Homemade dacha trailers for a car. Homemade caravan from EcoTrek. Auto-cottage station wagon

Hello dear friends! Well, who among us does not like to sit by the fire on the river bank on a warm summer evening with a barbecue and cognac? Already salivating flowed) And then how to spend the night in a tent ... But humanity is more and more striving for a civilized rest. Even alone with nature, we no longer part with the benefits of city life. Today we will talk about the house on wheels. Meet the trailer cottage!

What kind of animal

This is an equipped residential motorhome with maximum interior equipment, which clings to a passenger car. As a rule, inside it there is a kitchen, a bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, a shower room. All this can be placed with the help of multifunctional transformable furniture, as well as competent planning.

There are not many offers for the sale of trailers on the modern market. The lion's share is represented by foreign representatives. In the Russian market, caravans are made by a few, but they are not even close in comparison with Western models.

In the west, campers have been made for a long time, hence the experience. Our culture of caravanning is only developing. That is why in Russia you can often see home-made motorhomes converted from car trailer.

crazy hands

Huge assortment building materials allows any master owner of a light trailer to create his own cottage on wheels. And indeed, there is nothing tricky here, you just need to turn on your ingenuity.

As a basis, we will take an ordinary passenger trailer with a slightly enlarged body. The body size is 240 x 120 cm. To begin with, a frame is made from a 50x50 mm timber. Then the frame is sheathed with a galvanized sheet of metal, from which the corrugated board is made.

It is desirable to insulate the distance between the lags with at least foam, then inside the motorhome it will be warm like in a thermos. The inner lining can be made to your taste: wood, plastic, lining, plywood and other materials.

It would be nice to separate the bedroom from the kitchen. To do this, you need to put a partition in the back of the booth, leaving about 190 cm for the bedroom. It all depends on the height of the vacationer. In the sleeping part, the entire area will be occupied by a mattress. On the partition above the location of the legs, you can hang comfortable storage cabinets and even hang a TV, since we are talking about civilization)))

From the kitchen side, you can place a small built-in refrigerator, a gas stove and a small sink with a washstand. And above them also hang food boxes. The space under the tabletop can be used to store a gas bottle, water

Yes, I almost forgot about the doors and windows. There are also options here, and they are also from human life. Sometimes they are made like at home plastic, but only small. There is an option to find windows in a company engaged in lifting gates for garages. Have you seen such windows as portholes? And in the doorways you can insert roller shutters or roller shutters. They can also be ordered from window makers.

On the roof, you can place a trunk, which can also be multifunctional. You can carry various loads on it, put an aerodynamic autobox on it, bike racks with bicycles, and anything. You can also attach a fixture to it and use it as a visor from the sun and rain.

And if you also adapt some kind of awning to this visor and fix it with a peg in the ground, you will get an additional wall. And if you make three of them, you get an extra room.

In general, here who has enough imagination and possibilities. But the idea is clear, I hope. The advantages of such campers is that no additional categories are needed, but we stand them on the basis of a conventional light trailer with a total weight of up to 750 kg; they are relatively inexpensive. See photos of examples of such motorhomes.

At the moment, there are several classifications of mobile homes. By main structural features the following categories can be distinguished:

• trailed;
• caravan mobile home;
• caravan house connected to transport.

Mobile modern houses can be divided into types not only by certain design features, but also by purpose. This category includes mobile homes that are used as permanent or long-term housing, as well as those that are intended solely for travel.

You can find more detailed information about what it is in a very useful and interesting article by our specialist.

There is another form of classification of modern motorhomes. They can be divided into three main categories:

• C - small-sized, used for short trips;
• C B - semi-integrated car houses;
• B A - fully integrated.

The former are made on the basis of an ordinary SUV, the sleeping places here need to be transformed in a special way. Class B mobile homes are distinguished by a permanently located berth, which is located in the rear. vehicle. Motorhomes A class external characteristics similar to regular buses. They are quite comfortable and, therefore, very expensive in terms of cost, if you buy them ready-made.

