My zipper has the ability to completely unzip, so instead of sewing straight across, I only sewed up to the edge of the zipper.  I also sewed back and forth over the same spot a few times to make the seam extra strong.

After repeating this on the other side I ended up with one continuous strip.  Now it was time to pin the edge ring to one of the sides.  I made sure that the finish side of the ring was facing in because you are basically sewing the cushion inside out.  This took a bit of time and thought, especially at the rounded corners, as I was trying to get everything evenly spaced.  

pinning away!

After everything was pinned I sewed around the perimeter with the same ¾” seam allowance.  At the rounded corners I tried to maintain the ¾” allowance by following the rounded corner and not the square corner.  This would be cut off later.  

Now for a quick test fit before pinning the other side. 

I then took a 20 minute brake to have a photo shoot with my cat who seemed to love sprawling across the fabric… I guess she likes duck cloth?  Either way she was very cute!

After the other side was sewn on, I cleaned up the edges and trimmed off all of the extra thread.  One thing I noticed with the duck cloth was that the unfinished edges would unravel really easily.  What I might do later is go over all the edges with fray check – unfortunately I ran out and what I had left was really old.  After everything was cleaned up I turned the cover right side out, ironed it and was amazed with what I did!  They came out far better than I thought they would and I’m really happy with the results!

kitty approved!

And they look great in the trailer!

Rebecca approved!

Side Doors

So since we've shown you that the doors have been started in our post about finishing the exterior walls, I guess its time to explain the process!  To begin with, when we cut out the door openings from the Okoume side walls, we did so as carefully as possible and saved the pieces.  In this way the completed doors would fit in seamlessly with the grain and the openings.  A key thing to note too is that i lightly marked which panel went with which wall and faced out.

The framed out walls and saved door pieces from back in the day!

The next step was to frame out the door in the same manner as the side walls - sandwich style.  We wanted to insulated the doors as well because we figured that this would give us a nice warm cabin once they were assembled and everything was sealed.  I framed out the sides and bottom of the door with 1x2 pine and cut down the arched top piece from a larger 1x4 board.  I then used the 1x2 pine again to frame out an opening for the window.  We were able to purchase these inexpensive operable screened windows online that were originally made for horse trailers.  While not the most attractive in the world, the were the right size, type and price.

I next traced out the opening for the window and drilled holes in each corner to make it easer to cut out with the jig saw.  It actually was quite difficult to cut out due to the awkward position and curves, but in the end, with some light sanding it fit like a glove.

After framing out the door, we used the leftover R-4 foam insulation from the walls to insulate the door.  It worked out great because we used up exactly what we had left!  Its like we planned it!

Just like with the Okoume, when we cut out the openings in the 1/4" birch plywood we used at the interior, we marked them up and saved them too.  I simply had to trim it down a bit to fit on the newly framed out door and glue and nail it on with finish nails.  The windows have yet to be officially installed, but they fit snuggly enough in the openings that they hold themselves in place for the time being.  Then, just to make sure it fit and looked awesome, we popped it in the trailer.  Voila!  A door!

We plan on covering the edges of the door and the wall opening with thin aluminum trim, but that still needs to be worked out.  In the meantime, I cut some of the aluminum T-molding we ordered on-line to shape around the door edges.  This molding with act a a backer for the weatherstripping and create finished seal around the door.  I attached these temporarily with some nails for the time being, but I have to continue to shave off portions of the door in order to get a tight but still movable fit.  Another test fit with the T-molding on looks great!  There's still more to do, but they are coming along nicely.

hinge side  / door handle side

Protecting the Exterior Walls

One of the main design elements we wanted to achieve with our camper was to make it look like a home built 'woody'.  To achieve this we used marine grade Okoume plywood for the side walls with the intention that we would stain and seal them.  We figured this would be one of the last steps in our build, but after a couple of heavy rain storms, we were starting to notice a little bit of water damage on the plywood.  Though marine grade plywood is engineered to better withstand the elements, it still needs to be sealed and all we had protecting the trailer since January was an old tarp.  Our schedule quickly got updated!

Before we stained anything though, I needed to sand the living daylights out of the Okoume.  After sitting outside for 5 months, the wood really opened up and dried out.  Running your hand along the wood you could feel how rough everything had become.  I went to town for the better part of the morning sanding first with 100 grit sand paper to smooth things out and then with a finer 220 grit which was recommended in the stain instructions.  After vacuuming of the dust and wiping things down, it felt nice and smooth.

When we first cut the Okoume into the tear shape, we saved a few scraps to test stains on.  The one we ended up liking the best was a Minwax stain in Provincial #211.  It seemed to have a nice rich color without being to dark.  Now that the trailer was built, I was really nervous about staining the whole thing, so we tested the stain out again to see how many coats we needed to get the right depth of color.  One side I did a single coat and on the other there are two.  We decided that though the two coats were really pretty, one coat showed off the grain more which is what we were after. 

So it was finally time to take the plunge - there was no going back!  I painted on the stain with a foam brush and Darrell came after me with a clean rag to wipe off the excess.  It looked amazing!  The grain was perfectly accentuated and the color was just right.  It was perfect!

look at that wood grain!!

The next step was to seal everything in.  We actually talked with one of our neighbors who is a contractor about what to use.  We initially thought to use polyurethane like the galley counter, but I was afraid how it would react with the Okoume and hold up in an exterior application.  He recommended using a Spar Urethane instead which was similar to poly, but made for outdoor applications.  Not only would it protect against rain, but also sunlight and temperature changes.

Following the instructions we painted on the first coat and were instantly impressed.  It went on somewhat easily and really made the wood shine.  After letting it cure for 4 hours, we sanded the surface lightly with 220 grid sandpaper, wiped it down and applied the second coat.  We let things dry overnight and in the morning noticed that a couple spots dried unevenly which was a bit disappointing.  We sanded everything down again - more aggressively this time - and carefully applied a third coat.  We let this fully dry and checked in the next day.  It looked great! There were a couple of funny spots, but only noticeable to us.  We were so glad we did that third coat.  The finish was really smooth and felt like it could stand up to a hurricane!

after one coat of spar urethane

We didn't really get any good 'after' photos, so here is an sneak peak photo showing a partially completed door!  The door is made from the Okoume we cut out of the side wall so you can really see the difference the stain and spar urethane makes.