Trailer Rebuild

Friday weather reports predicted a dry day Sunday and I hoped to frame, insulate and deck the roof.  Well no such luck.  I did get a few hours between showers and framed and cut part of the deck.  It is temporarly screwed down.

The trailer has been dry, but when I pulled the tarp there were a few spots where water had seeped through so I really do need to get the roof done as soon as possible.  No new pictures because I had to work fast and I just got the trap back on when the rain started again.

You know how RVs never have enough headroom welll I’ve fixed that.

Well at least untill I installed the new ceiling.  With the rainy season starting a little early this year, getting the roof on is going to be a bit tricky, but with two good days this last weekend I got the old roof off and the ceiling (ceiling panels and rafters) on.   So I could lay some plywood over it all with a tarp because it’s going the rain befor I get a chance to get the new aluminum on.  I still need to frame in the A/C and vents and insulate before I can glue and screw the ply down and then the aluminum on.  I’ll try to get pictures of the roof after framing it out.

There truned out to be a problem with the title and I decided not to put any more money into the trailer until the issue was resolved.  (Never buy a trailer with-out a clear title. ever).  Well the issue is resolved and we ar registered with Oregon DMV as the sole and proper owner’s of said trailer.

Before work was suspended I had painted the interior walls but there are a few spots that need touch-up.  I have started to rough in the plumbing.  Pictures will follow.

This weekend I put up most of the other wall paneling.  I have left the wall under the dinette window open as I have plumbing and water hookups to do that are best done while the furniture goes in.  Here are pictures of the first wall (this is as big as it gets):

The white stuff running down the wall is patching compound I’m testing up to cover up the panel edges.

Next a closer shot of the back section of the wall showing the bunk windows:

A picture of the middle section showing the Settee window:

Finally a long shot of the front of the Wall:

Once the walls are paneled and painted the vinyl goes in the partitions and furniture starts going in and the trailer will start getting smaller.

I also picked up the rest of the paneling for the walls and furniture.  I did some straightening up  of the wood shop and expanded the plywood rack to hold the paneling I bought and I still have wood that does not fit in the racks.  Kate says that soon I won’t have any room to work but I’ll have lots of wood.

Anyway I moved a lot of stuff out the trailer to the upstairs of the shop and also got the furnace, toilet and other stuff I bought for the trailer into the upstairs of the shop, out of the living room.

So I have three panels left to hang and then the vinyl goes on to the floor maybe next weekend. Though I’ll probably paint the walls first to keep the vinyl cleaner.

It has been a while since I have posted and this will be a short post, but there has been a lot of work done.  I have the floor bolted down and complete except for the vinyl (I’m planning on a wood grain pattern).  I have updated the wiring, adding 12V drops for reading lights and convenience outlets, added some 120V outlets and to hook up the running lights and battery I have installed PVC conduit under the trailer. But the big news is, I have one wall completely done, no pictures yet as the inside of the trailer is a mess with tools and parts so I can’t get a good picture.  Since I will have to clean it up to put down the vinyl I may clean it out this weekend and get a picture of the first wall before I do the second wall.

I also ordered and received the furnace and the second LPG tank, I still need to update the expenses but with the various pieces I bought I spend about $1500 these past two weeks.

I should have the shell done in the next two weeks, then on to the interior.

I have been planning on completely replacing the roof, but I’m currently thinking that I might just redo the structural part (some framing has rotted away) and just patch up the aluminum skin (one price I have for a new skin is ~$500).

Well not really, but I made a trip up North to Singleton’s RV Salvage I did not find a door, but with the current design I don’t need a new door, I can fix the one I have.  I did find some windows.  I had to make some compromises.  I could not find any suitable windows with rounded corners for the bunks in fact I could not find two of the same window of the right type and size.  What I did find was two jalousie windows of the same style and width, one a bit larger that the other installed one above the other (top and bottom bunks) they should look ok and will give good ventilation.  For the settee I found a window with screen of the same style the original windows a bit smaller than I would have liked but it will allow me to fix the front left window.  Finally I found another window of the same style as the originals though it has a slanted trailing edge and it is a bit bigger than I wanted (about 60″ long).  All these windows cost me about what one brand new window would have cost.