To save money, you can build a house on wheels with your own hands, using photos and special instructions as a guide. If you correctly follow the basic steps for making a motorhome, you can get a vehicle that will have a large windshield, a fixed driver's seat, as well as special retractable partitions that form zones of different functionality and separately located sleeping places.

Below you will find information on how to make a do-it-yourself mobile home, which can be considered autonomous. Structures can be equipped with generators, have gas and a sufficiently large supply of water.

Stages of building a motorhome with your own hands

If you want to build a motorhome with your own hands, you should carefully follow the instructions provided. Below it is described how to build a motorhome body depending on the base, how to properly equip it and equip it with all the equipment necessary for living and traveling.

Create a plan

Homemade mobile homes are quite serious structures. The process of their construction, here, as in any important event, you need to start with a detailed plan. It is at this stage of the work that the master must think through the most basic aspects of the case, all possible little things and draw up the most accurate drawing.

When making a motorhome from a trailer with your own hands, you must clearly adhere to all the points and rules indicated in the plan and drawings.

The total interior space of a building on wheels should be divided into three main areas:

1. Dining room where you can eat, work on a laptop or read a newspaper at the table. Here you can place a small sofa, chairs and a table. These items should be easy enough to fold to take up a minimum amount of free space.
2. Sleeping area. This is one of the important areas, as good sleep ensures activity and good mood. For the driver, night rest is very important, since his concentration and attentiveness depend on this, which directly affects the safety of movement in the daytime. It is advisable to equip this area with a comfortable bed, which should easily rise and free up space.
3. Bathroom with toilet. To equip such a zone, you need to install a sink, a shower cabin and a modern dry closet.
4. Kitchen. This zone occupies the minimum amount of space, since most of its elements are built-in. To ensure maximum comfort, you need to install two burners, a small sink, a countertop, a small refrigerator and a hood.

Due to the fact that the standard room of a motorhome is rather limited, its zones need to be integrated one into another. It is for this reason that a preliminary plan is so important, which must be carefully followed.

In the process of drawing up a plan, you need to carefully consider what interior items are really required, what you can refuse.

After that, everything you want with an indication exact dimensions transferred to a piece of paper. Further, the plan is drawn up according to the following principle:

• the estimated area of ​​the motorhome is divided into pre-divided zones. For example, a bedroom needs more space than a kitchen;
• the location of the bathroom and options for separating it from other rooms are noted;
• all elements of furniture are drawn, as well as the methods of their fastening and folding options.

In the process of drawing and designating these areas of the room, it is imperative to take into account the dimensions of each element.

Do not forget also about free space. A mobile home should not be littered with things and pieces of furniture.

After drawing up a detailed and well-thought-out plan, after clarifying the size of the common room and pieces of furniture, you can proceed to the implementation of such a structure as a do-it-yourself mobile home from a trailer.

Base selection

Among the most affordable budget options that are best for everyone who likes to make something with their own hands, there are three most convenient designs. A do-it-yourself residential trailer can be made on the basis of a gazelle, a trailer with reinforced chassis and an old minibus. Let's look at two of them in more detail.

Minibus

Making a motorhome with your own hands from a minibus should begin with a thorough cleaning of the body, with the removal of the upholstery. After that, you need to make special holes for ventilation, under windows and for gas supply. After these general preparatory work you can start special processes related to the arrangement of the residential area. The work of such a plan must be carried out in the following sequence:

1. Alignment of dents present on the inner surface and priming of all metal parts of the base. This will prevent destructive corrosion.
2. Internal surface - walls, ceiling and floor are covered with heat-insulating material.
3. A moisture-resistant coating is laid on top.
4. Gas and electricity are provided.
5. Bathroom fittings are being made.
6. The kitchen is being equipped, furniture is being installed.

