Considering building camper from scratch...

BurbMan wrote:
Yup, the luann was only the substrate for the filon. Laminating the filon back on was not that hard and makes for a nice finished look, or you can do aluminum. There are a bunch of surplus/salvage places around the RV manufacturing hubs in IN and OR, you can find a lot of what you need for cheap. That's what we did...

I had thought about going with the filon, as I was thinking it would likely allow for a better seal against water intrusion, but was also thinking that any damage would be far easier to repair with the aluminum. Much more so considering my campers get drug through the desert brush, and low hanging trees, so siding damage is almost a guarantee at some point.

I even thought about going way off book here, and using something like 18 or 20 gauge aluminum sheet as siding...kind of like a cross between the typical slatted aluminum siding and filon. But then heat expansion, and weight, does become potential issues as well as having a lot more holes to seal when mounting the stuff.

I honestly don't think I'd need much, if anything, from salvage/surplus. As I'll most likely be changing locations of access doors/compartments, along with removing/adding some external components (such as ditching that god forsaken front cabover window that seems to be a major source of leaks on **** near every camper), I wouldn't likely be able to use salvage siding either.

All of my appliances are still good/usable, as is the entry door, windows, sinks, furniture, cabinets, and holding tanks. Anything plastic such as roof vents or outside hatch covers, I'd just as soon install new to avoid age related plastic brittleness, along with rubber trim and any pipes/hoses etc. For what little plumbing there is in a TC, I see no reason to try to reuse any of the old stuff.