hotrodjim
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Post by hotrodjim on Jul 15, 2022 10:48:29 GMT -8
Hey guys!
I’m not good at identifying wood so this maybe a stupid question but is the wood used to construct the walls made from pine or is it Douglas fir and does it matter.
Should I be looking at a current type.
Thanks Jim
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hotrodjim
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Post by hotrodjim on Jul 16, 2022 3:44:13 GMT -8
Would the wood I’m looking at for the wall construction be popular..
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Post by Teachndad on Jul 16, 2022 5:12:22 GMT -8
Hi Jim, Here is a quote from Mobiltec on our site. I found it in this thread. vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/thread/12578/right“Exactly Dan. We have the luxury of time on our side and the labor costs are pretty much nothing. So we're not in a hurry and we can spend the money for the upgrades. As long as we don't change the engineering involved. I use Poplar for all my one one inch walls. Walls thicker than that I mill my own out of doug fir “. My Westerner uses 1 x lumber in the walls. So, I replaced damaged wood with the poplar, but it’s more expensive, but few if any knots in it. Pine is cheaper and softer. Here is another thread that should help, too. vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/thread/11463/framing-lumber?page=1Rod |
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hotrodjim
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Post by hotrodjim on Jul 16, 2022 17:04:18 GMT -8
Thanks Rod
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idaho211
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Post by idaho211 on Jul 19, 2022 5:45:56 GMT -8
My Kenskill has douglas fir. It is good for structural wood and rates high on the hardness scale. Good clear doug fir is expensive but what isn’t?
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Post by wisconsinjoe on Jul 19, 2022 13:09:27 GMT -8
What is most important, in my opinion, is wood that is straight and free of large knots. At the lumberyard it is worth taking a look at the various pallets of framing lumber. I found that the better grades sometimes end up in the "pre-cut" 2x4s and 2x6s that builders often buy to save time in framing walls. I stumbled upon a large stack of near perfect, clear, and straight grain hemlock/fir lumber. Although slightly more expensive, it was perfect wood for framing. Not as strong as fir, but perfectly adequate for camper trailer framing. I like framing that is 1-1/2" to make it easy to run wires and insulation in the walls and ceiling.
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Starflyte68
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1968 Shasta Starflyte
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Post by Starflyte68 on Aug 11, 2022 6:13:14 GMT -8
I'm experimenting... I live near redwood country and found some amazingly good quality redwood 2x4s at home depot (heartwood even - the more rot resistant, darker colored interior of the tree trunk) and a couple good fence boards (1x8). I admit, Mobiltec advised me against redwood. My understanding is for 2 reasons: (1) the acidity of redwood is hard on aluminum, and (2) if it gets wet, it holds the moisture longer than many other woods. But: almost nothing outlasts redwood against rot. It is light weight and easy to mill on my table saw to the right dimensions. I have a redwood deck that is almost 50 years old and exposed to all elements - yes there are rotted places but also a lot that is still solid despite constant wetting/drying and the nails are still good despite the acidity. For use in my trailer walls, obviously I intend to avoid moisture and if it gets past me, it will be a problem no matter what wood I use. I'll be using a moisture barrier (house wrap) too, which should keep the aluminum from being in direct contact with the redwood. Lastly, I intend this as an experiment: I'll be lifting the skins to check within another 10 years and I play a bit with electronics, so I'm going to embed a few humidity sensors in the walls to monitor what's going on.
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Post by wisconsinjoe on Aug 11, 2022 7:07:37 GMT -8
I did not know about problems with redwood and aluminum. But I'd think it would be good for it's stability and light weight. It certainly will be strong enough.
But, as far as resistance to rot, it is sort of irrelevant. The idea is to prevent moisture from ever breaching the skin. The butyl sealing system works great for at most a few decades. It can fail invisibly and slowly allow water inside. Add a few more decades of that, and you get slowly rotting framing.
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Post by vikx on Aug 11, 2022 11:39:07 GMT -8
Also, trailers tend to leak a lot worse when sitting. They were built to travel, which allowed the water to roll off. All vintage trailers should be stored under cover. Even a tarp is better than nothing.
Redwood seems like a good idea and there's no reason for the aluminum to touch it. Most trailers had a thin "blanket" of insulation on the inside of the skin. If you insulate between frame members, you can use house wrap or other barrier to separate the skins from the redwood. Good luck!
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Post by Teachndad on Aug 12, 2022 12:09:59 GMT -8
Lastly, I intend this as an experiment: I'll be lifting the skins to check within another 10 years and I play a bit with electronics, so I'm going to embed a few humidity sensors in the walls to monitor what's going on.
Hi All, I will be curious to know what your sensors discover. Interesting. Rod |
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Starflyte68
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1968 Shasta Starflyte
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Post by Starflyte68 on Aug 13, 2022 19:49:40 GMT -8
So, having made my statement on redwood (a couple posts above), then worked more on my trailer today, I will say there is one other disadvantage. I find that there is a tendency for wood to split when I'm screwing pocket screws in across the grain. I may have less splits than the original wood used in my 68 Shasta (they used some pretty low quality wood), but douglas fir or the popular poplar would probably be a little easier to work with.
[Edit:] As for moisture - yes I know the goal is to keep moisture out. But my understanding is that condensation can happen anyway and I live in an area where condensation will likely be an issue in spring and fall. The house wrap will probably be my best prevention, but I figured the redwood might be helpful anyway. At the moment Im doing a basic restoration to make sure the trailer is roadworthy and functional for my family. I'll retire in about 10 years and expect to do a full frame-off restoration at that time. While that seems a long way off, I think there are posts in this forum nearly as old. I'll give full feed back on redwood then!
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tincanalley
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1958 Jewel
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Post by tincanalley on Sept 24, 2022 5:12:59 GMT -8
Here’s a crazy idea I was thinking of for my jewel frame off. Couple of years ago our black locust had to come down. I had a mobile sawmill come and cut slabs, but I have a bunch more at relatives place over in eastern WA, that I could mill down. Was thinking of using it for just the outside edge (not the inside) floor frame that is sandwiched by the Masonite and plywood floor. This wood is super hard and doesn’t rot, and dense heavy (1700- Janka scale). They use it for dowels in wooden ship building. Probobaly won’t do it just for the floor perimeter, lots of milling for not a lot gain - like others have said, properly sealed you shouldn’t need rot resistant woodI guess I’ll stick to the table making for now. Here’s a pic of stacked and stickered slabs (with a younger version of me…my son).  BB9EA3B0-5558-42DC-8AF3-46E375DEBB41 by asmay22, on Flickr |
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