Equally important is to get your travel van's engine and chassis in order. Due to the fact that this is a mobile vehicle, its ability to move should be given no less attention than the arrangement and comfort.

Trailer

Making a camper from a trailer with your own hands is much more difficult than from a minibus. The main difficulty lies in the fact that the walls and ceiling need to be built from scratch. An approximate scheme of action in this case will be as follows:

1. Chassis and trailer cleaning.
2. Fastening to the base of the frame of the future motorhome.
3. Covering the frame with a layer of plywood.
4. Arrangement of the floor with the simultaneous use of thermal insulation.
5. The structure is sheathed with outer material and covered with special moisture-resistant compounds.
6. Roof arrangement.
7. Construction of a drain, laying wires to provide the house with electricity.
8. Installation of door and window openings.

All this general scheme making a house on wheels. Each stage will be discussed in more detail below.

External finishing works

Once the main body of the mobile home is complete, the main outdoor work can begin. It is very important to ensure that the campsite is kept as clean as possible. There should be no dust, dirt and significant defects. This is what guarantees the successful formation of the structure. The main points of outdoor work include:

1. Removal of corrosion and different plan damage.
2. Hole arrangement.

Speaking about the necessary holes, it can be noted that this is not only window openings, but also those designed for gas outlet, ventilation, water fillers.

Openings must be made in the process of arranging the camper. Otherwise, you may encounter certain difficulties.

The external arrangement of such a design as a do-it-yourself mobile home from a minibus or trailer consists in the following work:

1. Creation of partitions between the main body and the front seats.
2. Arrangement of internal insulation. Here you need to remember that the quality and proper installation of this material will directly depend general temperature and soundproofing inside.
3. Sheathing of the structure from the roof to the floor covering.

On the modern market there are a huge number of the most different materials. The choice can be made based on personal preferences, features environment, general financial situation, as well as the type of body used.

Home equipment

The equipment of the motorhome lies in its mass in its internal arrangement. To make the house convenient and comfortable, you will need to bring water, electricity, gas into the house, as well as install certain furniture.

Water supply and bathroom

A prerequisite for the water supply of a structure on wheels is to ensure the supply of running water. To carry out this process, you need to install a pair of canisters under the sink and a compact pump that will provide the necessary flow of water to the faucet.

Thinking through the withdrawal Wastewater- this is the basic rule when arranging a full-fledged toilet. Their output can be carried out by means of a special hose located in the floor surface. A little engineering knowledge, and it will be possible not to drain the water manually into special portable tanks. Although many do.

As for the bathroom, the best option the purchase and installation of a dry closet is considered.

Electricity

One or more special batteries can be fully responsible for the accumulation and storage of electricity in a wheeled house. These devices can be charged while the tractor is running or connected to external sources. When equipping a motorhome with electrical networks, a special place is occupied by modern inverters. These are special devices that are able to turn a direct current with a voltage of 12 V into an alternating current equal to 230 V. Due to this, devices operating from a 230-volt standard can be connected to a 12-volt network without any problems.

Heating and gas

The gasification of the described design consists in a simple installation of a gas cylinder in the room. To do this, you need to allocate a separate closed area. In its lower part, you need to equip special holes that go out.

For example, you do not need to drive straight through peat swamps, but it is quite enough for a trailer or self-propelled camper to withstand a multi-day trip along broken roads with half-wheel holes, bumpy graders and mountain primers with boulders sticking out of the roadway without problems for their health. Alas, it is not easy to find such a technique in finished form ...

But there is an old principle: "if you want something done well, do it yourself." This is exactly what Ruslan, a car traveler and blogger, known on the net under the nickname "Off-Road", decided. In principle, he had no shortage of experience: at one time he was the chairman of the Argonaut car travel club, he was organizing mass trips and already had a good idea of ​​​​what, in fact, he needed. But it is not enough to understand that mobile housing should be able to move not only on asphalt and not crumble. The pain of choice doesn't end there...

