My Broken Back 16ft. Casita

[Dudley]

I think you are missing a fiberglass cabinet that the fridge would have been mounted in. Yours looks like the fridge was mounted on the street side across from the door which is opposite from my 17SD. You could make a plywood cabinet much like the closet you are building and line it with foamboard, maybe with aluminum foil coating. The main thing is you want to seal it well to the wall so you don't have exhaust getting into the interior of the trailer.

[k0wtz]

wow not too far to go now!!

bob

[Nor Cal Mike]

Thank you Dudley. That helps a lot! I hadn't thought of adding foil. A plywood box lined with foil and rigid foam it is! There still is a small amount of deformity in the fiberglass body of the trailer in the area of the vents after jacking the roof back up. I think I can use this cabinet to force the body back to its original line if it is form fitted to the proper shape and firmly attached. I'm thinking of fridge box as an additional bulkhead.



Bob, She is shaping up. I figure camping by middle March 2018.

[Nor Cal Mike]

So I have been poking around looking at differing variations in 16ft. Egg travel trailers of different makes and year to get some ideas for floor plans. It is important to us that we do not have to constantly take the bed up and down to eat meals so a side booth arrangement is attractive. I also would like to save the area in the front in the event we come across a shower/ toilet unit sometime in the future.

The only practical place to install a side booth is on the left side due to the space taken up by the door. As an exercise, I temporarily set up our fiberglass kitchen unit on the opposite curb side to get a feel for that arrangement. This would allow me to put a booth in the area in the original kitchen location of this older model trailer. I must say I like it. That would mean of course fiberglassing in the fridge vent cutouts and moving them to the other side of the cab. But that is doable.

Here is a view of the proposed.


The booth would go here forward of the wheel box.

[stevebaz]

Your trailer is shaping up. Its lost its muffen top and is really comming around. Camping season will be comming up really soon. Keep up the good work.

[k0wtz]

mike our scamper is a 13f no b/r one end is the bed up all the time. on the other end we bought a futon we bought plate holders and use them that s it.

our requirements are not very much no tv, not much of anything.

bob

[Nor Cal Mike]

Thanks Steve, This is a fun project. I like having a relatively clean slate.

Bob, Our needs are fairly simple too. Since the kids grew up and moved away, we mostly use the cheap wooden TV trays bought from Walmart to eat on here at home. It would be just ase easy to use those trays in the trailer. Heck, I have my laptop sitting on one of them as I type this. They would be easy to stow away and don't weigh very much which is another bonus.

Since my last post my wife suggested that by putting the kitchen counter across the front might make the trailer seem more spacious. In that case, we would leave the stove and fridge in the original location with the stove stacked over the fridge. That way the vents could stay the same. We would wind up with a lot of counter space but it would eliminate the possibility of the bathroom/ shower being put up there. Nothing is cast in stone. Heck it isn't even cast in sawdust at this point! It's good to think out loud sometimes. Thanks for being my sounding boards.

Mike

[EricAllyn]

In one of the threads -- Bolor rebuild I think, they did the kitchen stuff all across the front. That left the other stuff to the sides. I think if you did that, the shower would actually be easier to build, you could do something on the floor fairly stock from Lowes, Home Depot, etc. and the walls could be regular sheets of FG or plastic. Lowes sells a 4x8 sheet that has texture on it. Depends a little on how big you have your bed. We took ours to fit the whole back half. In the next few years our small grandchildren want to go camping with us (places within a few miles) and plan on sleeping in the same big area. After that things are likely to change again, and have more of a dining area and bed both up most of the time.

[k0wtz]

somewhere in its life someone removed the sink and the stove it presented no problem to us. we use a s/burner coleman all fuel for our stove or I can run a 2 burner propane the gas line tapped off the furnace line which we don't use anyway.

we use a quick disconnect for both the propane stove and the wave 3 when done we put them away. we had tv trays for awhile another thing to put up so we went to the plate holders for breakfast.

as I said when wifey retired I retired her kitchen duties while camping thus disposables and very little clean up.

to each his own I suppose!!

bob

[Nor Cal Mike]

Even though the jacking of the roof straightened up most of the body on my trailer, there still was a bulge on the street side around the fridge vents. I experimented with jacking more, jacking less but it wouldn't straighten out. I decided to but a permanent wooden rib or two fore and aft of the openings to force the fiberglass into shape. Here are the pictures.



