Its a new day and we can't wait to get started on the renovation, but it we jumped right into demolition. There were a few things that did bug us, like why did the ceiling feel soft in some spots. There isn't much water damage, and no sign of it on the ceiling so far. Alex was eager to tear into the ceiling to see what was the cause of that softness so parts of the ceiling came down. We discovered one of the rafters actually had cracked at a big knot, and it had already been repaired. Rather poorly I might add. So this is the first thing on our list to fix - Replace rafter. Not really a hard thing to do.
Its the rafter just after the hatch that needs to be fixed. In the photo below you can see where it has already been repaired.
So see that set of cabinets on the left? Those are being torn out so that we can fix that rafter. Crappy use of space if you ask me. Two doors where three should be, a lot of wasted space that's hard to get to. Ikea cabinets to the rescue. Nice ones with glass paneled doors that lift up and not out for easy storage. That row of cabinets will go all the way forward to where the front upper bunk used to be to add more much needed storage. I may get ambitious and build the cabinets myself though with Ikea's for my design model.
My big issue was that I REALLY wanted to get out that front upper bunk, and pronto. Here it is all pulled out, it brings so much light into the whole space. You can see that nifty little window on the left. We plan on making this bigger and installing an air conditioning unit in that space.
After pulling that front upper bunk down we did find some water damage. This is something we need to further investigate. Someone has been into this camper before. The panel on the right just above that side window had been replaced with wood paneling. So that will need to be removed and replaced with smooth luan. The rail that held the bunk in is fastened from the outside from the factory and still needs to be torn out, carefully.
Don't you just LOVE that mustard yellow tweed? All gotta go.
A bit higher from where the bunk was will be a shelf going across the front for open storage.
So after this day of demo I asked. Do you think it's still worth what we paid for it? Alex's response was $200 less. But I am confident that when we get done, it will bring the value much higher than what we paid.
Oh did I mention the bathroom is pretty much a full gut job?
Signing off for now!
- Is it still worth the price we paid? -
Looks like you have your work cut out for you but kind of fun work so not too bad.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what you paid for it... if the frame is solid, etc. and if some things you plan to do are more cosmetic for your own use.. you can't count those reno's against it! Just the damaged things that need to be done...
ReplyDeleteOne always wants to redo the campers to suit ones own needs.. We are doing a lot to ours this summer, new flooring..etc etc.. we already installed a new toilet although the old one would have worked.. It is just a matter of making it suit you.. especially with older ones.. newer ones one is reluctant to tamper with.
I just picked up an 82 25 footer. Got a smoking deal on it, so wasn't too concerned either about what I found. I'm planning to use it next week for a long trip, so I'm demoing and re-framing 1 quarter at a time.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you know what those black wires hanging down are for.. I'm assuming the radio antenna, but I'm not sure - haven't been able to track them yet...
Hi Paul! Congratulations on your new to you camper. Great idea on just doing a quarter at a time. You'll find in the corners its not so easy. I really like these older campers because they're put together really well. That said, the front wall panels were hard to take apart without pulling the two sides apart. The side panels actually covered the front. Lots of that sort of puzzle work going on in these older campers.
ReplyDeleteAs for those black wires. On mine towards the front left (kitchen side) I had a peculiar outlet with two small holes labeled TV Antenna. I recognized the wire from ones run in our cellar, we used to have a HUGE rooftop tv antenna on our house. So I'm pretty sure its that. We pulled ours out in the camper, and used some marine caulking 3M 5200 to fill the hole. Now we also had an AC/110 outlet mounted on the ceiling over by the edge of the fold down bunk. It was a very old brown round outlet with black household wiring. But I don't think you mean that sort of wire, do you?
We're hoping now that the weather has cooled we can continue with this project. Without insulation it gets like an oven in there.
Have fun on your trip!
Hey, thanks for the quick response. "lightbulb", yes.. they look exactly like old tv aerial wires! When I pulled out the back wall I found a junction box with 2 of these wires, and a set of 12 volt wires, odd but useful.
DeleteMine's actually an 18 footer, now that I've measured it :).
When I picked it up it had 4 bunks in the back. I've since stripped the back room and discovered major rot on the one wall and the floor. In a matter of 1 day I've re-framed the entire back drivers side quarter and I'll be re-doing the floor next. I do love how easy this thing is to work on, like you said.
I'm not going to put a bed back in, instead I'll be refitting the bedroom into a living room, with a nice oak futon, and putting new fold down bunks up top for the kids. Then refitting the front living room area into a dining area with a proper table (which for some reason this trailer didn't have).
Next summer, or over the winter it'll be the washroom that gets a new shower stall and the kitchen will get renovated and some fresh ceramic tile.
When it's all said and done, I'm thinking of getting the bottom tared by a drive way sealer... something needs to be done to keep the rot away.
Paul, sounds like you got your work cut out for you. Is it a single or dual axel. Here's a good tip for the undercarriage. There's a product called POR15, its mainly used on classic cars to repair, and completely stop rust. Just some light wire brushing to get off the flakey rust and just paint it on. My Fiancé did the under cartridge of his parents 36 foot toy hauler.
ReplyDeleteDoes your trailer still have the protective aluminum sheeting underneath? If its just the bare wood you may want to try an epoxy marine deck paint (not bottom paint). It made to waterproof wood. Even the roll on pickup bed liner would be a great product to use under the camper to prevent the wood from rotting. The driveway sealant may add too much weight, and probably will break down a lot quicker. But for the framework POR15 is an amazing product. I think they have other versions of it out now. I became familiar with the stuff when I was working on my Street Rods, one of my past hobbies. I always seem to find a hobby that is in constant need of repair. Lol.
Dual axle. Unfortunately quite a bit of the aluminum sheeting is missing underneath. I've never heard of POR15, but I have certainly thought of the marine paint... was thinking something for a boats transom should be plenty good enough for the wooden undercarriage.
ReplyDeleteWe both seem to suffer from expensive hobbies :).
Got the windows back in their new frames and the floor done last night. Now to get to my usual day job while my girl friend detols the whole thing :).
Hey Paul, Sorry I went MIA on you for a while, summer just gets busy, and I get forgetful.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to be careful with Marine paint. Any kind of marine paint made to be in the water is also designed to flake off, it's not really a sealant. It made like that to keep barnacles and other aquatic life from sticking to the bottom of the boat and slowing it down. For metal I highly recommend POR15 I think they are selling it now in Autozone. Truck bed liner paint might also be a good idea but you do need to remove any rust or oxidation before applying which means more work. POR15 you just need to brush off the flakey scale sort of rust and paint over the rest of the rust. It actually neutralizes and inhibits more rust from forming. Amazing stuff really, and well worth it. If it's wood underneath the Bedliner paint should be good since it's a rubber based paint to keep out moisture. If you can Caulk or seal the edges of the wood or the moisture will just seep in anyways.
We're starting on the front window this weekend (FINALLY)
I was hoping to use it this fall but the BF thinks I'm too pushy and hates that I'm giving him more work to do. Lol. If he saw the big picture of us relaxing by the campfire with the completed camper behind us he'd wonder why we didn't finish it sooner.