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The agony of choice

Actually, all off-road motorhomes can be divided into three groups. Firstly, these are self-propelled campers on all-wheel drive chassis. It opens here huge window opportunities. You can take a “loaf” (which is now called UAZ SGR) or Sable 4x4 and work closely with their internal arrangement. Alas, the internal volume of these vans is rather limited, and the problem of being able to stand in full growth rises, sorry for the tautology, in full growth.

You can take an all-wheel drive chassis - say, UAZ Profi or Sobol 4x4 Farmer and build a house on this chassis. Also, in general, it will turn out to be a “pumpkin’s godfather’s house” - the size of the cargo area of ​​these cars is about 3 meters long and two wide, but you can use the space above the cab.

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Our popular mid-size pickups (Mitsubishi L200, Isuzu D-Max, Toyota Hilux) are not very suitable for such purposes: their cargo area is only 1.5 meters long and greatly limits the capabilities of camper builders.

You can, of course, find a full-size American pickup truck, but it's expensive ... Or you can aim at "large forms" and take, say, the medium-duty Sadko as a basis. By the way, its cargo platform is only slightly larger (compared to the UAZ Profi), but its off-road capabilities are at its best.

But all motorhomes have the same drawback. Just imagine: a person on a camper-motorhome goes on vacation with his family. We arrived, found a nice place on the shore of a taiga lake or beautiful view to the mountain valley, they began to settle down, stretched out awnings, laid out furniture ... And then it turns out that they didn’t buy meat, they ran out of salt, they forgot beer, in the end ... What options does the owner of a camper have? Either he hands chairs to the family and leaves them sitting in an open field (tents and awnings, of course, will have to be unhooked), and he hurries to the store in the nearest settlement, or they break camp and go to the store all together. The same conflict arises when you want to see the sights in the immediate vicinity.

But if you have a trailer, then you just unhook the tractor, lock the door and drive light.

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My home is my castle

So Ruslan decided that he needed a trailer. But trailers that can move behind a tractor on the road are of two types. First, it is a tent trailer. As a rule, they are very compact, even a tiny Suzuki Jimny can tow them. By the way, such trailers called "Picnic" are also produced in our country, and they are relatively inexpensive, 250-300 thousand rubles. But ... Still, they are designed for operation in summer time: a kitchen module with a stove and a sink is usually made retractable, and a tent, the basis of which becomes a trailer, still needs to be set up: pulling stretch marks, hammering in pegs ... And you can’t leave such a camp unattended, and deploying a trailer tent is time. If a person has spent a dozen or even more hours behind the wheel, he wants only one thing - sleep, sleep and sleep again!

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So, Ruslan decided, only a rigid trailer meets his needs, in everyday life - a “caravan”. Moreover, even in ready-made trailers of this kind, with which he had to deal, to bring the house from the transport position to the “bedroom” position, you need to do a number of operations - lower the table, put the back-pillow on it, get the mattress, spread out, make the bed ... This time. This is how the main concept was formed, and Ruslan got to work.

Sleep immediately!

Ruslan bought the frame ready-made, but he remade the suspension in the most radical way. I installed a new, reinforced axle with hubs from Mitsubishi Pajero and hydraulic brakes from it. Equipped with brake system manual drive, with which you can block the wheels of the trailer. The axle is suspended on springs from the Gazelle, which can be found anywhere, in any region. On the rear wall of the trailer there are two spare wheels, plus one more on the car. All wheels are the same and interchangeable, even the rims are the same. A working cylinder from the Volga is implanted into the drawbar, which drives the overrun brake. As a result, the trailer really overcame very serious obstacles before my eyes, and in order to overcome them, Ruslan had to use both winches installed on his Pajero III.