I replaced three of the metal screws holding the large vent frame to the fiberglass with machine screws & nuts drilled all of the way through the oak rib. In other areas, I used C clamps to force the body against the rib. It will be held in place with a polyurethane construction adhesive. I likely will go back in later to glass the ribs into the body.



The single rib pulls the body nicely into shape.

I plan to add another wider rib to the other side of the vent and another one just forward of the fender box. The wider rib will become a takeoff point for the bathroom partition that I have decided to add. These ribs lay under the the kitchen counter area. However I am almost sure that I will move the kitchen to the other side of the trailer just rear of the door. That will allow this area to become a two person dining booth. In that case, I will glue 1/8 veneer over these three ribs and then glue carpeting over that to finish it off.

The lower vent door will stay but will have a flat sheet glued & pop riveted on the inner side the louvers something to seal it off. It will become an access door to an under seat storage cubby. A new vented door will be installed for the fridge on the other side. The cutout piece of the wall will be cut to sized and moved over to fill the upper vent hole in the photos.

[Dudley]

Looking good so far! Didn't realize that you still had the kitchen cabinet. I thought you only had the appliances. When I looked the other day, I couldn't find a 16' with the fridge on the road side of the trailer but I have only seen 1 16' Casita in person and can't remember what it looked like. Actually only seen 3 or 4 Casitas in all. Very rare animal up here in Edmonton. Your layout is more like my old Ventura 13' which had a Closet by the door, front bench and roadside stove, sink and fridge.

[Nor Cal Mike]

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my descriptions of what I had. I didn't have the box that surrounds the fridge which sealed it to the vents. Otherwise this trailer is fairly complete except for two floor to ceiling closets. There was also something over the fender boxes that I don't have any idea what they were. Benches perhaps? Everything else were stored loosely in the interior when I bought it. Surprisingly the interior cushions are in very nice condition. We have them stored safely inside our house until the trailer has proven itself to be water tight and construction all is done.

I believe there is one other 16 ft. Casita here in one of the threads that is like mine. The latest photos posted in Eric Allyn's thread, http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...6-a-81327.html also shows the kitchen on the curb side of the trailer. However my trailer probably won't go back together that way given my near decision to move the kitchen counter fixture to the other side of the trailer.

Edit: Perhaps I spoke wrong about Eric's trailer. The fridge may be on the curb side mounted separately of the streetside kitchen counter.

[EricAllyn]

I like the idea of working with an outside storage area. I had not thought of that, just of sealing everything good. If I had thought of that, I might have left the back open a little to be able to access that area. I have a large fresh water tank there, but can't get at the space around it. The ribs look great. I really like using the construction adhesive. I used epoxy when I put my ribs in, and had to work fast to get everything done, so occasionally it was not exactly like I wanted it.
I have been using the liquid nails as a caulk kind of stuff, sealing the tops of the cabinets that are shorter than the sealing since it is jacked up a little. My stove in on the street side, and I don't know if there was a fridge. For now I'm going to use Ice Chest, and see how that works.

[Nor Cal Mike]

Originally Posted by EricAllyn

The ribs look great. I really like using the construction adhesive.

We will have to see how well it works. We are going away tomorrow and will not return until Sunday night. I will leave the clamps on until then so the adhesive will have plenty of time to cure. After I pull the clamps, I'll give the wall a pretty good push to see if it breaks away. The three machine screws that hold the vent will stay in place.What is totally dependent on the glue is the upper side.

[EricAllyn]

If for some reason it doesn't, sand the area down well, and then use epoxy, that will stay I know. Since I was redoing the outside, I just used drywall screws to hold it while it cured. Then I used bondo to cover the holes.

[EricAllyn]

Looking at the frames for support, did you dowel or biscuit the frame?

