Input needed on crazy idea - trailer apartment

Yes, quite true. Right now I'm doing some looking into RV parks to see if any would even consider (or have space for) a full 53' trailer. Another poster mentioned the difficulties of construction, which I'll reply to here in a minute...

 

I'm hoping parking can be worked out. I didn't mention that the reason I'm looking into this sort of mobile lifestyle is because a potential employer would be sending me around the US every couple of weeks or months to get trained and eventually start working as an engineer. So it is possible that my employer would actually let me live on the build site. It could go either way- could be "not a chance- liability" or "Yes please, we'd love to have an engineer on site 24/7". (Not sure how I'd feel about being available 24/7 though :-\)

Anyway, looking at the other issues, assuming that parking isn't a problem-

Plumbing has been my number one headache in coming up for a viable design for this project. Wiring, lighting, etc won't be too bad, but plumbing is a whole different ball of wax. Right now, my concept is to treat it like an RV, but with a separated tank system. The on-board supply plumbing would be PEX (semi-flexible pipe) combined with RV-style appliances. I'm working on the assumption that fresh water is available at my site, but a potable water tank could be worked out if needed. To keep things as simple as possible, the plumbed stuff would all be located in one area- shower/toilet/bathroom sink all in one room, and the kitchen sink is on the other side of the wall. That way the amount of plumbing is minimized.

If I can find an RV park to let me in, cool- after the internal plumbing is installed and robust enough for transport, the only thing I need to worry about is having the proper RV-style hoses and fitments for hooking up to their site plumbing.

Where things get sticky is that if I'm not hooked up to plumbing, this trailer can't just up and move off to a service site when the black/gray water discharge tanks are full. To deal with that, my idea is to have the tanks actually be built onto a small bumper-tow trailer. The little tank trailer is parked under the semi trailer, and plumbed in my the same sanitary hoses that exist for RV plumbing. When full, I just have to disconnect and pull away to an RV service site.

It's not perfect, but I think it'd work.

I do plan on having a generator. I've looked into RV and Ambulance-type generators and they might work well, but are still rather expensive. Running the shop equipment is something I haven't figured out completely yet. For the mill/lathe, it's not uncommon for hobby machinists to replace the motor with a 90V DC motor that can run off of rectified wall current through a controller. That might be feasible from a generator or shore power. The welder... I don't know yet. That's a lot of juice. I'd either have to get a really huge generator or use a gas-engine welder. I don't have that figured out yet.

Could you explain what you mean by 'power only unit'? I get that you mean the service of moving the trailer from location to location, but I don't understand completely.

I appreciate all the advice I've gotten so far. Thank you for all your contributions everyone! This project is pretty pie-in-the-sky, so I'm thankful that you're willing to bear with me as I try to figure out if it's possible.

 

Thanks for the feedback, Freighttrain. I am planning on building up the walls, yes. I have seen a few different construction/finish styles of semi walls, and I'm hoping to find one that I can bolt/nail/screw some lumber to for finishing. I'd like to put two-by lumber (probably cut to whatever width I end up needing) up so that I'd have 4" of space between the outside sheeting and the inside paneling that I can fill up with insulation and have space for wiring. I do not anticipate running any plumbing in the walls at all.

From my discussions at an RV forum, I'm vastly more likely to be accepted at an RV park if my trailer looks like a RV conversion- to that end it'd probably be very helpful to put some RV-like graphics on it, and to not be shy with the windows, doors, and external RV-like features. I have considered making it look either like someone's eccentric retirement project (two of those words are true), or getting some decals that say "Acme Engineering Mobile Staffing Unit" or something like that.

 

Good info, thanks. Do you have any pics or details of your deuce and a half? Seems like an interesting and similar project. I must admit that I don't know what the floor construction of a van trailer is like. The ones I have seen have been very sturdy wood. At some point I'll need to put a pipe through it somewhere- what will I be going through? Is it just wood as long as I avoid the frame rails? I presume that there's an aluminum or plastic sheet layer also, right? My first thought was just to run all my drainage PEX down through the semi's floor and keep it all under there as shallow as possible. Is that reasonable?

My plan for flooring was just to lay some plywood down and carpet it in the living area. Putting down some joists to give clearance for plumbing isn't out of the question, though, if I need to. Especially if it's just the bathroom.