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The frame is made of an aluminum hollow profile, inside of which a sprayed polyurethane insulation is pumped. The same insulation was used for thermal insulation of the main residential volume. It fills all the cracks and even penetrates into microcracks in the plywood from which the walls are made. As a result, the trailer keeps the temperature like a real thermos. In the heat it is cool in it, and in the cold it retains heat for a long time. I confirm: while we were talking with Ruslan, the temperature overboard exceeded +26, but coolness reigned inside. Given all this, Ruslan did not bother with the installation of air conditioning, deciding to rely on natural ventilation.

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Then it was time to deal with the main thing - that is, the internal arrangement. Based on the concept of "sleep - immediately!" Ruslan came up with a rather non-standard scheme for transforming a bed: the bed is hidden behind the front inner wall. It turned out very convenient: one latch, two latch - and the bed is lowered, where the spring mattress lies. Please note: not “foam”, not foam rubber, but a full-fledged spring mattress bought in a furniture store. And there is already a sheet and a blanket. It is enough just to take a pillow from the shelf - and that's it, you can go to bed. In the morning I got up, threw a pillow on a shelf (by the way, this is not just a shelf, but quite a decent space in which you can organize another bed) and put the bed away with the blanket, closing the latches.

Sometimes it's easier to carry canisters

A folding table is fixed on the same wall. It has two positions. The first is a coffee table, and its size allows you to have breakfast together. Well, if you need dinner table, then the table is pushed forward, a support is placed under it, and a tabletop is obtained. Inhabitants sit on two voluminous lockers, and inside them there are isolated volumes, which are accessed from outside the trailer. “Dirty” equipment is placed there: tools, a welding machine and the like. Another such container, of a larger size, is in the front. In principle, four bags with inflatable boats fit in it, but Ruslan has gas bottle, diesel heater fuel tank and generator.

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In the middle part of the trailer, on the left wall in the direction of travel, an absorption-type refrigerator is installed, which can be used to power 220 V, 12 V and gas. Ruslan bought it used, and in fact he is not very happy with it. Like all absorption refrigerators he, of course, consumes electricity very economically, but there is a nuance. Freon is not charged into the system, but a mixture of water and ammonia, which gradually begins to crystallize in the coil. There is less and less ammonia in the system, and the apparatus ceases to perform its main function. The only salvation is to pull out the refrigerator, turn it upside down so that the water drains off the crystals, and this procedure must be repeated ten times. In the new trailer, which Ruslan is building together with the Leroy Merlin company, he used a modern 45 W compression auto-refrigerator. This level of power consumption is not a problem: Ruslan installed two solar panels and a battery with a capacity of 200 Ah on the roof of the trailer. The 3 kW inverter (it is located under the surface into which the stove is embedded) allows you not to be particularly nervous about the available power.

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Canisters for clean water are located under the sink. Ruslan deliberately abandoned the built-in tank. He explains it this way: “Well, let's say there is a spring. I took the canisters, arrived, filled, set. And with a stationary tank, you will need to bring canisters, and then pour them into the filler neck. Pump up? So it’s not always possible to drive close to the water.” But in the new trailer that he is building with Leroy Merlin, Ruslan nevertheless hung a reel with a 20-meter hose outside and submersible pump"Baby". This is all connected to the tanks inside the trailer, and there is a filler neck.

Experience, son of difficult mistakes

Naturally, Kitchen Area equipped with a two-burner gas stove. But first, she had to perform not only the functions of a cooking device ... Ruslan broke into his first route with a trailer that was not brought to mind. He himself explains it this way:

All summer I dug around, built a trailer, well, "the soul of the poet could not stand it." It was so insulting: 9 months a year you wait for summer, and now the summer has passed, but I did not see it. And then I realized that I need to break down and go. Actually, this is how I came up with the idea of ​​the project “From Land to Land”. The first stage, from November to March, I rode alone, with a dog, 26 regions.

