Water, water everywhere...

[docdave]

I've been wondering for some time about the discussion of camper materials vs water. What to ya'll think about the contribution of moisture/vapor/condensation from the inside of the camper, compared to water entering from the outside. It occurs to me that simple wood construction might be perfectly fine, if protected from interior moisture, particularly with carful exterior and roof construction. What about the possibility of applying a preservative to the frame structure during construction. .... been toying with the idea of building a flatbed/frame mounted camper out of wood, and purchasing a factory roof and softwall.

 

[craig333]

The problem I see is water intrusion is almost inevitable at some point. Used hard something is going to need repair. So far I've only had to fix one small leak. With wood if you have a small leak that goes unnoticed by the time you realize you have a problem its likely to be significant. Can you mitigate that during construction? Likely. I look at wooden boats. With proper maintenance they'll last forever. Neglect it and its a piece of junk in a hurry.

 

[craig333]

The problem I see is water intrusion is almost inevitable at some point. Used hard something is going to need repair. So far I've only had to fix one small leak. With wood if you have a small leak that goes unnoticed by the time you realize you have a problem its likely to be significant. Can you mitigate that during construction? Likely. I look at wooden boats. With proper maintenance they'll last forever. Neglect it and its a piece of junk in a hurry.

 

[dlh62c]

... been toying with the idea of building a flatbed/frame mounted camper out of wood, and purchasing a factory roof and softwall.

If your going to put a lot of time and effort into the build, you might look into using marine grade materials.

YouTube is your friend: RV Wood Rot.

 

[DaVikes]

x2 use marine grade materials. I think you can end up with a durable camper if you construct it appropriately. I'm looking into the same thing. I'm going to use Meranti Hydrotek. It is is a high end marine ply commonly used by boat builders. Strait Lumber in Denver carries it in stock.

 

[java]

If I were building from scratch, I would use as little wood in structural places as possible.

I have an RV, and they built the walls with a layer of FRP glued to a piece of 1/8" ply, glued to 1.5" of foam, then the outside layer, another 1/8" of ply and fiberglass.
This all goes into a vacuume bag and becomes one bonded panel. The problem im running into, the PO has a few small leaks. the water gets in, is trapped and the plywood gets wet. Nothing else if bothered much by the water, but the plywood then looses its bond with the other parts. And begins to rot.

I have a few spots where the exterior fiberglass is loose from the rest of the layers.... Not fun or easy to fix.

That makes me think. If i were to build one, I would not use that wood layer, that way even if water did get in (which inevitably it will) it wont cause such major problems. If it were a thin layer of aluminum, the water would have just found a way out at the bottom. Now RV MFG's are cheap and this wont ever happen (at least any time soon, they are still using EPDM roofs ....) but the problem could have been avoided. Look at the homebuilt foam and fiberglass campers on this site pods8 iirc comes to mind. Nothing to rot, even WHEN water gets in.

 

[docdave]

Well, here's the deal. I'm pretty good with wood.... thinking about using dowels at the joints, glue and then treating the materials with a preservative. Most of the pop up campers I've seen damaged, either had a leaky roof, or condensation damage. If I use a 'leak proof' roof with insulated softwall, and something non porous, like fiberglass sheets, on the inside to prevent condensation problems, can I mitigate potential water damage? I can visualize building a wooden camper in a few weeks with skills I already have, foam and aluminum construction involves a skill set I don't have. I have welded PVC before, but I'm not sure I can find applicable materials. I'm already 55, the popup that I have now is 20 years old, and not shot yet, if I can get 30 years out of a camper, maybe that's good enough.