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Teardrop camper door construction is part of a series documenting our homebuilt teardrop trailer. Please scroll to the bottom of this post for links to previous articles.
While it's all well and good up to this point, it doesn't do anyone much good if there's no way to get in and out of the trailer!
This post will detail and source how we constructed the doors for the sides; there are doors on both sides, but I'm only talking about a single door. Of course, it's your call if you only want to install a door on one side, but we do love having them on both sides; it gives us flexibility in placement and lets one person get out to pee without climbing over the other. 😉
The basic door shape was decided back in the planning and framing days; Jamie set the arch and then inset the negative of the cut piece into the frame and the piece itself became the top of the door frame, so everything fits perfectly.
The door construction itself is pretty simple, it was framed, insulated and skinned the same way the rest of the walls were.
I made curtains for simple shade and privacy. We chose an indoor/outdoor fabric so that the color will stay longer since it's made to be exposed to the elements. They're about a simple as you can get, hemmed and sewn onto a dowel curtain rod that is actually simply double-stick taped onto the inside of the door.
You can see, in this top corner shot, the layers of the plywood inside, then the frame. The exterior metal trim and then the weatherstripping foam.
The door is attached to the frame using freezer hinges, with weather sealing putty between the door/trailer and the hinge. The part on the trailer itself is layered with a sheet of aluminum as well, to help fill the gap created by the T-molding around the door.
The door handles (scroll over to see inside and outside shots) are standard trailer latches. I like that they are lockable, so we can lock them up tight if we're leaving the campsite for any reason and need a safe place to stash our stuff.
The last piece of the teardrop camper door is the window. It's a “crank out” window style, so we can open them for ventilation. Between the windows and the awesome fan in the ceiling, it's a blissful spot to nap when you're camping.
Previous posts: Planning & Framing | Walls & Interior Skin | Galley Counter & Flooring | Insulation | Interior Ceiling & Fan | Exterior Wood Skin & Sealant | Hatch Construction | Child's Hammock Bed | Galley Design (and Redesign) | Exterior Aluminum Skin
