The HATCH!

Ben and I were very scared of the hatch. it was like this thing we didnt talk about and waved it off like it would just magically appear when we needed it. and it almost did thanks to J-Ru! :)

So this is how it happened:

We decided the hatch door needed to rest inside the walls instead of on top of them so we built the frame just inside. Since there will be a seam or opening between the wall and the door we made a little rain gutter in case it rains sometime in Texas ever. 

Ben cut three identical wide arched support beams out of 3/8 hardwood plywood that match the curve of the  profile, and three horizontal beams out of our 1x2s. 

Ben then cut notches out of the middle vertical beam so the veritcal 1x2s would fit in oh so nicely. 

I helped Justin glue and screw and clamp/tie down. 

24 hours later.... IT FITS!

lots of work being done around here!

We want to take the teardrop camping for New Year's Eve.. and thanks to some hard work from us and our friends we just may get er done! 

where did i leave off? we have accomplished so much in the past week! 

1) the galley wall Ben and I put up was taken down to be done right :)

saves a lot of work to put the paneling on first:

That galley wall is SOLID!

Blank slate for now, excited to get on to cabinets and counter tops sometime in the future

2) more sanding and routing! These tools are AMAZING!

3) Latches/Locks on doors!

we decided to go with a deadbolt

I'm still not quite sure how they cut the holes for these; Ben was on the Jigsaw for a while and Justin had a little punch out tool that attached to a drill.

the deadbolt latches on a groove cut out of the interior wall. so simple! 

4) we added a wood panel to the front for a few reasons, less metal for the roof, plans to build a box on the front and mount an a/c unit sometime in the future, etc. 

notice how the wood was cut to fit around the trailer to look all purty :)

Step Four - doors!

FINALLY back to work this weekend!!!

We put the galley wall up. Ben fits!

Our contractor come by to help us out :

Meet Justin. He likes to give everything a nice sanded, routed, finished look and feel. He added about 3 hours to our process today but damn does it look nice! THANKS!!

               

          

                                                           there -->

Ben cleaning up the flange

Justin fine tuning the porthole cutout - he put a super sweet rounded edge on this that looks great!
routers are awesome!

Justin belt sanding the profile

We have more sanding and staining to do before we mount the doors. 

Back soon! 

staining the wood

our friends came by to look at the trailer after we had stained the floor... and told us we had done it wrong. OOPS! Luckily Sam helped us out on the exterior walls the next day :)

thanks Sam!!

looking good eh?

PS. we'll be MIA for a while, heading to Peru for a couple weeks! Smell ya later!

Step Three - walls COMPLETE!

insulated walls with 1/2" foam board

and then spent forever drilling through the metal trailer frame to bolt the walls on

(used same carriage bolts we used to mount the floor)

WALLS ARE UP!! 

pictured with a Chelsie for scale

isn't it so cute?!

Step Three continues

cut out doors with circular and jigsaw 

(i have to admit we used a lifeline to figure this out. THANKS DAD!) 

husband fits! :)

framed walls:

we used 1x8s to encompass as much of the curve as we could with one piece.

we used 1x2s for the rest. 

we measured

and we cut

and we cut again

and we glued

and we clamped

and we screwed

over and over 

 

we bought the mattress a couple weeks ago from IKEA. knowing the exact measurements helps to frame out where the galley walls need to be: wall will follow right piece, across horizontal piece and up second from the right. does that make sense? well, you'll see.

so, we're done with the first wall, and about halfway done with the second. 

after framing we'll fill with insulation and mount to the trailer frame!

PORTHOLE WINDOWS!!

have arrived!

Step Three: walls

this step will take a while. so far we have drawn up and cut the walls. Ben used his nerd skills and actually used a circle and ellipse to get it just right. 

profile pic!  

so, next we need to draw up and cut out the doors, frame the walls, and bolt to trailer frame before we're done with step three. 

also, this Metallica thing showed up in the garage today

finally finished with step two!

we sanded, wiped down, and spray painted the trailer with Rustoleum black gloss

then bolted the floor onto the trailer using 1/4" carraige bolts (they come in ridiculous lengths), split ring washers, and nuts.

Thanks for the advice on this Justin!

Ben using the massive 1/4" drill bit we made a late trip to home depot for tonight when ours turned out to be about 1/2" too short!

I'm ready to move on to the walls!!!

sidetracked

Ben decided he needed to build himself a workbench

back on teardrop track tomorrow :)

finishing up the floor

we were able to borrow a drill and get the floor put together today! 

for waterproofing we covered the entire bottom with roofing cement

man this stuff was messy!

Step Two - floor

we had a busy week but managed to make a trip to Home Depot and get the floor cut out

Ben on the circular saw!

we got all ready to screw plywood to our 2x4 frame and the dang drill crapped out on us. we're borrowing another from a friend this week. pictures of the bottom of the floor coming next when we get it together and apply roofing cement for water proofing! 

**Shoutout to my awesome coworker Paul for lending us the circular saw, chopsaw, sawhorses, and sander. THANKS PAUL!!!

Step One - trailer frame

Tod Fudge (aka Pa) constructed this trailer and gave it to me as a birthday present. He is an amazingly skilled carpenter/welder/mechanic/you name it! Count on us calling him a lot throughout this process.

The trailer is just under 5X8 so we can use one sheet 4X8 plywood on the sides and avoid seams. We chose 5x8 so it's just big enough for a double size mattress (typically 4.5x6.25).

THANKS DAD!!!

This weekend we flew home to Missouri for my college roommate's wedding (it was a beautiful wedding and a great party!) We drove my new truck, newly constructed trailer, and old dirt bike back down to Austin. Quite the treasures!

words of encouragement

from my dad:

It starts as a mild obsession, ends as an all-out brawl as the new ranger morphs into the highway home.

dreams of tiny campers roll through their heads

I bought my husband this book for our 2 year anniversary in June. It was stumbled upon it in a tiny eclectic gift store in Austin called Wanderland. I have become obsessed with these cute, tiny, and seemingly simple teardrop trailers! WE MUST BUILD ONE! Ben is a little hesitant but still on board :)

I should start by saying we know just about NOTHING about carpentry. We have a power drill, some sockets wrenches and a hammer. This should be quite a learning experience and hopefully a great adventure for us!