Here's the process of the building of the new and improved Trailer 2.0 (official name still to be decided). (Our teardrop was wonderful, but small, and both Cal and Sam are too long to fit in it on their bunk bed anymore. It was time for something bigger!) I am always blown away when Gregg comes up with ideas like this in his head (LOTS of sleepless time crunching numbers and solving problems in that head of his), designs them on the computer, calculates, measures, cuts, screws, glues, staples, paints, and creates a completely functional and awesome thing! These photos will take you through from the very beginning to our first sleepover in the backyard (and beyond! - I'll keep updating here, so stay tuned for when any new improvements are made, like that free-standing table at the end!). (And in case you missed the first version, here's a recap of the teardrop!)
2 Jan 2021: Time to widen and lengthen the frame.
23 Jan 2021: Walls framed! And bunk bed staging in the kitchen. Also, please note the nearness of our green Subaru to the trailer work zone. He not only built this thing himself, but he built it in a cramped and cold garage in the middle of the winter!!
6 Feb 2021: Bench/bed framed in.
8 Feb 2021: Sam's bunk added at the end.
9 Feb 2021: Insulation!
5 Mar 2021: Cutting foam to fit our spaces.
6 Mar 2021: Railing for Sam's bunk (removable!) made and installed.
12-13 Mar 2021: Building the door (and watching the Ags playing past midnight!)
15 Mar 2021: Realized the foldable door wasn't going to work after all, so only installed the bottom half on the trailer.
17 Mar 2021: First test run. Also notice the doorknob installed (that was a big deal!). My one contribution to the project: covers sewn for the foam pads (all from sheets we weren't using in our linen closet!). Also, table top (aka middle of our bed) cut and fit.
2 Apr 2021: Time for the tent attachment. Cue staple gun and c-clamps!
7 Apr 2021: Tent canvas is all attached. And carpet is added inside! (Thanks to Paul and Kim for finding that for us!) Plus, new sleeping bags arrived for the kids (no more noisy slicky sleeping bags!) so they needed to test them out for a few minutes before bed.
8 Apr 2021: Done enough to sleep in! (The table isn't functional quite yet, and a zipper will be insalled in the canvas above the door eventually.) Our first sleepover was chilly and windy, but it stayed up and we managed to get a little sleep. Realized the new mattress topper is stiffer than we like, so brainstorming better foam combinations to fit our preferences. But overall: success!!
13 Apr 2021: The table stands on it's own!
26 Apr 2021: Rain test! (It's waterproof!)
3 June 2021: Zipper installation for the door! (Yes, this was completely nerve-wracking! We used a sticky zipper that is used for dust shields in construction projects - usually it sticks to plastic barrier walls, so we didn't think it would stick permanently to our canvas, but it would help hold it in place while we stitched the zipper to the canvas for a more secure attachment. Well, the sticky stuff gummed up our needle and thread almost instantly, so we resorted to a stapler to hold it on. Doesn't look super awesome, but actually from a distance you can't even tell! But it does the job and lets us stand up to enter the trailer, rather than crawling through the small door hole like we had previously been doing.)
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