|
Wall / Slide Out Construction
Most of the walls and slide mechanisms are made out of box aluminum tubing with 1/4" fiberglass panels on the outside
and 1/4" finished plywood on the insides. The openings for the slides are framed with wood so that the seals can be firmly
attached.
|
| Garage Wall |
The rear of the trailer houses a 6x8 garage bay for bicycles. The rear most wall is reinforced with 2x4 framing. The
framing will be the underlying support for integrated bicycle racks to be built into the garage space. The bike racks will
allow the bicycles to be mounted without taking the front wheel out. An integrated bin storage system will serve as the lower
support, while mounts for the handlebars will be attached higher up on the walls.
We have dedicated space for 2 tandems, 4 solo bicycles, and a cargo trailer. We took one of the bike spaces
and made integrated storage for an empty propane tank, and a some lawn furniture.
I still have a few months to work this out.
|
| Dinette Slide |
|
| Entertainment Center |
The floor of the dinette slide received the same wide maple flooring as the rest of the kitchen and living room. The
corners had to be capped with 1/2" stock as not to interfere with the slide mechanism. The entertainement center slide had
the cabinetry built right into the slide. You can see the blocking behind the back wall that will support the living room
television.
|
| Dinette Slide Floor |
|
| Entertainment Center Back |
|
| Entertainment Center Done |
Kitchen Cabinet Construction
The cabinets are made out of wood. All of the hidden pieces are made from poplar, all of the face framing is pocket
jointed stock. You can choose any wood you like, our is made out of cherry.
|
| Pocket Joint |
|
| Kitchen Cabinet |
|
| More Pocket Joints |
The cabinets are part of the wall structure once installed. They are screwed to both the floor and the walls. The head
cabinets are attached to the walls on both sides.
|
| Kitchen Cabinets |
|
| Full Kitchen Cabinet |
|
| Kitchen SideSplash |
|
| Pantry/Coat |
Once the cabinets are done, the appliances, drawer faces, and doors are installed.
|
| Front Corner |
|
| View Into The Kitchen |
|
| Dinette Booth |
Bedroom Cabinet Construction
The bedroom cabinets occupy two full walls in the bedroom. They have bookshelves, drawers, wardrobes, shoe storage, a
vanity top, and house the bedroom TV.
|
| TV, Wardrobe, Vanity |
|
| Bedroom Corner |
|
| Cedar Closet |
Once the doors, drawers and vanity top are installed, there is a true sense of awe at the craftsmanship. When sitting
on the bed, you are surrounded by a wall of spectacular wood. For a finish carpenter, this is truely a beautiful sight to
behold.
|
| Cabinets at the foot of the bed. |
|
| Back Wall |
|
| Bathroom View |
Bathroom Details
|
| Tile with spacers |
The bathroom tile is a bronze tile layed out using 12x12 and 6x6 tiles. It is layed over hardibacker cement substrate
using Mapei Kerabond and Keralastic. The spacers are 1/4". Kerabond when mixed with keralastic doesn't behave he same as water
and kerabond. The keralastic version doesn't wash off hands or clothes when dry. Once mixed, it behaves more like an
adhesive and less like thinset mortar.
|
| Bathroom Floor Done |
A chocolate brown grout was be applied. With all the nooks and cranies in the floor, grouting was an exercise in
contortion. After buffing, the floor is done. Next up in this space is the installation of the Washer/Dryer/Neworking cabinet. The
central cable area for all computer and television connectivity goes in the top of the washer/dryer cabinet. A standard stack
washer/dryer will be used.
|
| Bathroom Vanity |
The bathroom has a few other details. The vanity is off angle to give an illusion of larger space so that your peripheral
vision picks up the open bedroom and not the shower door right next to you.
Kitchen Floor
The kitchen floor is made out of somerset maple flooring in natural and cherry stain. The inlay borders are by OshKosh.
I made the basketweave portions. OshKosh at one time made a great product. This is the absolute last thing I buy from OskKosh.
Their quality control isn't worthy of Home Depot Lumber.
|
| Border Detail |
|
| Flooring Started |
A turn detail was added to the kitchen floor border to give a better visual going up the stairs.
When working with inlays, and floors in general, it is often necessary to "reverse" the floor, this means that the orientation
of the tongues will flip 180 degrees. To accomplish this, a spline joint is used. When placing pieces at right angles to each
other, sometimes the tongues will need to be turned to grooves. Don't cut them flush and make butt joints. This will lead
to uneven floors.
|
| Completed Kitchen Floor |
Living Room Floor
The living room floor is the last one to get done. To match the detail in the kitchen floor, a return is done at the
base of the stairs and leading into the Master Bedroom.
|
| Living Room from Door |
|
| Flooring Started |
The living room floor mirrors the kitchen floor with a return detail at the stair case. The transition from the living
room to the bathroom is done with a solid cherry threshold piece. The inlay border is made from african wenge, american cherry,
and maple. The interior of the inlay is made from 5" cherry stained maple, and 3" natural maple engineered flooring.
|
| Cherry Threshold |
|
| View From LR Slide |
|
| Living Room From Kitchen |
The Frame
|
| X-Ray Certification |
|
| Pipefitter |
The metal frame under the rig is impressive. The frame and the slide mechanisms were two of the primary things I evaluated
when we started looking at units. I can modify/repair most any part of the RV. I can't do anything about the frame. The SpaceCraft
frame is stout to say the least. In the 5th wheel space they have two basic designs. One for bunk house models (mostly used
by the entertainment industry) and one for 5th wheel trailers. Both of these designs can be extended in excess of 50'. While
I was there, I got to see the very beginning of a bunk house frame.
Just a quick sidenote: The very proper young man who does most of the welding at SpaceCraft is an X-Ray and Pipefitting
certified welder. I spent some time talking with him and came away feeling real good about the work done on my unit. UPDATE:
He has since gone back to oil pipe welding. Fortunately the folks at SpaceCraft have a lot of experience making their frames.
|
| Main I-Beam Joint |
|
| Outrigger Mounts |
|
| Frame Stiffening Plate |
The frame consists of a left and right section joined by cross beams. On the outside of each I-Beam of the left and right
frame sections are the outrigger attachement points. Each of these blocks gets a small triangular frame extension. Finally,
an additional 1/8" plate is attached to the outside of each side section where the lower and upper frame sections
overlap, creating a very strong box frame, providing support from the pin all the way back to the wheel mounting sub-frame.
The Roof and Ceiling
|
| Bedroom Ceiling |
|
| Interior Panel at Back |
|
| Marvin at Work |
A vinly trim molding is placed between all of the interior walls and cabinets and the ceiling. In our case, brown where
the ceiling meets wood, and white where the ceiling meets wall. The interior fiberglass roof section extends all the way to
the back of the unit. The interior pieces are attached to the outer walls, then any ceiling wiring is run, insulation, air
vents and finally the exterior roof pieces will go on.
Fiberglass Caps
|
| Front Caps |
|
| Interior Panel at Back |
|
| Rear Cap |
The front and rear of the trailer are one piece fiberglass caps. All of the exterior panels on a SpaceCraft trailer are
fiberglass.
|
