Sink front tip-out tray - Scamp 13'

[Shannon Thompson]

So, as clutter is the bane of tiny-sized living spaces, and there’s loads of wasted space in front of and under the sink, and I’ve never cut into fiberglass before…. It seemed like the perfect time to hack a hole and put in a tip-out tray drawer. I used the Rev-A-Shelf 14” kit – comes with 2 trays and 2 sets of hinges -- have extra one. Paid around $20. The kit comes with pretty good instructions and true templates to show you how to measure and mark and where to drill screws holes for the hinges. I like this brand as the hinges flip in and out really smoothly. I tried another brand first and they were too stiff and jerky in movement.
To cut the fiberglass I used a Dremel tool and the Cutting Wheel attachment. There is an attachment drill bit designated for cutting fiberglass but it was huge and thick and seemed like it would have really gouged and chipped the FG. The cutting wheel zipped right through with a thin clean cut. Didn’t tape, just went slowly. To prep, I pulled all the cushions out of the Scamp and put drape cloths everywhere, wore gloves and face mask and also had my neighbor hold the vacuum right up against the cutting line to minimize the heinous scratchy dust.

Had to reinforce the edges of drawer opening for the hinges so used a furring strip on both sides and Bondo adhered to the back of the FG. Bondo is really solid and fills in the gaps of the uneven backside of FG. Used a file and sand paper to clean up all the edges. The holes in the hinges are slotted so there’s room for adjustments and tweaking.

A while ago I changed out all the Scamp factory cupboard doors, table, hatch covers with Baltic Birch and coated everything with MinWax Helmsman Spar Urethane. That stuff is great – really strong, water proof, don’t have to worry about water rings, etc.
And there it is -- all done!

Next project -- add second entry door in bottom of closet and put wire shelves in the lower half.

Thanks.

S.

[Ron in BC]

Nicely done and a great place to park all those little items that end up cluttering up the counter top.

Ron

[deryk]

Looks's Great! And love the new cabinet doors... much beter then the original ones!

[Donna D.]

Lookin' good Shannon I love it when folks make trailers uniquely their own. Thanks for sharing the pictures and "how to."

[Lil M.]

Great improvement! And looks very nice as well. Where did you purchase your kit?

[Robert Johans]

Very nice, Shannon. One detail I really appreciate: you were careful to make the width of your new drawer equal to the width of your lower cabinets. Seems obvious, but I am often surprised to see that even the OEMs frequently miss this.

[DannyH]

Nice job on showing how it was done. I like the finished product.

[Shannon Thompson]

Originally Posted by Lil M.

Great improvement! And looks very nice as well. Where did you purchase your kit?

Hi Lil, I purchased the kit at Lowes. Check around... I found the same kit ranging in price from $20+ up to $30+.

Thanks.

[sfoss]

Very nice, we appreciate any little bit of storage we can search out!

[Joy A]

Great Job.....Shannon. I like that you don't have extra holes for the hinges. We have a new Lowe's store I'll have to go down and check out the tip out tray.

I like your doors, too. I've considered changing mine, haven't decided the style I want.

[cannibal53]

Thanks for the tip, Shannon. I can't put one in front of my sink, but I've thought of several other places that they'll fit nicely. Lowe's had 2 14" units for $18.

[Tonia]

I love this idea!