I also found some dinette cushions that are the right size and in very good shape and a nice blue so we may never get around to recovering them.  I also found an outside shower which Kate  wanted and allows me to cover up the old furnace vents.

I would have liked to find a furnace, but they had sold the two that might have suited me and only had a couple of smaller ones left.

On getting back home I started to frame in the new windows and was able to finish the installation of the new windows.  I was able to recycle various pieces of siding that I cut out of the new window openings to fill in the old.  The area between the Settee window and the bunk windows is a bit patched together, but hopefully the widows will be enough of a distraction that it wont stick out too much I still need to go back with some silicone and seal things up but it should be pretty tight when I finish.

The Expenses and Shopping List have been updated.

I still need to rework the Refrigerator Access Ventilation door and furnace vent and bolt the rest of the floor down.  Then I can start paneling … after I do the wiring.  I will probably add a few AC outlets and add a bunch of 12V sites.

Update 4/21: I keep forgetting to report of the results of glueing down the floor.  It has as I hoped firmed up quite nicely.

Well I was going to drive up to the salvage place to see what I could cross off my shopping list but Kate was very sick and I did not want to leave her alone for the whole day.

As it turned out the weather was absolutely fantastic, sunny and close to 70 so it was a very productive weekend.

I needed to reattach the walls to the floor which I did by screwing from the outside through the bottom plate into the floor.  This required removing the first layer of siding.  I also needed to jack the wall up in a few places.  So the good weather was perfect.  I also need to bolt the floor to the frame which is easier with the siding off.

I was able to get the walls attached and one side bolted down (I can’t move the trailer until the floor is bolted down).   I also got the floor inside finished, the foam insulation in place and the 1/2″ ply glued down.  Hopefully this will add a little extra stiffness to the floor.  The warm weather helps there to allowing the glue to cure.

The weather for the next few days is supposed to be raining (possible hail tomorrow) so I don’t know when I’ll get the rest of the bolts in.

I updated the expenses.

This week I after I get the trailer straightened up I’ll take some more pictures.   Next weekend I should be able to get to the salvage place.

No pictures, I have been catching my breath and planning things out a bit. I have prepared a shopping list and updated my expenses, though they are not completely up to date. I cleaned the trailer up, maybe I’ll take pictures this weekend.

I moved the bunk all the way to the rear and set the bathroom fixtures in place. I figured out a way to rework the windows by the bunks so I can set the bunks all the way to the rear and place a small Settee just in front of the bunks. The previous plan had a lot of storage but most of that would likely have gone unused unless one were full-timing and not much seating. With four people places to sit are precious.

What I will do is move the current window opening forward (I may replace the window with one that is the same height but narrower). I will add two smaller windows for the bunks. This will give me siding cut from the new openings so that I should be able to patch in the strip behind the new window opening and between the two bunk windows with only two small seams at the front and back of the bunk windows.

I would also like to enlarge the window over the Dinette if I can find a suitable window at the Salvage yard.

I built a cabinet for the refrigerator and temporarily installed the refrigerator. The cabinet is not quite right, but that’s why I built it so I could figure out how to do it right. It’s pretty close and it allows me to see how things line up. I still want to build the closet and drawer cabinet.

These temporary cabinets are built out of cheap 1x and luan door skins so the parts of it that don’t work can be scrapped, the only part that needs to be better quality wood is the face frames and those I will wait to build.

I have my floor plan pretty well finalized and with the addition of the Settee I think it will be quite comfortable, not quite as good as the trailer we almost bought from the dealer but this way we will avoid 10 years of payments, hopefully we won’t do too much damage to the credit cards.

I found a USB Cable for my camera so a couple of pictures that were in the internal memory have been recovered.  This one is of the back of the trailer with the floor in place.

This is a close up of the floor.