waterproofing underside of cabover
I will be rebuilding the entire floor of my cabover with either 3/4 ply, or layered 3/8 plywood and am looking for a solid piece for the outside/underside skin. I'm looking at filon (102" wide), but c...
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The plywood might be somewhat stronger, but laminated plywood/foam is remarkably strong and stiff. The foam construction would have better insulating properties (or at least less bad ones), and should help prevent some condensation in that area. The plywood will also weigh a good bit more, as you mention, which can cause its own problems. But on the whole, I think either one should be workable though I would prefer the composite construction.
Maybe you could get some countertop laminate sheets from a local home center to cover the bottom with? My gut feeling is that perfect hermetical sealing is not entirely necessary here, as there's comparatively little chance for water to work its way backwards/upwards, and it's certainly not going to puddle on the underside. The main exception may be if driving at speed in a torrential downpour, but who really cares to do that regularly? You might even do OK with a good quality exterior paint or stain and good caulking of the seams.
I would suggest using marine plywood, or at the very least exterior grade plywood. It's much more resistant to falling apart when it gets wet. Interior grade plywood does not do well when it gets wet.
Maybe you could get some countertop laminate sheets from a local home center to cover the bottom with? My gut feeling is that perfect hermetical sealing is not entirely necessary here, as there's comparatively little chance for water to work its way backwards/upwards, and it's certainly not going to puddle on the underside. The main exception may be if driving at speed in a torrential downpour, but who really cares to do that regularly? You might even do OK with a good quality exterior paint or stain and good caulking of the seams.
I would suggest using marine plywood, or at the very least exterior grade plywood. It's much more resistant to falling apart when it gets wet. Interior grade plywood does not do well when it gets wet.
