Norrland wagon - a hellish renovation

[saiter]

Regarding color, you should talk to a paint retailer who is good at chemistry.
There is paint for everything.

//AA

 

[Jolofssson]

A little update for the day!

I thought I was close to starting the reconstruction and would "just" fix the small wall piece next to the door, but quickly started to suspect something when I began to poke around, and sure enough, the frame wood in the front half of the trailer had also taken quite a bit of damage from the water that had gotten into the trailer. A previous examination indicated it had held up, but it turned out the floorboard in between was hiding the lower beam.

I have cut up the floorboard and removed some of the bad wood in hopes of starting to replace it this week... Luckily, there's plenty of scrap wood from previous projects.

 

[Jolofssson]

A little update for the day!

I thought I was close to starting the reconstruction and was "just" going to fix the small wall section next to the door, but I quickly started to suspect something was wrong when I began poking around it. Sure enough, the framework in the front half of the trailer had also suffered significant damage from the water that got into the trailer. During my previous inspection, it looked like it had survived, but it turns out there was a floor panel in between hiding the lower rail.

I've cut up the floor panel and removed some of the bad wood, hopefully, I can start replacing it next week... Lucky there's plenty of leftover wood from previous projects

Hello everyone!

I don't know if there's any interest in this, but maybe it can provide some entertainment or a good laugh to someone out there, and with any luck, I might get some answers to questions that arise along the way.

So it's not better than I've had a minor 30-year crisis, so last fall, I spontaneously bought an old Norrland trailer in the neighboring community. It was admittedly somewhat rundown, but it didn't smell bad and seemed to have limited water damage, so I went for it. A risk, absolutely, but trust me - it was CHEAP! (a warning sign, I know, but the desire was stronger) and honestly, who wouldn't want to sit in the middle of the forest, stoking the stove, in silence?

Anyway, I got it home and started poking around in the contraption, and it didn't take long before I realized the extent of the water damage. This trailer has a wood frame that has been clad in a shell of aluminum sheets which were then pop-riveted together in 1976. After years of severe mistreatment by forestry workers and various more or less inebriated hunters afterward, the shell was no longer particularly tight, and water had seeped in around the entire roof so that the wooden frame in the roof was just tinder, as well as the supports in all the corners. It was somewhat of a miracle that it survived the transport home behind the tractor on 20 km of gravel road, even if the shell itself is load-bearing.

Since then, I have cut the wall panels along the entire cabin in the floor and ceiling as well as the corners (thus exposing the old wooden frame) and removed the rotten wood... In other words, all the wood is removed. Additionally, the old wall that separated the "living area" and the workshop was torn down to get a little more space. To my great delight, most of the insulation seems salvageable, so in recent days I have started building a new frame with 45×95 lumber, screwed from the outside with self-drilling roof screws.

Here we finally come to my first 2 considerations!

1. The walls are curved to get a little more space, so what sheet material do you think is wise to use?
It should be "soft" enough to follow the curvature of the wall and durable for the temperature variations, etc., that occur in a trailer used sporadically, meaning it goes from warm to cold often; it shouldn't cost a fortune either, ideally.

2. When the structural integrity is as it should be, a TP 20 metal roof will be laid on top of the existing roof. I planned to have an overhang of 20 cm all around to protect the trailer a little extra from the weather. This is a dimension I've come up with out of thin air, so do you have any thoughts or suggestions that might be better?

The project is still ongoing! There's been some moving of a timber barn and house projects in between, but I'll add some pictures if there's interest.


In August, we added a metal roof, stronger beams on the old construction to both relieve and distribute the weight but also to give a slightly steeper slope on the roof for better drainage.



Framed for a bed space/extra seating with storage possibilities underneath, and started putting up the new surface, which ended up being masonite glued/screwed to the existing wall panel that I unfortunately needed to cut to replace the structural frame.


Paint! Three coats on the ceiling and walls. After consulting about the paint, we decided to mix together various leftover paint we had from projects in the house.



Oak flooring - a purchase mistake by my dad that's been waiting for the right project for many years and is thus free. Now we await reused oak skirting and will start refurbishing the furniture.

 

[Jolofssson]

The cart has now been in place for almost exactly 1 year. It has served as a resting hut for wood chopping and a destination for family outings, and there have been a few overnight stays as well, and it has worked excellently 👍

 

[Tomas Olsson1]

Now the wagon has been in place for almost exactly 1 year. It has served as a rest cabin during wood chopping and as an excursion destination with the family, there have also been a few overnight stays and it has worked excellently 👍

It turned out really well