Building and attaching partitions to skin

[justgoclimb]

J. Morgan - awesome to hear that, thanks for the info. Sounds like you did exactly what I'm thinking about doing. Good to know it will work. What size and type of wood did you use for your single-panel bulkhead?

[J. Morgan]

I used 1/2" plywood on the other two bulkheads, they were on either side of my shower enclosure.

If I had it to do over again I MIGHT use 1/4" to save weight.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Use the "F" shaped molding as the factory does.

It's readily available.

Andy

[HiJoeSilver]

Here are some shots of my process mfg and installing new partitions.

As mentioned earlier I used originals to get rough template on new 1/4" luan, then scribed and trimmed the luan so it fit the walls perfectly(within 1/16"ish), I used jig saw for bulk cuts and belt sander for fine tuning the curve. Then used luan templates to trace to make new a partition out of 1/2" and trimmed and fit to get as close to perfect as a starting point. Then I attached the F channel to the wall and marked where it began and ended on the new partition, new partition wouldn't fit in at this point because of the thickness. Then I routed a dado on the edge, 1/2" in from the edge and adjusted the router depth to get the thickness so it would fit snug into the F channel.

Here are some photos that show the routed in dado to thin the edge of the plywood. The way I laid out where the dados went on the partitions and which side they were on, I made it so that the dado would be hidden, ie 2 dado's are hidden facing the refrigerator, two others are hidden in closets. The only place the dado will be visible will be in the kitchen between the counter top and when the overhead cabinet starts, pretty short section and really not noticeable unless you really look.

Photo of routed edge, ends just beyond f channel

Partition in f channel

close up


Partitions temporarily in. Just friction fit into the channels in the pic. I added a 1/8" gap along the top, some of which actually gets hidden in the channel depth. Rounded over the top corners like the originals, think it makes it look nicer.


The back curb side partition shape changed dramatically so that the bottom comes out so a dinette bench backs up to it at the bottom, but didn't want the whole wall to be that wide, would have felt too big and made the back feel very closed off, so put a curve from the dinette shape back over to the original partition depth. Originally the dinette stuck out past the wall which just didn't look right, like having a couch only half against a wall.

Still deciding what to do to the inner edge, either round over the corners to soften them or put some 1/2" alumunim u channel over them. Both seem like good options which makes it a hard decision.

[mandolindave]

I would not trust plastic to not break ( eventually ) I would use aluminum, and aluminum rivets.

And….Some of the ideas stated, would mean that you would be attaching to just the skins. It is probably more better, to attach to the ribs ( aluminum studs )

AND….I would listen to Inland Andy…cause there is a slight chance, that he might could know what he is talking about.( kidding, he's a guru ) The F shaped channels would allow rivet repair, and such, without taking a whole lot of stuff apart. It would also look cool and original, and maybe some other reasons that I'm too dumb to think of.

[HiJoeSilver]

I wouldn't use plastic either.

I know that F channel is available, but does anybody have any experience they could share in bending new straight sections of this to fit the walls. with the 2 flanges perpendicular it is very stiff, and bending without some way to prevent it, the flanges will ripple when bending. Just trying to bend mine a little so they fit better was nearly impossible and they were already close, not sure how bending a straight piece to fit would go.
Attaching to rib's would be good, but the rib's may not be plumb. Attaching to the sheet metal is sufficient. 3/6 of my originals didn't go anywhere near rib's. If you want to put them where they originally were but just don't have the channel you can still use the original rivet holes as guides on where to attach the partition.
New AS I looked at they don't use the f channel any more as far as I could tell. They used L brackets and plastic U trim on the edge to fill the imperfect gap.

[J. Morgan]

I take pride in my gaps!



I used 80 grit paper on a pneumatic dual action sander for the final fitment.

I got the curve right first and then cut the "hall side straight.

[nrgtrakr]

I like the new walls and cabs ... makes me want to gut ours and start over - have never been crazy about the bath.
For bending new F channels, if you had a 1/4 metal bar to use as the form, and slowly bent the aluminum onto that, putting the 1/4 bar into the slot as you go, you'd likely have no ripples. If it tried to ripple, they could be smoothed out onto the bar.
No guarantee, just thinking outloud.

[HiJoeSilver]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

I take pride in my gaps!

