Wood Vs.Aluminum Inside ?

[islandtrader]

I was over on the Regrets thread and rather than hijack it, I thought I would pose the question here...

From what I gather so far is that 1/4 inch plywood is a better insulation barrier than the straight aluminum that is in the stock airstream...

My questions are: If I am going to paint the inside of the trailer anyway(I will keep the end caps aluminum) and all the panels are off, what is the downside to using the ply wood?

Would this hurt resale ? (I could keep the old aluminum panels)

Would it be to much of a hassle to install the aluminum panels and then plywood (besides being a time factor).

I will do a search, but feel free to post some wood interior pictures.

[Bubba L]

Wood is a good insulator. I would think the inner skin plays a role in the stability of the shell as part of the structure. The skin has been veneered with thin birch on some trailers. You can go to Airstream Classifieds under the vintage Airstreams and see pictures of a 55 for sale by LaneyB. The pics show some interior shots of the wood veneer. It can be done, though time consuming. Good luck. Bubba

[InsideOut]

The interior aluminum panels are part of the structural integrity of the trailer - wood is not as stable. Airstream calls it "monique construction" the outer skin, skeleton frame & inner skin all contribute to the strength of the trailer.

If you want a wood interior, you would be better off to add a veneer to the aluminum. Plywood, even ¼" will add more weight that you should to the existing frame (I assume you are asking about this for your 56 Caravanner). If you intend on beefing up the frame and calculate the extra weight in, you'd have more options.

Bottomline - yes, it would hurt resale if you remove the aluminum skins.

Shari

[Protagonist]

There's nothing wrong with using wood paneling for the walls/ceiling. Wood has the advantage of never being too hot or too cold to touch regardless of temperature; you won't burn your fingers on it in summer or freeze your fingers on it in winter.

Wood grain provides a visual point of interest whether you paint it, stain it, or varnish it with clear polyurethane. The only visual point of interest with aluminum is the rows of rivets.

Wood provides some insulating value all by itself, though not a lot. Aluminum provides no insulation at all.

As long as the paneling is done well, it won't really hurt the resale value by much. Honestly, no one expects a used Airstream to be 100% factory-original. Every trailer— Airstream or other brand— acquires personal touches from previous owners over time, and as often as not, those personal touches are what makes a buyer prefer one used trailer over another. However— if you're going to panel the interior specifically for resale, then don't. Only do it if you're going to keep the trailer and enjoy it yourself.

The biggest problem will be your method of attaching the paneling. Can't use rivets on plywood or veneer paneling. It wouldn't look right.

[55AS]

Originally Posted by Bubba L

Wood is a good insulator. I would think the inner skin plays a role in the stability of the shell as part of the structure. The skin has been veneered with thin birch on some trailers. You can go to Airstream Classifieds under the vintage Airstreams and see pictures of a 55 for sale by LaneyB. The pics show some interior shots of the wood veneer. It can be done, though time consuming. Good luck. Bubba

As the person who installed the 1/8" birch in the 55 Flying Cloud I can attest to the time consuming part. I did it because the paint on the aluminum panels was unattractive and I thought it would be easier and more attractive to panel over them than to strip them. The birch is very light (aluminum trim added more weight than the wood) and adds visual as well as actual warmth. I would not recommend replacing aluminum skins with wood but they seem to work well together.

[55AS]

Birch veneer with aluminum trim

[J. Morgan]

The wood is super easy to put against the wall, and requires very little to hold it in place.

On my 72, an 8’ sheet of plywood spans from the floor to the edge of the roof center panel. By placing the top edge against a “stop”, and then bending the sheet to fit the wall contour as it is pushed into place, the plywood holds itself in place because it wants to straighten out.

I left the aluminum inner skins in place, where I did screw the ply to the wall, I screwed into the skins.

I had intended to put 1/8” foam between the skins and the wood, I even bought it, but I ended up being in a damn big hurry and I blew it off. I kinda regret that....

The weight of 1/4” ply is what? Maybe 30 pounds a sheet? About 15 sheets to cover the walls, roof, and ends on my 31’ trailer.... about 450 lbs. not a big deal in an older trailer that is not that heavy to start with.

I attached the plywood to the walls using stringers I cut from 1/4” oak ply, with a screw every 6”, but this was as much to hide the seams and as decorative trim than to hold the wood in place.

[joie]

This is very helpful, but still weighing up replacing the inner skin, wanted to find out if it does affect the structural integrity. We have kept it aside for the time being. The previous owners went rivet happy all over, there was odd patches where they added extra aluminium bits and pieces, in some places the skin was 3 deep. Trying to take off the skin when there is several layers of crazy rivet work aint fun or pretty (also had rivet gun envy). They had so many weird added things to the entire camper, we did find 4 huge heavy fire retardant slabs in there which makes me wonder if there was a chimenia (it would explain the smoke damage). Its also heavily molded, its that ugly lining that is on there, and it can be removed, but its the amount of extra rivet holes that are the issue and it smells funny. I like the look of the wood and the birch veneer pictures are very good looking.

So my question is... Is the inner skin integral to the structural integrity, ir would adding some internal crossbars in between outer and inner skins do the same job?

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by joie

So my question is... Is the inner skin integral to the structural integrity...?

Yes.

Shari

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by InsideOut

Yes.

Shari

My take is this. I think that the inner skins add SOME strength to the trailer but not much. If they were integral to the structure they would be attached better than they are stock. The 1/8” pop rivets ain’t much, and they are spaced out pretty wide.

