Wall Panels
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
I'm not sure what the wood type was in the original trailer. I've been told it was fir but I've also read that birch was widely used. I'm not real familiar with either of those wood types so I couldn't say for sure. What I do know is that it had an orange tint that Becky didn't like. So I decided to go with mahogany. It's a wood I like and I love working with it for making furniture, something that appealed to me for the cabinets.
I found that Columbia Forest Products (CFP) sells various types of veneer plywood through Home Depot (HD). HD is about the only local source I can go to, the next closest source is 1.5 hours drive away. I ordered some small 2'x2' panels through HD as samples and they looked nice. So then I contacted CFP and they provided me the info on ordering 4'x8' panels through HD. The lead time is "3-5 weeks" (more like 5-7 weeks if you order during a pandemic and the holidays). Note: they are NOT inexpensive. I ordered 16 to have good margin. If you were really efficient you might get away with 12 but I used 13 plus wasted one by not paying close attention to my own careful measurements .
The panels I received were mostly from a single "flitch", that is the wood veneer from a single tree was matched sequentially across the panels. I tried to take advantage of this in key locations where it would be apparent to the discerning eye. For example the panels directly across from the door are sequenced and aligned. No one but me will probably notice.
Fitting panels
Sealing the edges
Because of the water damage that was very apparent along the edges of the panels around the window openings, I decided to seal the edges with finish before I installed them. A small roller seemed to work best. I started off trying to use some penetrating epoxy but gave up and switched to "one coat" polyurethane. I'd never used it before and it's thick like white glue. Time will tell if it has good sealing properties.
Wall panels in place
The main fasteners I used were 3/4" #8 black truss head screws. My color palate is going to be mahogany wood, black and metal (aluminum and stainless). I this the black screw heads will look decorative when its all done. I screwed them through the panels into the aluminum ribs. They are solid. I used painters tape to mark the ribs so that I could drill and screw into the ribs even though they were hidden from view once the panels were in place. I took care to align them linearly as I went using a template to make sure the spacing was uniform.
batton offsets for wiring and seams
On the ceiling I used 1.5" wide strips of the panel material to act as offsets/batons from the foam. These were screwed in to the aluminum ribs to provide a small void for the few wires I needed to run across the ceiling. Additionally I thought these might also serve as someplace I could attach the panels with screws. As it turned out I didn't need to do that.
Positioning the center panel
The original panels all were put in side-to-side but I decided that I wanted the center section to run front to back. My thought is that this might give the tight interior a slightly longer feel. The two side strips on the ceiling will largely be covered up by the cabinets once they are installed.
The curved end panels were a real challenge to bend into place. There was a lot of swearing going on. In the image above you can see a lighter colored section below the window. This will be hidden behind a cabinet in front and the bed in the back. Based on this I decided to go with some less expensive 1/8" birch that is significantly more pliable than the 1/4 mahogany. I simply doubled it up to get the 1/4" thickness I desired.
The very bottom of the front panel will be exposed under the dinette so I fixed a small strip of mahogany on top of the birch panel where the wood will be visible (not shown in the image above).
The seams are still pretty ugly, but they will eventually be either trimmed out or covered by cabinets once the cabinets are installed.
Panels with a coat of conversion varnish
After installing the panels I sprayed them with 3 coats of General Finishes Semi Gloss Conversion Varnish. Conversion varnish is a 2-part finish that you mix just before use. It has a "pot life" of several hours. It's supposed to create a very durable finish and it has many advocates in the cabinet making world. I hadn't used it before but it was easy enough to use, just took an extra prep step to mix before use. It dries to touch really quickly and cleanup was basically the same as any finish. The initial cost is about 2x higher but the higher solids count means you need to spray less to get the same finish thickness.
I mentioned that I'd used the old panels as templates. This was enormously helpful, but would have been even more helpful if I'd sequenced things like the original builders: put in the wall insulation and paneling first and then the ceiling insulation and paneling. The way I did it created a very tight tolerance for cutting and fitting the panels. Doing it the way the original builders did it requires on the ceiling panels meet tight tolerances (because the edges of the wall would be hidden). And this tolerance is easily achieved because it's a square cut on the table saw.
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