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!