That said, without the inner skins in place, attaching wood to the walls would be a pain in the a$$.

On the bright side, If your skins are ugly, it really doesn’t matter when you cover them up.

[J. Morgan]

A picture is worth a thousand words. My son and I installed all of the wood on the walls in a couple of hours. Most of the time was spent on the ends and trimming things out.

The wood holds itself in place.

[DaveMc]

I ran across these pics on a website while looking for inspiration for our renovation: https://get.google.com/albumarchive/...IsV?source=pwa

Hope that link works. I'm pretty sure you could Google "Adirondack Airstream" and get the pics that way. Beautifully done trailer with awesome wood interior. While our 2005 has a white vinyl ceiling, we replaced our walls with a woven vinyl similar to what AS uses on the floors of the new ones. When it comes time for the ceiling to be replaced, I'll use birch I think--BambiTex has an awesome example a few posts above. Here's a pic of our walls, Bob Jones in Houston adhered it to the existing inner skins (that were covered in gross mouse fur) using a clear landau top glue, I think. The manufacturer of the wall coverings was Chilewich. Thinking that cost total around $2500 for labor and material, but worth it for us. Good luck and post pics!!!

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by DaveMc

I ran across these pics on a website while looking for inspiration for our renovation: https://get.google.com/albumarchive/...IsV?source=pwa



Hope that link works. I'm pretty sure you could Google "Adirondack Airstream" and get the pics that way. Beautifully done trailer with awesome wood interior. While our 2005 has a white vinyl ceiling, we replaced our walls with a woven vinyl similar to what AS uses on the floors of the new ones. When it comes time for the ceiling to be replaced, I'll use birch I think--BambiTex has an awesome example a few posts above. Here's a pic of our walls, Bob Jones in Houston adhered it to the existing inner skins (that were covered in gross mouse fur) using a clear landau top glue, I think. The manufacturer of the wall coverings was Chilewich. Thinking that cost total around $2500 for labor and material, but worth it for us. Good luck and post pics!!!

The Adirondack Airstream is a work of art, and I like your wall treatment!

[vanster]

We used birch ply with and laminated a veneer to it for the bottom half of the ends. The upper skin is aluminum through out. We glued a faux suede material onto rear aluminum panels that are attached with olympics. The front is just aluminum. We had the aluminum sheets anodized in a statin color. Behind everything is 2 layers of Prodex and spacers between the layers

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

My take is this. I think that the inner skins add SOME strength to the trailer but not much. If they were integral to the structure they would be attached better than they are stock. The 1/8” pop rivets ain’t much, and they are spaced out pretty wide.

I think it really depends on the vintage of the trailer. In the 50's the rivets are spaced a lot closer (1-1/2" - 2") together than in the newer trailers. IMO, if a 50's trailer has survived 60+ years the way they were built - why mess with a good thing? The weakest point with these older trailers is the wood floor which rots away...

Another point is that the structure & frames were a lot lighter in the 50's trailers which is why trailer weights increase with each decade.

Ultimately, it's each owner's choice on what to do with their trailer and the consequences. I would still recommend that if a wood interior is desired, then it should be in addition to the aluminum skins, not in lieu of.

Shari

[lyleapgmc]

Don't underestimate pop or pulled rivets. Airplanes are built using them. That said, the inner skin is most likely a structural part but might benefit from closer spacing of the rivets, thus more rivets.

Thinner paneling is lighter than 1/4" plywood and more flexible. If the inner skin is left in place then there would be no need for thicker paneling.

One manufacturer suggests using paneling adhesive to attach to walls. Nails are suggested at the top and the existing molding at the bottom. Pop rivets or screws in a narrow molding could replace the nails. Screws are available in a wide variety of materials and finishes. Aluminum is kind of hard to nail to.
A small gap is indicated between sheets using a dime as a gauge. The gap is made less obvious by staining or painting the area of the wall behind the gap.

http://www.designthespace.com/how-to...aneling-guide/

There's more than one way to build a bridge.

Google is your friend.

Lyle

[J. Morgan]

I used adhesive for some things early in my build, but quickly discovered that adhesive is great for putting things together, but it sucks when taking things apart. For me, construction adhesive and Airstreams don’t mix.

[joie]

Good morning Happy Campers!

I am so inspired by the pictures, needed a boost. We are taking the day off today, spent the best part of two hours pulling out gross white putty stuff. Seems there must have been a buy one get 10 free on the ugly white putty stuff. It was put on the plastic wheel covers, in the channels, after they used 3 different types of bolts (one type was over 2 inches long ???) at odd intervals to tie it to the floor boards. Somehow it is riveted to the outer walls, after we took some rivets out, we realised it is not external rivets holding them there. So there must be a second outer layer in some places.

Tomorrow we will take the remaining flooring off, and remove the under pan as it is filled with a mixture of rust, aluminium, insulation, trash, and rat poop, but mostly rust. There are stairs that are stuck down there, and we will try remove them and fix them, they actually have promise. Then our next job is removing the top and taking out the trailer to rebuild that. It is 100% rusted, the back end where the pseudo bathroom was is completely rotted away.

So much to do, ugh!!!!! Maybe I should have bought one that was more loved.

Have a great day

joie

[J. Morgan]

Years ago when I was still a teen I went into what I thought at the time was a ratty large old 50s travel trailer that was pressed into a rental in a gheto trailer park, and was shocked to see the gorgeous wood interior once I cleared the front door.

It stuck with me for years, so I built my own....

[joie]

J Morgan, that is beautiful!!!