If this is not allowed please let me know. I am seeking help in building a tiny house for my family and I. I joined makerspace in hopes to get back into building and making things. I was just given a 26 foot camper to make a tiny house out of but unfortunately we are beyond able to afford to build it. I know we all are probably tight in funds so if you can’t help i understand. Im just trying to give my family a better place to live then where we live now which is budget suites which costs me $1000 a month and is full of mold and is falling apart. We lost everything 2 yrs ago and having to start over from the bottom up. If you can help i Thank you very much. I have a gofundme set up to help us out. Hope you all have a great day.
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26-foot camper - is that a trailer, or an RV? Can you post some pictures? That would help more people understand the scope of the challenge!
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Bumper pull camper. I don’t know how to post a pic on here
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Thank you got it. Posted
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There should be a data plate on it somewhere. Need a photo of that.
It will show Curb Weight and Gross Vehicle weight. This is important as “stick built” trailers tend to weight more than travel trailers and you need to know how much cushion you have to work with. You have tandem axles which helps with stability and towing and hopefully more capacity.
Of course what comes off will be deducted but then put back on. Hopefully you will have at least 2000 pounds above current weight to work with.
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I’ve spent some time on a similar project. Strangely enough, it wasn’t my own. Not sure if the bus is on the forums any more, but here’s their blog. For an idea of their progress, I last saw it in July 2016 when it left DMS.
- Wood is cheap, but also fares poorly on the strength-to-weight ratio as @Photomancer has indicated. Metals like steel and aluminum fare far better on strength-to-weight, but are also immensely expensive by compare. Since your application looks to be wholly interior, engineered lumber such as LSL or LVL might be a good compromise
- Avoid major structural modifications if at all possible - especially with something that goes on the road. To the extent that you must modify the structure, build it as strong as possible with bracing across all likely directions of force.
- Plan your layout, test it, re-arrange it, get it as best you can, then stick to it. The couple working on the bus made regular changes to their design, suffering delays and rework in the process.
- Expect to spend a lot of time on smaller details than you would with a house; you don’t have a lot of space and will need to use it efficiently
- I’ve never heard great things about RV energy efficiency, so consider putting some effort into insulation
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Same here about energy. If you can can on giving up and extra inch on each wall to make thicker with say foam installation, you will greatly increase the habitability in both winter and summer.
If you look at what the R-value is for Foil back foam board for one inch, this would be a great investment (also easily taped off with aluminum tape for wind penetration. Polystrene is cheap but somewhat low on R value. Polyurethane is a good choice and doesn’t have formaldehydes being given off. Probably for cost Polyurethane probably best bang for buck.
If you actually gut the walls, then go with a min of 2" ~ 3". If the entire walls are replaced, you have the trailer 102" wide (8’6") and with 4" thick walls (total build up) you’d probably have the same interior dimensions.
Lots of work. Like Mister Smith has suggested, the detail work for cabinets etc. will be the biggest part. If you can learn MultiCam you’ll be able to do cabinets, bed frames, etc. much much quicker. Doing changes on the fly after things are under way, at least structural changes gets costly and major time delays.
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