best materials to use for interior construction - not wood
- Thread starter ramblinChet
- Start date
NMBruce
Adventurer
Should you decide to use wood, use products that are designed for wood boats and being in water. Use a good sealant and other products. I built my trailer out of Hickory wood and it has over 30k miles on this box and through lots of weather and terrain..After 5 years on the road and sitting in the weather, no garage, I need to do work on the trailer suspension and inside, so I am refinishing the box, the top did show some weathering, but no mold or wood rot. Here is where I get my stuff to protect my wood, I use Total Boat products https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/brand/totalboat-page
Products like these
And if you need to glue something and this stuff gives you about 40 minutes to work before it drys
Should you not continue with wood, ABS plastic, it can be purchased in sheets, I made my bed cover out of it
Products like these
And if you need to glue something and this stuff gives you about 40 minutes to work before it drys
Should you not continue with wood, ABS plastic, it can be purchased in sheets, I made my bed cover out of it
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Sparse Gray Hackle
Geezer
IMO, “Advanced materials” is a euphemism for “Expensive, difficult to source, difficult to work with, and difficult to repair”.
If the goal is to get out and enjoy the camper, I recommend wood.
The floor in my 1974 Apache was plywood and totally rotted, especially behind the wheels where road debris had been kicked up on it for who know how many miles. It had a long life and I replaced it with more plywood because I couldn’t afford anything more exotic. The replacement plywood was completely coated in epoxy and faced with sheet metal on one side and fiberglassed on the other side.
I think we’re all missing the point though, the OP specifically asked for “not wood”.
turbothrush
Member
Alloy
Well-known member
So yes, poorly built wood might rot......
Have you seen plastics or metal in a fire??
A log home will burn for hours. A fire crew can put the fire out and the log structure only needs refinishing, plus a new roof. The structure is still sound.
Yes, improperly built wood can rot. but wood has the potential to outlive all the alternatives.
9/11 the towers collapsed because the steel "melted". Today there is a trend to Mass Timber Construction because wood has better survival rates in a fire than any alternatives. Plus.... it is beautiful.
BC Gov News
Thirteen B.C. communities are leading the nation as they adopt innovative and safe mass timber technology for taller wood buildings that are faster to build, better for the environment and create new jobs and opportunities for forest communities in the province.news.gov.bc.ca
google Mass Timber Construction..... it is becoming a global trend. .... Wood properly built is a best choice.
These guys, an hour from where I live are BCs leaders in Mass Timber Construction.
Mass timber products and lumber company | Kalesnikoff
Kalesnikoff produces mass timber products such as cross laminated timber, glulam beams and many other specialty engineered hardwood products.kalesnikoff.com
Baltic Birch.... is one of the oldest BEST materials for any finishing product.
Absolutely the best "composite" building product for any limited, not mass produced, custom, one off project.
Baltic Birch is the best. PERIOD.
BUT .... "I am not terribly concerned with the interior being aesthetically pleasing".... opens the doors to many not so beautiful products.
Wood is great material but on the flip side it's depressing when 50% of what I drive/hike through has been cut in the last 20 years.
turbothrush
Member
Sure. Admittedly I am in the lightweight camp because I am payload challenged. My priorities are lightweight / looks nice in my option /durable . The pic below is simply how I did the wood covered foam panels. The tools / supplies I used are in the picture except for the table saw and the router table
Recycled used slab doors are very flat and have very little if any twist so I sandwich the panel between and clamped
Glue is for panel making and marine adhesive is for installing..Dog brush is to score the other side if you are glassing one side , gang of utility knife blades is to score the raw cut edge before glueing on a solid wood strip . Other pic shows embedded wood strips for screws if you need hinges or anywhere you can’t use adhesives. Panel weight ready to use less than .75 lbs / sq ft. Hope this helps!
Recycled used slab doors are very flat and have very little if any twist so I sandwich the panel between and clamped
Glue is for panel making and marine adhesive is for installing..Dog brush is to score the other side if you are glassing one side , gang of utility knife blades is to score the raw cut edge before glueing on a solid wood strip . Other pic shows embedded wood strips for screws if you need hinges or anywhere you can’t use adhesives. Panel weight ready to use less than .75 lbs / sq ft. Hope this helps!
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NMBruce
Adventurer
P.S. the plastic was something completely different to work with. very hard to bend and keep straight and glue.
To bend, it had to be scared, heated and then clamped in place to hole the bend. Like wood it had to be clamped when glued. Now in the cold, it is flexing away from the side of the bed of the truck, I think I need to add some aluminum braces to hold it in place, but I will wait until after I get traction boards mounted and some other stuff.
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