Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Prowler Rebuild continued - The pros and cons of T-111-

While I'm alternating between 3 different projects of my own, I received more picture of the Prowler rebuild. He is putting a peaked roof on his rebuilt Prowler. In my opinion, peaked roofs are superior to flat roofs in almost every way until you get to building large buildings. This roof will not sag down and puddle water in the middle like many camp trailers do.

The OSB turn out to be a T-111 variant. There are 2 basic types of T-111 available. Their is the plywood version and the OSB version. A Google search for T-111 confirms much of what I already knew. A lot of people start having water related problems with the stuff after it is 10 years old. Careful maintenance may get you 30 years out of the stuff, but generally you want to replace it with something better when it goes bad.

I am reminded of a wooden canopy my dad built for his pickup bed. It was built of 4x4s and plywood that was screwed together and sealed up with silicone. As I recall, it took less than a year for the vibrations and flexing of the truck to cause the canopy to leak on every seam. Wood may be flexible, but it was the wrong kind of flexing for that canopy.

I suspect this will have the same problem. As the frame flexes as it goes down the road, it will put stress and strain on the building materials and building techniques that were engineered for the non moving variety of house and will significantly age the house every time it is moved. If this is held together with nails, then it will probably be even worse.

The good news is, T-111 is relatively cheap and if water does get into the framing, it should be able to get back out, unlike the metal did in it's original construction. If he doesn't move it a lot, has no need for this trailer or is prepared to replace the siding in 10 years it isn't a bad choice. It's not like a trailer is something you expect to last.

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