Maintenance & Restoration

dylanear · 09-03-2012, 08:34 PM

Finally!!! What I thought would take a few weeks has taken a few months. Mostly done, finishing it up as best I can before I have to vacate my work space and head for California. I can continue work on the details there.

Shower/desk/table. The bit on top has a shower quick release and hot/cold water knobs inside. Eventually it'll have a table/desk surface hinged on it, but I haven't found the right hardware to attach it.

Potty closed.

Shiny new potty in it's shiny new home.

Allure "Brazilian Cherry" flooring.

New shelves and counter space! YAY!!! Room to put things down without having to put them away someplace! There are also some shelves in back, up top in the dinette/bed area.

dylanear · 09-03-2012, 08:38 PM

If your curious about how this stuff was made.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ork-53026.html

dylanear · 09-03-2012, 08:41 PM

More pics to come as things get finished up. Sadly at this point, I'm not too proud how my painter has finished the cabinet doors. Challenging because he had to work with the messed up overpainted work the first incompetent painter did. Too bad too, the main woodwork came out so great.

dylanear · 09-03-2012, 09:33 PM

For reference, this is how things started when I bought the Scamp. Those curtains and cushions will go back in. Well, not all those cushions, only room on one side now. All new curtains and upholstery will probably come at some point not too far down the road.

Thomas G. · 09-04-2012, 05:44 AM

Nice, clean look!

dylanear · 09-04-2012, 03:41 PM

Thanks Tom. Clean, simple and modern was the look I was going for.

D Davis · 09-04-2012, 03:56 PM

Dylan, I LOVE IT!!!!! Have been watching your progress, couldn't wait to see more, well done!

D Davis · 09-04-2012, 03:57 PM

How did you attach the wall shelf? Just curious...

bec · 09-04-2012, 06:54 PM

So very - very clever , and looks just so nice and clean . It really is a wonderful job . How would you be using that shower ?

Donna D. · 09-04-2012, 07:04 PM

TERRIFIC!

dylanear · 09-04-2012, 10:38 PM

The shelves mostly are held up with a few bolts going through the top cabinets and the kitchen counter (had to remove the stove for those two bolts!), but they each have one bolt through the hull on their front points. I have a middle shelf made, but have not come up with a good way to mount it. May never get used. With just 3 bolts per shelf they feel very secure. Still impressed how strong and light the shelves are. We'll see how that feels after jostling down the highways for several days. The bolts just anchor into the wood at the edges of the shelf. The lower shelf only connects to the floor (bolted from below, into T nuts in the woodwork) That lower shelf is overbuilt so heavy things or people can be set/sit on it. If I wanted to take out that counter, that could be used as a seat again.

Because of several requests for a shower explanation, here goes.... It's an evolution of the very makeshift set up I used full timing last winter. A pair of shower curtains are hung from the ceiling, it's actually just some bits of stiff wire stuck into the rat fur to hold up some thing rods to hang the shower curtains from! Far from ideal, but worked. I'll be drilling holes in the roof to put in some better hardware for that soon, but still undecided on what hardware I want for that. Looking for something that won't look makeshift, will match other trim. Found some awesome towel bars that match the pulls I have for the cabinets, but they aren't long enough. Eventually I'll sew or have sown custom shaped curtains (big up top, taper down to fit into the smallish tub), but the one I used were standard size other then 6" or so trimmed from the bottom. I use two overlapping so I can get in and out, but there's lot's of overlap to keep the water contained. The other major component is a basic 10 gallon plastic tub from Home Depot or Lowes. I had to trim the handles off the sides to fit between the seats, but it works well, the curtains hang into it and don't flop out. Finding the right sized tub can be hard, but I have found two models, I can give the part numbers if anyone wants. You simply have to lift the tub up and pour it out outside or into the sink after showering. Not very elegant, but I did it daily for 6 months and got my rhythm worked out, as long as you don't take a long shower and fill it up a lot, it's any easy operation. You learn not to use more water than fits in one sink full.

That tub makes a good place to store the curtains if you want to take them down, mostly I just pulled them to the side and left them up. Also the shower handle and hose goes nicely in there. The tub fits nicely under that lower shelf. Previously I'd just leave it between the seats with the lid on it, but after the curtains dried. I made sure the keep them from getting sour smelling, or god forbid moldy. Hope this doesn't get dramatically harder in Vancouver, the dry New Mexico air helped in this task. May need to wash them often in BC.

Eventually, probably when I install a gray water tank in back, I'll build a wood/fiberglass tub with an actual drain in it. I think you probably could just use some fiberglass and seal the original floor between with a wall added. Anyway, that's stage two or three of this remodel. I'll probably add an outdoor fixture and maybe even some way of moving the curtains outside too.

The original shower configuration used a hose quick connect on the kitchen sink faucet, and hose ran from it to the shower handle. It worked just fine, but you had to put the shower head in the sink, adjust the temperature at the sink and then open a valve near the shower head once you got in the shower. Really silly sounding, but it worked just fine. But I'll be very happy to have the knobs accessible while showering. But I've been impressed with how steady the temperature from the Suburban heater is. Didn't find I need to fiddle with it while showering.

I'll be posting more pics as the details come together. I'll make an illustrated, detailed post about the shower once it's in it's final configuration. I'm pretty pleased with it, I really couldn't imagine loosing the entire front of a 13"er to a full bath. Now a 16'? I'd take a full enclosed bath on one of those.

John_M · 09-05-2012, 10:22 AM

Dylan... You kick butt!! This looks fantastic, exactly how I envisioned it when you started the other thread. Love the shower idea too..

dylanear · 09-05-2012, 04:19 PM

Thanks, I may kick butt, but this has been a long slow butt kicking I am pleased is coming to an end soon. Sure felt like I was getting my butt kicked for much of it!

John_M · 09-05-2012, 05:05 PM

I had to feel like that because you are living in it as you do all this. Thats got to make it worse..

dylanear · 09-05-2012, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John_M

I had to feel like that because you are living in it as you do all this. Thats got to make it worse..

Nope, tried that for a week, got nowhere. Could not have done this job while living in the trailer.

I've been in a motel for two months!

DannyH · 09-05-2012, 05:55 PM

Very nice. I like the rounded corners and clean look.

I hear you about it taking longer than you think. When I started I thought 6 months, 2 years latter it was finished!

dylanear · 09-05-2012, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DannyH

I hear you about it taking longer than you think. When I started I thought 6 months, 2 years latter it was finished!

That makes me feel a little better.

cpaharley2008 · 09-05-2012, 06:32 PM

Dylan,
Did you give thought to putting a piano hinge and a drop front on the potty cabinet so you can pull it out vs having to lift 4-5 gallons? Just a thought. Nice work though, bet you are anxious to finish the rear now.

dylanear · 09-05-2012, 08:23 PM

Didnt think of that exactly, but did consider a portion that would go down to make room for the flush handle to pull forward. As it is I have to push the potty back to pull that handle out. The top half holds about 2.5 gals of water/blue stuff, the lower about 2.5 gals of "liquid". So shouldn't be much over 20 lbs per half worst case. Theres plenty of room to get a good hold on it, I don't expect it to be too hard to lift.

Thankfully, the rear dinette is mosty staying as is. I did a lot of work under the seats, new plumbing electrical, gas, etc. But the only things I built for the rear were two top shelves and refinished the cabinets, do the dinette is done for now, I will have to open it back up to get the water tank modified to get that working, Im still city water only for now.

The middle has got the AC unit now, but thats only about 80 done, still need to work out the last bits on that. Then theres the new cabinet doors there too, those should be screwed in tonight!