particle board

How to Replace Your Particle Board Table Bed in Your Small Travel Trailer

I had wanted to replace our 2020 Scamp 13’ particle board table bed ever since we first received our new trailer directly from the Scamp factory about 12 months ago.  Lifting it up and down to make and unmake the bed was a real chore because of the table’s heavy weight.  And, our table actually has an additional smaller particle board piece because our Scamp 13’ has the bigger 54” bed.  The larger piece, which is the table, is 32 inches long x 29 ½” wide and weighs about 23 pounds with hardware.  The smaller piece, which is necessary for the extended bed support, is 20 inches long x 29 ½” wide and weighs about 12.4 pounds.   So, with both pieces stacked together, the table weighs over 35 pounds!!!  No wonder why I always had to wrestle with the table to lower and raise it!  Note:  weight is one of particle board’s ugly not-so-little secrets.

Because our Scamp 13’ is so new, I was hesitant to replace the factory table.  However, that all changed when the table deconstructed itself one day when I was lifting it up and back into position (structural weakness is another bullet point on particle board’s not so impressive resume).  As I was elevating the table to its upright position and sliding the thin metal brackets into their clamshell receptacles attached to the wall, one of the hardware fittings attached underneath the Scamp table ripped right out (all the screws and the particle board they were screwed into), leaving a big crater underneath the table!  I called Scamp and they told me it was probably time to replace the table.  Given that I didn’t like the weight of the now ruined table or the look of the faux wood grain, I decided it was time for an alternative.

I did some research and discovered that I wasn’t alone in wanting to replace at least some of the particle board in our small travel trailer.  Lots of campers do it to lighten the weight of their rigs.  I even wrote an article based on my research called “5 Reasons to Replace Particle Board in your Camper”.  At this point, it was clear that the table breaking in our Scamp was actually a very good thing because it forced our hands to replace the particle board tables!

A very popular material choice for making tables in RVs which can also be used for bed support is ¾” lightweight plywood.  It’s strong, super light, and looks great!  It’s also widely available at home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s and it’s inexpensive.  Additionally, these stores can cut the plywood for you at a very low price (or possibly for free).  Be aware though, these stores will only make straight cuts, so if you want a table with rounded corners (like we did), you will need to make those cuts yourself or have someone else do it for you.  I did notice though that the saw blade used by the guy cutting our wood at Home Depot was likely dull because there was a lot of splintering of the edges of the plywood (he also didn’t tape the edges to prevent this from happening).  In the end, my builder brother-in-law Bobby not only did the rounded cuts for us, but also had to redo a lot of the Home Depot cuts to replace the damaged edges (fortunately we had a lot of extra plywood to work with in the 4’x8’ piece we purchased).

We chose Maple plywood (non-toxic version) which looks beautiful and has high dramatic impact when varnished with multiple coats of interior crystal clear high gloss polyurethane.  We purchased one piece of 3/4 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. PureBond Maple Plywood at Home Depot for around $60.  Since we didn’t need nearly that much wood, I also measured our particle board stove cover and had pieces cut for its replacement.  As mentioned previously, the Home Depot cuts were a bit dirty, resulting in a lot of splintering.  Regardless, my brother-in-law Bobby redid some cuts, rounded the corners, and otherwise cleaned up the wood edges.  Once satisfied with all the pieces [main table 32” x 29.5”, smaller table 20” x 29.5”, and materials for the stove cover (Top 15” x 20”, Front/Back two of 3” x 20”, Sides two of 3” x 13.75”)], I glued the stove cover pieces together with white wood glue and let sit overnight and then applied the polyurethane varnish with three high gloss coats to the two tables and stove cover. The finish came out beautifully, with very high luster revealing the maple’s exquisite golden rippled grain patterns.

The next step after finishing the table top is removing the old table from the Scamp, which is fairly straightforward.  Before removing the existing table with hardware from the Scamp, I labeled both the left square metal bracket affixed to the wall and the square metal part above it which is attached underneath the table with an “L”, to keep the orientation the same when mounting to the new tabletop.  I used a square #2 screwdriver bit with my mini cordless screw driver to remove all 8 square head screws holding the folding table mechanism to the wall (don’t touch the metal clamshell pieces located at the table’s back edge against the wall below the window).   The table should stay standing up once you remove the square metal wall anchors because the top of the table is still held by the clamshell brackets and the front of the table is resting on its singular leg.  Now, to completely remove the table from the Scamp, just lift the front like you are making the bed so the thin brackets in back slide out of the clamshells.  It’s good to have help in holding the table, as you will also need to retract the table leg.  Once done, you can carefully remove the table from the Scamp.

Find an area on a carpet or smooth service and set the old Scamp table face down on the floor right next to the face down new table top (back edge to back edge so you can locate where to install the metal brackets into the new table).  I used blue painters tape and a tape measure to mark the exact locations for the brackets on the new table.  Remove the 8 square head screws holding the folding mechanism metal brackets to the old table and place them over the new table in the same location (and using the holes, mark each hole with a felt tipped pen).  Use a small diameter drill bit (smaller than the diameter of the screws) and wrap the drill bit to a length shorter than the screws with blue tape to ensure you don’t drill the pilot holes anywhere near through to the top of the table.  Drill shallow holes where you marked the dots.  Then, being careful to install the Left mount under the left side of the table; use your square #2 screwdriver bit with drill to slowly install the screws until they are tight (I also dipped the tip of each screw with white wood glue to prevent them from coming loose).  Now, remove the table leg from the old table with your screwdriver and position on your new table so it is in the exact same position.  Like before, drill pilot holes and then screw down the leg onto the new table.  Next, install the new table into the Scamp by slipping the back thin metal brackets into the clamshell receptacles and extending the table leg.  The table should stand by itself while you screw down the 8 square head screws attaching the metal brackets for the table folding mechanism back into the wall.

I weighed the tables after completing the project.  The new main table weighs 14.6 lbs. with varnish and hardware (compared to the particle board’s 23 lbs.) and the smaller table weighs 6.8 lbs. (compared to the particle board’s 12.4 lbs.); together the new plywood tables weigh 21.4 lbs., about 40% lighter than the original particle board factory tables which weighed in at 35.4 lbs. !!!  And, in addition from being so much nicer looking, the new maple plywood tables are much easier to raise and lower!  You will love your new light tables!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.