He broke off on a trip without installing the planned autonomous heater, so he had to heat the trailer with a gas stove, but in order not to burn himself, open the ventilation and leave a crack in the window. In the end, he still got burned out, but that's another story ... And before that, on the very first cold night, he ran out of gas in the cylinder.

Woke up cold! Overboard - minus twenty-five. My dog ​​is freezing! I wrapped the dog in two sleeping bags, took out a generator and a hair dryer, set it to 600 degrees, and we were saved until the morning.

The result of this adventure was the Planar diesel heater registered in the trailer, which Ruslan is very pleased with:

On the go, you lower the temperature to 5-7 degrees, 5-10 minutes before the stop you open the application on your phone, launch it, set it to 22 degrees and press "start". While you park, you go in - and in the trailer there are already the same +22!

Some options appeared in the trailer as experience was gained - the very one that is "the son of difficult mistakes." For example, in the Caucasus, in Kabardino-Balkaria, Ruslan almost lost his trailer, and in the truest sense of the word. I set up camp, went to the fold to talk with the shepherds, and upon returning in the dark I could not see my “caravan”, hidden in the folds of the terrain. I found it by sound, because I left the generator to work. After that, Ruslan decided that the trailer should be autonomous in terms of lighting, and installed a five-pin relay with a switch. If you want - the dimensions are burning from the car, if you want - from the trailer battery. The parking lights themselves in the form of LED strips, located along the edges of the trailer, are really visible from afar.

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The last stage of construction was the legalization and official registration. It turned out that obtaining state numbers is quite simple: after all, from the point of view of the authorities, a house on a trailer is just a load. Naturally, it is strictly forbidden to transport people in it.

How much does it cost to build a house

Works on arrangement of the mobile house are not finished yet. So, a flow should appear in the trailer gas water heater and shower. The pallet is already there, but the drain to it has not yet been made. And Ruslan also wants to make an L-shaped stool that can be folded back so that it looks like a school desk. It will be possible to put a laptop on it and work, sitting right on the unfolded bed. An awning awning will appear above the entrance. Surely Ruslan will have to deal more seriously with the issue of protection against mosquitoes, horseflies and other midges, especially if he goes on a summer route through the eastern regions. Today, he only has mosquito nets on the windows, which are attached according to a temporary option, using double-sided tape and Velcro tape (colloquially - Velcro). But the doorway has no protection from flying evil spirits ...

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Well, now the most serious question is about the budget for building such a trailer. The residential module itself from available materials will cost about 100,000 rubles, but this is without a chassis. Chassis - another 25,000, windows - 20,000 each, heater 20,000, gas stove- about 5,000, a sink - 600 rubles, a marquise - 45,000, a pump - 5,000 rubles, a Barrier water filter - 6,000 rubles, solar panels- 15,000 each, controller - 4,000 ... In total, about 350-400 thousand, provided that everything is done by hand.

Expensive? But the pleasure is worth it. Here is some simple arithmetic. Ruslan traveled from November to March... Now let's calculate: 500 rubles per day is the cheapest hostel. For 4 months - 60,000. To eat in a cafe once a day - 1,000 rubles on average. This is another 120,000, and together - 180,000. But for 180,000 it is already possible to build a motor home, however, with a minimum of amenities. And most importantly, where you stay - there is a house, but with a hostel - like it or not, you need to pull to the city, and even find it, this hostel. Otherwise - either spend the night in the car, or sleep in a tent ...

There will be campers - there will be campsites

I couldn’t help but ask Ruslan: why, in fact, is he doing all this: he built one “caravan”, is building a second, plans to build big houses on a semi-trailer for a pickup truck and on the chassis of a heavy truck, blogs, arranges master classes ...

According to him, he pursues three main goals with his projects. First, to popularize Russia as a place for recreation and travel. To make a feasible contribution to the development of such a tourist segment as autotourism. And finally, to the extent possible, to popularize "caravanning", because we have a "loopback problem". We are not developing the infrastructure that provides autotourism, because autotourism itself is not developed, and autotourism is not developing, because the infrastructure is not developed. Because, according to Ruslan (and I can only support them), we have practically no campsites.

