Raise The Roof, Popov's in Da house!

    This time, I'll be talking about closing up the roof on the little trailer.  This was a particularly fun step because not only does it make the trailer seem that much more substantial, but it also feels a bit like closing a chapter.  The wiring, the ceiling, the trim installation;  all were contingent on access through the open roof.  Closing in the roof means (unless I really screwed up) that all of those things are in the rear view mirror.  It was also fun because Dan and Martha, my in laws, were up this weekend and as always, made getting things done just a little easier.  The kids are always glad to be kept occupied by GrandMar and as long as Kat has been my wife we have been keeping Popov busy with our projects.  For the uninitiated, GrandMar and Popov are Dan and Martha's grandparent names. As they have been a part of all of our family projects, it is fitting that they should be a part of the "Little Trailer Project".  The pictures below show the open roof ready to be closed in.

This picture shows the back of the forward cabinet with the wiring for the electrical outlets and reading light.

The blue box on the left contains the wiring for the fan / vent.  The one on the right contains the wiring for the interior dome light.  Further back are the wires splitting left and right for the exterior porch lights.

    The next step is cutting insulation to fit in each of the cavities between the framing.  I used two layers of 3/4" thick styrofoam sheets.  The two layers made it pretty easy to cut out for the wiring.  It was a fairly simple cut and fit process; matching angles and cutting around the obstacles.  The irritating part was all the tiny bits of styrofoam flying around and sticking to everything including me; I literally had to vacuum myself.

The insulation is installed and the wiring is marked where it goes through the spars.  Although the wires should be low enough that the staples will not reach them, I'll avoid those spots just in case.

     After The insulating is done, it's time to test the fit of the 1/8" masonite hardboard sub-skin.  I call it a sub-skin because eventually, it will be covered with an aluminum skin.  It must fit flush to the last spar (the hinge spar) and follow the seem of the camper sides and trim all the way forward.  To check the fit, I clamped it flush to the last spar, weighted the top, and pressed the front down.  After clamping the whole thing into place, I marked out the locations of the spars on the skin and drew lines indicating where all the framing will be.  

Here the masonite is clamped flush to the hinge spar.

You can see how the skin will need to be forced into shape.

With the top weighted and the front clamped down, I can mark the locations of the centers of the framing members (marked out on the blue tape).

     The next part requires some assistance and that is where Dan comes in.  We positioned the skin on the camper and made some reference marks so that we could place it without smearing the glue all over.  After a dry run placing the skin we were ready for glue.  A generous bead of glue was applied to the tops of all the framing members and we set the skin in place.  Once I was satisfied that we had it lined up just right, I stapled it down to the last spar, working out from the center stapling about every 3".  From there, we worked forward, one spar at a time; working out from the center line smoothing and compressing the skin as we went.  The 4'x8' sheet is about 5" shy of covering the whole top, so a piece was cut to fill in the remainder after we got the whole thing stapled down.

Glue.

More Glue.

Here she is with her sub- skin all stapled down, lookin' smooth.

Finally, the fan/vent hole is flush trimmed to the framed opening.

   This step makes the camper look more finished, but it also goes a long way to reinforcing its structure.  Tying all of the individual parts together with one seamless sheet means that they will all share stresses and that they all work together to make the whole assembly rigid.  This is now one very solid box.  

    Overnight, we got about 5" of new snow, and true to form, Martha took care of the catastrophe that was our post-breakfast kitchen, installed a gunk catching mat in the toaster oven and mended the puff ball on Kinsey's hat while Dan helped with the snow clean up.  As always, thank you D & M for all your help.  The snow brought with it something we haven't seen around here in quite some time: temperatures climbing into the 30's and it felt nearly tropical.  I mention this because it brings me to my final topic of discussion.  

     When we set out on our journey this summer, the little trailer will be pulled by my truck.  I love my truck and I really do not love child induced car filth. If you have children, you know what I mean.  In anticipation of a solid summer's worth of the girls trying to destroy my truck's interior, I got myself a Christmas gift: seat covers.  Until now, the weather has not permitted me to install them.  One look at the weather forecast confirmed that my window was narrow; the high tomorrow is a windy 12.  It was an absolutely beautiful day; sunny, calm , and 40 degrees.  It was really nice to just be outside comfortably.

Front before

Rear before

Front after

Rear after

    While we are on the subject of the kids, I have one last thought to leave you with.  One of our goals for this trip is to have the girls participate wherever possible, and a part of that will be putting their thoughts into the blog.   By way of introduction to that idea I have suggested that they write a little something about their expectations of the upcoming trip and the trailer project.  Without further ado, I give you the first installment of "Kinsey's Korner"...

                                                    Kinsey's Korner

      I guarantee that we will have a great time on our cross country trip. I just know it. I say that we will have a good time because we will be all together as a whole family. Dad's not at work. Mom's not at work. Zoe's not all the way down the hall in Tatham School, and me, I am not all the way in the first classroom doing Math work. I'm very excited about it. Maybe we'll see elephants, maybe we'll see red tailed hawks, maybe we'll see scary legends or ones as sweet as a heart full of love.

But my, oh my, am I not surprised that my dad can build a trailer with just a little help. If you ask my opinion I would say that my dad is very, very talented.