Re-imagining a 1948 Boles Aero Trailer

Following installation of the EPS foam board insulation I installed the new wall panels. The original panels had gotten quite discolored from water leaking and condensation, particularly around the windows.  Based on all the images I've seen on the internet, the condensation issue seems to be common to these small "canned ham" trailers. My theory is that the metal window trim that is typical in these trailers accelerates this problem because it sits right up against the endgrain of the wood panels and during cool mornings and evenings, even if you're not using the trailer, moisture in the air will condense out onto the cooler metal window trim and then get wicked up by the end grain of the panels. Original Panels In any case, I chose to replace the panels. Based on a tip I read I saved the old ones to use as templates for the new ones. It was a great idea, but I could have benefited from it better. More on that later. I'm not sure what the wood type was in the ori...

To move forward with the insulation and wall panel installation I needed to be able to do the rough-in electrical wiring and that meant I needed to think through the appliances I wanted, lighting, etc. I'd been thinking about it but hadn't written anything down. I used an idea I saw on one of the "van life" websites and decided to use a visual block diagram to capture "the plan". I started with the major components requiring electrical power. Then I roughed out the physical placement of those components in the trailer. This meant I needed to finalize the floorplan an cabinet layout. After that I broke out the 12VDC wiring paying special attention to where the wiring needed to be embedded in the walls. Most of the wiring will be strung through the cabinets where it's easier to access and not visible. Similar with 120VAC wiring. There's still some room to adjust as I move forward, but the rough-in wiring in the walls is essentially final.  

  Like the floor, I decided to use extruded polystyrene (EPS) rigid foam board insulation in the walls and ceiling. The three factors I liked were: 1) essentially waterproof; 2) good insulation properties; and 3) it doesn't leave as much residual foam dust as regular Styrofoam panels.  The walls and ceiling have room for 1.5" thick insulation so that's what I went with. At 1.5" EPS has an R-value of 7.5. I had to special order it and it took several weeks to arrive. In the picture above you may notice there are areas where I used 1" EPS instead of the 1.5" EPS.  The wood wall panels that will be installed over the EPS are only 1/4" thick and won't provide a good holding surface for anything needing to be securely screwed to the wall. Cabinets, curtain rods, and lights will need to be secured. to the walls. So I created voids for strips of 1/2" plywood by using 1" EPS instead of the full thickness 1.5" EPS. I used leftover marine grade...