How so? - you ask. We drive in the south, and there are signs all along the road: camping “At Uncle Vasya”, “At Uncle Petya”, “At Tatyana” ... But they have nothing to do with campsites. It's just paid parking. A real campsite is a cultivated area divided into blocks, where caravaners, campers, cyclists and campers stand separately. Because everyone's culture is different. Campers, as a rule, do not stay longer than a couple of days in one place. Caravaners, on the other hand, more often operate according to the scheme “arrived, unhooked and hung at one point for a week.” So they need to be separated: it’s not very good when you have a bunch of children, a dog, everyone runs, plays, and campers ride back and forth every now and then.

In addition, camping is a service. This is a connection to electricity, Wi-Fi, the ability to drain gray water and refuel clean. In any case, the campsite should have a laundry room, showers, normal toilets. Then there are all sorts of spas, baths, saunas, etc., stationary barbecues and gazebos for relaxation ... There should be an entertainment program, a cultural program ... On the campsite, it should be possible to hire a guide, rent bicycles ... But we have such campsites , consider, and no, except for camping in Suzdal. Moscow camping is just a transit point. There are showers, but it's just a very cramped parking lot, literally side by side. You can't stretch out an awning, put up a sun lounger...

Is it difficult to build a motor home on the basis of a conventional car trailer? What materials can this trailer house-cottage be built from? What are its minimum dimensions? What interior layout will allow the most efficient use of the interior space? Let's try to find answers to this list of questions.

Goals

small country cottage- probably the most common hobby in the post-Soviet space over the past half century. The area of ​​cities is growing every year, and the sites naturally move away from the center of settlements. Distances are sometimes measured in tens of kilometers; The most comfortable way to overcome them is to drive your own car.

However, transform small plot not all summer residents are ready for a place of permanent residence. The maximum that an average urban family can do is to spend the night on their site once a week. Building a capital house for the sake of this overnight stay is a dubious undertaking; Sleeping in a car is very uncomfortable...

For summer residents who have basic skills in working with power tools, home-made trailers are often the way out.

We have to study one of these structures, having become acquainted with the materials used and constructive solutions.

Acknowledgment: The photos used in this article were kindly posted by one of the regulars of the League of Caravaners forum.
The work of the author was reduced only to the clarification of some technical subtleties.

Material selection

In most cases, a single-axle trailer with a maximum load of no more than a ton becomes the basis on which a compact trailer-cottage-caravan is built. Taking into account the weight of household items and a couple of people, our choice is a cottage trailer up to 750 kg in weight.

The weight limit leaves its mark on the choice of material.

• We will make the frame of the building from a pine bar with a section of 50 mm.
• Walls - from 10 mm plywood (moisture resistant or impregnated, which reduces the hygroscopicity of the material and prevents it from rotting); floor - from 12 mm. It is also used for building inside.
• The outer skin is galvanized steel. The sheets are hemmed to the frame bar with self-tapping screws; overlaps are additionally sealed silicone sealant. The outer corners are reinforced with an aluminum corner - again sealed with silicone.

• What to choose as a heater laid between the inner and outer layers of plywood - let the reader decide. Here is a comparative thermal conductivity of popular heaters:

Nuance: glass wool will inevitably caking over time.
It is better to use hard insulation.

Dimensions

A reasonable minimum size of the trailer required for our purposes is 2300x1600 mm. Such dimensions will allow you to build a fairly comfortable sleeping place for two people inside and leave some space for a table under the washbasin and / or gas stove.

A two-axle trailer-dacha will provide much more comfort; however, the price of such a trailer will be twice - three times more. Its dimensions (up to 4.5 meters in length) allow you to build a full-fledged toilet room.

