Camper cover building construction thread

[ebinmaine 81,092]

2 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Force field

 

 

 

If ONLY that was an option.  

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Consider bifolds (or even accordian) to keep as much weight as possible directly supported vertically by the hinge/pivot and not trying to deform the frame when the door is open?

 

The folding doors are the most likely direction I was headed.  

 

Opening is 14 ish feet wide so I figure to make a pair of 4 footers against the outside and 3 footers for the middle.  

 

They'll be quite tall. Somewhat gangly. But usable. 

 

[ebinmaine 81,092]

Here's the beginnings of the PT base.  

 

 

 

 

 

[grinchsr 675]

Now you have to fill it that’s the fun part 

[ebinmaine 81,092]

1 minute ago, grinchsr said:

Now you have to fill it that’s the fun part 

 

Plenty of machines here to live in there with the camper.  

 

 

[ebinmaine 81,092]

PT base is done. 

We took measurements front middle and rear yesterday afternoon at the top of the legs. 

Front was 14' 2". Rear 14' 1".

I decided to make the whole frame 14' 1" for consistency. The PT base is cut to 14' 5" across by 20' and 1/2".

The extra width gives the metal a centered set on the 5 1/2" wide PT boards. 

 

 

 

I measured the PT base for square. 

Metal frame attached to the PT base. 

These are 5/16" x 2 1/2" grade 5 lag bolts we had in stock. I broke the last one so I'll drill the metal base and add another bolt later. 

The frame is flush to the front of the base and nearly centered on the back. I did that because nearly the whole front will be big doors.  

 

 

 

 

Started a few anchors in but discovered my medium strength 1/2" impact wrench isn't strong enough. 

It has a spec of 400 ft lbs maximum driving force. 

I've ordered the heavy duty version which is over twice that strength at 900 ft lbs!

 

Soooooo upset I hadda order more tools. 

 

 

I also ordered some cargo straps which will be fastened from the lower anchors to a point on the metal frame.  

10 anchors. 10 straps. 

[Handy Don 17,661]

18 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

medium strength 1/2" impact ... isn't strong enough

Not wanting to be a wet blanket and seem like I’m discouraging tool acquisitions, but sometimes a rental tool makes sense when there is low likelihood of future use. 

[ebinmaine 81,092]

20 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Not wanting to be a wet blanket and seem like I’m discouraging tool acquisitions, but sometimes a rental tool makes sense when there is low likelihood of future use. 

 

 

Absolutely agreed and I thought through this one. 

With the increasing forays into heavier machine repair (like my truck or the backhoe or splitter) and the occasional need I've already had in the past for a stronger impact tool, this makes sense for us at this point in time.  

 

 

[953 nut 70,246]

On 10/31/2026 at 1:34 PM, ebinmaine said:

The front wall will basically be a whole door as noted in a post above. 

Most likely a light duty wood frame with sheets of very thin Advantech. 

I'm definitely open to other ideas and suggestions there.  

Have you considered fiberglass? When I worked as a farm manager at a hydroponic greenhouse we built doors and sheds with a clear fiberglass sheeting exterior. 

https://www.gothicarchgreenhouses.com/fiberglass-rolls

   Rolls are 4' wide and 50' long

[ebinmaine 81,092]

2 hours ago, 953 nut said:

considered fiberglass

 

I have. Definitely a possibility.  

I really like the light weight.  ...

The issue there is puncture resistance.  

[953 nut 70,246]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

The issue there is puncture resistance.

All of the motorized ridge vents on our greenhouses were hinged with the opening facing west. When tropical storms or hurricanes were coming from the East (which most did) we would open them about a quarter of the way to equalize air pressures inside and out. Never had to replace any of the fiberglass in the seven + years I worked there.

The Florida sun was much harder on coverings than yours in Maine will be.

[ebinmaine 81,092]

6 hours ago, 953 nut said:

clear fiberglass sheeting exterior. 

 

They sure do want all the moolahs for that. 

😬

[Handy Don 17,661]

30 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

They sure do want all the moolahs for that. 

😬

Yikes. Around $4 per square foot!

[ebinmaine 81,092]

10 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Yikes. Around $4 per square foot!