[Nor Cal Mike]

Those were done by the PO. He used biscuits.

[Nor Cal Mike]

Originally Posted by EricAllyn

If for some reason it doesn't, sand the area down well, and then use epoxy, that will stay I know. Since I was redoing the outside, I just used drywall screws to hold it while it cured. Then I used bondo to cover the holes.

I think it should hold. I used a premium PL product by Locktite. I cleaned the area where the rib goes with a wire brush. It didn't take much force by the C clamp to pull the body tightly against the rib so there isn't much pressure on the bond. I reckon that dynamic forces of the trailer flexing as it goes down the road will add more force.

This is only one of three ribs that will go into that area. As previously mentioned, another wider one will go onto the other side of the vent and will serve as the connector for the bathroom wall that I plan to install. The third rib will go just forward of the fender box. I will be able to use mechanical fasteners on the one on the other side of the vent since It will be in line of the screws that fasten the vent frame to the bod, The third one nearest the fender box is mostly meant to maintain a constant contour on the inner side of the wall in the area of the dining booth. I will use some cheap 1/8 inch mahogany plywood to cover the ribs. The rear seat in the booth will cover the transition of the two inner wall contours, not that it matters that much to me.

All of the ribs will be paneled over with thin plywood to make the new contour. I will drill small holes in the plywood in which I will squirt some foam insulation
into the cavity between the ribs to firm up the paneling before the carpet goes back over it. The rear seat of the dining booth will be the border where the carpet will transition back to the original wall.

[Nor Cal Mike]

I added two more ribs today and yesterday. One is fore of fridge vent opening. The other is just in front of the fender box. I really didn't need the one at the fender box except that the ribs change the curve of the wall on the inside so the third rib becomes an attachment point for the thin paneling that will be the contact for the carpet when it goes back in. I wound up using some stainless steel screws countersunk below the outer surface of the body. I then filled over the screws with bondo.


I left more material on the forward rib. It will become a take off point for a bathroom wall that I plan to add later. The smaller piece was traced from the other ribs. It was added to make a place to attach the inner panel. The area below will be an underseat storage as this is were I have begun building a side dinette.

In the next pic, you can see the countersunk screws.

[Nor Cal Mike]

I got four permanent bulkheads cut out. I found some pretty high quality 3/4" plywood at Home Depot for $31 a sheet. It is 10 ply, has few voids and according to the label is made of some kind of pine from China. It doesn't look like any pine I've ever seen but I'll take their word for it. Being mindful that 3/4 inch wood will be heavy, I have relieved much the backside which will not be seen by 1/2 inch using my router by making back and forth passes with a 3/4 inch dado bit. I left only 3 inches at the outer edges and a narrow area at counter height to attach a 3" counter top extension on each side at full dimension.




The first pic is the curb side where I am moving the kitchen to. The bulkheads are attached at about 3 inches either side of the fiberglass cabinet. I plan to glue and then glass in 1 1/2" X 1/2" horizontal strips of wood to the shell that the inner panels will attach too. No pop rivets through the weather seal for me. I bought a sheet of 1/2" rigid insulation which will be glued between the wood strips with a poly plastic sheeting over that to finish out my kitchen wall. The carpet taken down from this area was in pretty decent shape. It was saved to move over to the other side where the kitchen cabinet used to be.

Sorry for the quality on the next two pics. The lighting was terrible. They show the other two bulkheads. These will become the backs to facing dinette seats. These bulkheads are not yet attached and are subject to being cut down some once final decisions have been made on the size of the dinette seating. The dinette floor is currently raised 6 inches to minimize the fender box taking up too much foot space.



The rear wall's final location fore and aft has not determined yet. The panel is just wedged in with the roof weight holding it in place. The final position will be determined by the dimensions of the dinette seating. I pulled the ceiling carpet down to get at an un cooperating bolt that held the upper cabinet in. After the bolts were removed, All of the holes penetrating the egg shell were filled with Bondo to seal them.



It might be time to change the title to my thread to be Broke Back Casita No More! Happy New Year!