Enlarging closet door opening.

[Wallo]

Has anyone enlarged the opening of the closet on the right hand side of the entrance on a 13' Scamp? Did you have to reinforce it in anyway? How close to the floor did you cut? What did you use to make the cut with?

There is just too much room in there, and so hard to get to. I want to add shelving or drawers, but the opening is just too narrow.

Everyone came back with great responses and great ideas to the bed question. I am sure some have made improvements here also.

Thanks in advance.

[Harlequin]

Ours came with a spot under the main one cut out for an air conditioner. The wheel well is under there so it can't go all the way down to the floor. About even with the top of the bench seat pieces is as far as you can really go down. as far as making the opening wider, they definitely went too far with the A/C opening. there's virtually nothing left on the face. I'd say it depends on the hinges you have how far you can open it up. Our has some little pieces of luan type wood behind it for reinforcing, but it's not the full length of the opening. If you do open it up further you may want to consider adding some reinforcing behind the hinge side

[Jon in AZ]

I haven't done mine (yet), but I saw this recently when I was looking for ideas. It is similar to what I would like to do:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...amp-55924.html

I like the idea of two separate doors to preserve the built-in stiffener that runs across the width of the cabinet just under the original door.

I don't think I would enlarge the width of the opening too much. For one thing, there is wood in the fiberglass on the hinge side, and I wouldn't want to disturb that. Second, the vertical corner angles add strength to the cabinet, which supports the roof.

Good luck with your project. I'll be watching to see how it comes out. Pictures, please...

[summer scamp]

We have a very large opening where PO cut and had plastic drawers.


I just cut a bunch of fiberglass during all my reno and my Bosch multitool with a round blade works great to cut fiberglass

I'd think it would be fine to be one opening .... Just have to make sure the door isn't too heavy

[John Linck]

I believe the side panels of the cabinet are important to support the roof of your trailer. The closet front only serves to stiffen these side panels and give you something to hang the doors on. As long as the side panels don't get too "wiggly" (sorry for the technical jargon) I see no problem in enlarging the front openings. As Jon says the built in horizontal stiffener is important. I would keep at least one horizontal stiffener, two would be better; depends a bit on how you reinforce/stiffen the corner uprights. The adjacent cabinet also adds support to your closet side panels, so bottom line I would feel pretty good with largish openings. I want to to the same with the front closet next to my front bath.

Another way to stiffen the side panels is with well fastened shelving. I would add one or two fixed shelves made of plywood and securely glued and screwed on 3 sides. Other shelves could be adjustable.

Good luck, john

[KevinScamps]

I just use a jigsaw to cut the fiberglass and a grinder to clean up the edges. It made a hell of a toxic mess. Eye and at least a dust mask if not a respirator required. If you have someone else hold the vacuum you that can help with the dust. Most of the strength is in the wood supports at the corners embedded in the corners and the corner shape itself, so as long as a you leave a couples of inches of fiberglass in the corners you will be fine. I faced the fiberglass with some plywood because the PO treated the scamp like a POS and it should the abuse of numerous closet door repairs and effed up repairs.

[Wallo]

Love the good work that was done on that closet. Has anyone enlarged the door to the closet on the RIGHT when you enter the Scamp (next to the bathroom)? The inside dimensions of the area are 25W" x 28D" x 38"H. The door opening is only 12"W x 26"H. There are no shelves, just a big, empty space that is difficult at best to access and most space is wasted. I bought drawers from IKEA, but they need a width of 16-1/2" to extend out of the door and that would make a very tight fit because that is about all the width I could squeeze out of the area. So, my next choice is to enlarge the doorway/door to about 15", put in shelving, and use crates/boxes for storage.

[Casita Greg]

If you want to cut fiberglass, I would recommend a Rot-Zip. They are very maneuverable and make a nice clean cut without throwing chips off the gel coat like jig saws do. If you do have to use a jig saw, I would suggest putting masking tape over the area of your intended cut lines (mark your layout right on the tape) to keep chipping to a minimum.

[Wallo]

Greg: Does the Roto Zip have a blade, or is it a drill bit type cutter? I have a Ryobi hand held router, could that be used with the correct cutter?

A few minor alterations will be made this week to the pex plumbing inside of the closet to bring it closer to the wall by the RV guys. Does anyone else with a 13' / Front bath have this mess inside the closet next to the bath?

The water comes in for the shower. The propane comes thru the front wall from the outside, then is routed under the floor from the closet. All of the 12V wires come in from the battery, are bundled in a mess, and start their travel thru-out the Scamp.

I am developing knock down shelving to put in the closet and use baskets/crates to store things.

I seem to have more ideas than time or energy. Such is life.

[Borrego Dave]

Alice, I use a multi tool for cutting fiberglass and it leaves a beautiful cut. Have used a number of other tools but found this one was best for a clean cut and very little dust compared to other tools. Using masking tape to mark it out will keep the chipping down. That said, guess it depends on what you're cutting for. If you are going to add fiberglass, a clean cut really isn't needed. As others have mentioned, watch the support.