Attachment 245808Attachment 245809Attachment 245810

I used 80 grit paper on a pneumatic dual action sander for the final fitment.

I got the curve right first and then cut the "hall side straight.

Gorgeous. Hope mine comes out half that good, and soon.

[justgoclimb]

Nice pics HiJoeSilver, always appreciate detailed info. I'll be checking back in with some pics when I finally get around to installing mine. Probably won't be for a few weeks though.

[HiJoeSilver]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

I take pride in my gaps!

Attachment 245808Attachment 245809Attachment 245810

I used 80 grit paper on a pneumatic dual action sander for the final fitment.

I got the curve right first and then cut the "hall side straight.

J Morgan, that looks really nice. Question what are the fasteners that appear about every foot, they look like big brown dots, easy to see on the vertical board in the first picture. They may solve a dilemma I'm having. Also on the third photo, where is that, is that a closet in the back curb side corner. It's hard to tell from the perspective. Looks like 2 doors but a fridge may be blocking one?

[J. Morgan]

The bath entry is comprised of two doors that meet in the middle, the fasteners are "RV style" square drive screws. I bought them off the shelf at Lowe's.

[HiJoeSilver]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

The bath entry is comprised of two doors that meet in the middle, the fasteners are "RV style" square drive screws. I bought them off the shelf at Lowe's.

J Morgan Thanks for responding.
From the description I'm thinking they're brown pan head wood screws with square drive , like Kreg pocket hole screws but brown. I was thinking they might have been hex drive furniture bolts that go into barrel nuts. Been trying to figure a good way to attach the box frame closet that would keep it removable and reattach able without wearing the screw holes out.

[J. Morgan]

I have made changes here and there, disassembled and reassembled, etc, the screws are pretty robust and wear well.

At my Lowe's they carry dark brown and black.

I have used mostly black, but a few brown when the black screws were out of stock.

[J. Morgan]

If I wanted to use machine screws, I would consider using "rivet nuts".

I use these on occasion.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_6swv7ff5ml_b

[Stargirl]

Anyone still out there on this thread? If I were to use 1/4" plywood for shower walls, could it be tiled? Or does heavy(ish) tile need more support than that?

p.s. I do know the valid concerns with tiling in a mobile Airstream, but am still considering it (because it just looks so much better to me!)

[skyguyscott]

Short Answer: Sorry, no.

Ceramic tile requires a backing that is completely solid and inflexible, or else it will crack, break and look awful, starting with your first bump in the road. Concrete works well. When I did my bathroom floor at home, the contractor first put down 2 layers of 3/4 plywood on top of the subfloor, glued together and screwed down tight every 8 X 8 inches. He guaranteed me the floor would not crack.

Turns out there are actual reasons why so many advise against putting ceramic tile in a mobile vehicle, all based on the sad experience of those who have tried anyway.

The good news: there are vinyl tiles that are virtually indistinguishable from ceramic tiles that will even accept grout (though I would advise against grout in RV) to further the illusion. AND, it's 1) LIGHTER WEIGHT! 2) FAR CHEAPER

Another alternative: Plastic paneling that looks like tile that is even more water proof.

[TheGreatleys]

Originally Posted by Stargirl

Anyone still out there on this thread? If I were to use 1/4" plywood for shower walls, could it be tiled? Or does heavy(ish) tile need more support than that?

p.s. I do know the valid concerns with tiling in a mobile Airstream, but am still considering it (because it just looks so much better to me!)

Depends on the tile whether it's workable, but I'd use 1/2" play instead of 1/4". One of my shower walls and the bath floor are tiled with quarter inch thick ceramic hex tile, and they're doing fine. Backer on the shower wall is half inch plywood with kerdi membrane. Under the bath floor is 1/4" Hardie backer and normal subfloor.

Now, there are some tricks to doing this well. The floor tiles are all attached to one continuous piece of subfloor, so no flexing at the seam. The shower wall is attached to the Airstream wall in a way that doesn't allow the flex of the trailer to transmit to the wall as easily.

The tile choice is important. Thinner is lighter. Smaller is less likely to fail.

Tile needs to be installed properly, too. No swirling the thinset. tinylifegear.com/home/tips-on-tiling is worth a read if you plan to use tile in your Airstream.