And a minimum order of two rolls at 456 per roll Plus freight plus tax

[davem1111 2,441]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

And a minimum order of two rolls at 456 per roll Plus freight plus tax

 

Yikes! That doesn't make much sense, unless you're building a greenhouse. I must have missed it - what are you covering the main part of the building with?

 

That reminded me of when, 2 years ago, I replaced 2 translucent corrugated roof panels that are a sort of skylight in our front porch - I think it cost me almost $300 for 2 panels like 3' x 12'.  Had to bite a bullet on that one. (Oh, and the black silicone coating I used on the main steel roof was over $400 per 5 gallon bucket.  )

[ebinmaine 81,092]

51 minutes ago, davem1111 said:

what are you covering the main part of the building with?

 

I 'splained it here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[953 nut 70,246]

             WELLLLLLL, it was over 40 years ago that I left the Greenhouse company and when I was buying the fiberglass roles the company was paying the bill, but it is good stuff.

[davem1111 2,441]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

I 'splained it here:

 

 

 

Ah, I did miss that. I did see those pictures but didn't read all the text in between.  So you're fully enclosing it, right?  Sides and ends?   Personally I've always thought it was silly when I see people using these with just the roof on it.  True, better than nothing, but maybe they haven't noticed all the bad weather that comes in sideways, or that the sun isn't always shining straight down?     

[ebinmaine 81,092]

This past weekend was the typical super busy type for us. Our friend showed up around 10:00 Saturday morning and stayed til noon today helping Trina work on the new camper building this morning. More friends came by Saturday afternoon for a visit. Saturday night and Sunday night were both campfire nights. Both of those were also experimentations with the new fryer. Saturday we did a whole chicken. Sunday we tried out various small things that Trina found in the freezer. All of them were excellent.

Here is the wall they built this morning.  

 

 

Here's the anchors and straps I'm hoping will hold the whole shed down in the wind.  

There's 16 of em. 

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 81,092]

Yesterday Trina got the upper vertical studs finished up. 

 

 

It's extremely impressive to see how much the metal frame structure stiffened up by adding the back wall wooden frame. 

 

 

 

Several months ago we had a customer who is well known for not checking his paperwork make a mistake and ordered a metal roofing package with wavy panels instead of flat ones.

It's been sitting for 10 months. 

It landed on my trailer Thursday.

To start with, this will be the roof for the new camper shed. After that, who knows. Many things.

 

Also in the trailer is my order of corrugated metal sheets for the long side walls.  

 

 

[ebinmaine 81,092]

Today we got the whole stack of standing seam accessories sorted out and also unloaded the shortest crate. 

That held the 96" panels. 

 

We moved the 16 foot trailer over to the side, and moved the camper under the frame, so Trina could use the walkable camper roof as her "staging" for installing the building metal roof panels.  

 

 

After some experimentation with setup we screwed the one panel in place. 

Upon attempting to install the second panel we discovered that our screws from stock have heads that are too thick for usage in the standing seam metal. 

We'll order some pancake head sheet metal screws. 

 

 

Not being able to work on the roof we decided to switch gears and install the end metal.  That's the metal that was originally kit supplied for the roof. 

The lighter color here at picture left. 

 

 

 

We then decided to stay on the ground for installation today. We opened up the package of long panels. 

These are 19' 10" long and heavier guage. 

Hindsight being 20/20 I could have ordered them half the length (plus overlap) and we'd have an easier time with installation. 

 

 

The far side of the building was very bowed in the middle so we dug out some stones and sand. We'll let that settle overnight and see how the metal sets.  

 

[ebinmaine 81,092]

Trina and I discussed the fastener situation and preferences we each had for the looks of the roof. 

We agreed that seeing the screws was perfectly fine with both of us. 

We also agreed that both of us really wanted to see the roof installation done. 

 

We decided yesterday evening to predrill all new holes in the standing seam and metal frame and use the 1 1/2" siding screws to attach the panels. 

5 to 7 tan heads are visible in each of the 16" pieces. 

 

Today we were able to get all but the last 5 1/2 inches of the first side on. 

That last bit may be a piece of trim if I can get one that wide. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 11/14/2026 at 3:40 PM, ebinmaine said:

The far side of the building was very bowed in the middle so we dug out some stones and sand. We'll let that settle overnight and see how the metal sets.  

 

 

This went well. The building settled most of the upward bow out. Trina dug just a bit more. 

We got two more of the long sides on.