[fusedlight]

We're going to be doing that self-same mod to the next-to-the-bathroom area over the weekend. Who hangs clothing up whilst camping anyway? Good Ghu... what a rat's nest of wires in the back corner on the floor. It offends my engineering upbringing!

[Wallo]

So Gary, where does your propane, 12V and water come into? I would like to do something to straighten out the wires and mark them. Not being an electrician, but having a rudimentary sense of it, would a buss box be the thing to use??? Something like a breaker box having the incoming wires come in and the outgoing wires disperse and being marked, but without the breaker.

Dave: What type of cutting appliance did you use on the multi tool? Was it a spiral or wheel? I have the area marked off with painters tape, and the lines drawn. I'm ready to go.

I want to reinforce the opening with 1/4" plywood strips on the backside of the opening. Could I use Liquid Nails to attach it with? I think screws would be too ugly.

[Borrego Dave]

Hi Alice, if you look up multi tool on line that would tell you better than I could. There are many blades that can be used, each with a different purpose. It uses very quick back and forth strokes of maybe 1/8th inch. Almost no viberation to you, pretty quiet and left me the cleanest cut with no chipping. I replaced the outside AC cable door with a larger one. Just use masking tape to give you your cut line and draw the blade along it. Don't try to go all the way through at first. This is giving you a groove to follow to keep the blade cutting true. Think it took around 12 passes before it cut through. The tool is pretty cheap too. Big box stores, HF all carry them.

[Carol H]

I cut mine Alice using only a jig saw - drilled a hole in the corners first to keep those clean. Just put painters tape over the fiberglass and drew my cutting line on it. Worked well, if you have an rough spots on the cut line you can simple use a palm sander to smooth them out.

I did not cut the whole face of the cabinet - simple cut out an open in the bottom half leaving a strip of about 4" of fiberglass between the upper large door and the smaller one below.

[fusedlight]

Alice: yes, I was thinking of a breaker box. Followed up with <gasp> labeling the wires as to what they actually do. I love my little Scamp, but some of their construction practices leave a lot to be desired!

[stevebaz]

Originally Posted by Carol H

I cut mine Alice using only a jig saw - drilled a hole in the corners first to keep those clean. Just put painters tape over the fiberglass and drew my cutting line on it. Worked well, if you have an rough spots on the cut line you can simple use a palm sander to smooth them out.

I did not cut the whole face of the cabinet - simple cut out an open in the bottom half leaving a strip of about 4" of fiberglass between the upper large door and the smaller one below.

One thing with a jig saw whether cutting wood or fiberglass. Stick on some masking tape and draw your line. Then take a razor knife and cut into the top surface through the tape into the top face. Now when you cut on your line next to the razor cut the material will not chip past the razor cut. Remember to remove the tape soon as old dried out masking tape from a stalled project can be hard to remove. Use a shop vac when cutting to save allot of the clean-up hassle.

[Karen B.]

I just did this a couple of weeks ago and my dad did the cutting with his skil saw (he does not trust me with his saws...).

A few years ago, I made a shelving system out of PVC pipe and plywood, press fit against the sides of the closet (so nothing is screwed into it) and when I did, I made it so that the PVC frame goes all the way down to the floor. Then I put a shelf on top of the wheel well, so as not to lose that space, but the only way to get to it was through the first shelf of the closet opening. I was only doing week-long trips at that point, so I didn't really need the space down there. But since I was planning this long haul to Nova Scotia from Minnesota, I needed it.

So we made the hole just under the reinforced fiberglass at the base of the existing closet opening and down to the top of the wheel well. I need to get some edging for it (didn't happen before I left), but otherwise, it's perfect. We were making new cupboard doors already, so I made a new taller closet door that covered the new opening as well. Unfortunately, the wood we used was warped, so it doesn't even pretend to close anymore, so I'll have to redo it when I get home. A bungee cord keeps it closed in transit.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Karen B.

We were making new cupboard doors already, so I made a new taller closet door that covered the new opening as well. .

BTW if someone is wanting to add a new door and keep their original Scamp doors, you can order from Scamp a new door to match & they will cut it to what ever size you want.

[mmcwhort]

I would recommend an oscillating saw with a 3/4 circle blade. These are AWESOME for cutting fiberglass. I got this one for $19 at Harbor Freight and it goes through it like butter. No splintering at all. And you can do plunge cuts.

[frankcfx]

I removed the furnace on my 16' Scamp and enlarged the opening into the door on the right side of the furnace. I used a Roto-Zip with a right angle adapter made by the company. I used a diamond blade and it made a very smooth cut. It created lots of fiberglass dust though. Use a breathing mask. I squared up the opening into one large opening as Scamp doesn't care to much about square cabinet openings and made a door with hinges on the right side of the opening. I used a cabinet catch that supports the wide door on the left side.