A reasonable minimum height of a structure is generally 2 meters. The height can be adjusted depending on the dimensions of the owners: it is clear that a person is very tall you don’t want to constantly cling to the ceiling with the top of your head.

Construction

So let's get started. How to build a cottage from a trailer with your own hands?

Floor, bottom rail

1. Boards are completely dismantled. From the trailer there is only a flat platform. If the horizontal base has sufficient rigidity, the floor logs and strapping can be attached directly to it; it is better to scald a thin flexible sheet with a frame made of a professional pipe with a section of 50x25 mm.
2. Then, the bottom strapping from the bar, laid along the perimeter, is bolted to the base; side bars are connected by lags with a step of 20 cm (for 12 mm plywood).

As an option, the entire structure can be assembled at the stand and only then pulled to the base of the trailer.

1. The logs are attached to the harness with a galvanized corner; the bar must be soaked with hot drying oil twice.

Tip: instead of drying oil heated in a water bath, you can use cold drying oil.
In this case, after applying each layer, the bar is heated with a building hair dryer.

1. A heater is laid between the lags; then the floor is covered with plywood, which is attracted by self-tapping screws.

frame

The instructions for assembling the frame are no different from the construction of the lower trim: the bar is connected by corners to self-tapping screws. Before or after assembly, the tree is impregnated with drying oil. Do not be afraid that the frame will not be rigid enough: the sheathing will add structural strength.

Sheathing, insulation

The finished frame begins to be sheathed from the inside. Plywood is attracted by self-tapping screws 32 mm long with a pitch of about 25 cm. Self-tapping screws are only galvanized: in wet weather, black steel will inevitably decorate the walls with untidy rusty streaks.

Three nuances:

1. Holes for self-tapping screws are pre-drilled and countersunk so that the caps do not cling to clothing. An alternative is to use self-tapping screws with semi-secret heads.

1. Plywood with inside must be sanded before varnishing and after applying the first layer. Any moisture will raise top layer veneer pile, which will make the surface rough.
   The amount of work will be quite large, so it is better to use a grinder - even the simplest, vibrating. If there is no electricity where you are building, there is always a way out: renting a diesel generator for a summer residence costs from 1,000 rubles a day.
2. The outer side and ends of plywood also need protective impregnation. And in this case the cheapest and practical option- two layers of hot drying oil.
   The insulation is fixed in the grooves formed by the frame and the inner lining, after which it is sheathed on the outside with plywood proliferated on both sides.

The door is assembled similarly to the walls and hung on galvanized hinges; as a constipation, an ordinary door lock or a pair of latches is used - inside and out.

The last stage is the exterior galvanized finish. It is fixed with self-tapping screws 25 mm long in increments of 10 cm along all the bars of the frame; then the corners are closed with a corner. Do not forget about the sealant: it will protect the corners and joints from water leakage.

In the photo - the lining is ready for painting.

Window

If you want your miniature house to have skylights, no problem.

1. The opening is provided at the stage of frame construction. It is surrounded by a bar with a section of the same 50x50 mm.
2. As an external glazing bead, a duralumin corner is used, screwed flush with the outer skin with self-tapping screws. The seat under the corner is pre-coated with sealant.
3. A piece of plexiglass cut to the size of the opening sits on the sealant and is fixed from the inside with a glazing bead from the same duralumin corner.

Internal layout

Our choice is a convertible bed-seat and a folding table. The transformation mechanism will make clear pictures.

Useful little things

• An alternative to galvanized plywood outer skin from profiled sheet. According to a similar scheme are often built country houses from block containers.
• Do-it-yourself cottage trailer repair usually comes down to periodic painting of galvanizing. old paint removed with washes. In those few cases where the wheels, fenders or suspension of the trailer are damaged, spare parts for the trailer are bought at the nearest auto shop.

• The easiest way to organize ventilation is to provide a pair of hatches closed with a mosquito net in the door (bottom and top).

Conclusion