Well, I had originally planned to camp in Catarina all through this past Summer, and then take her back offline through the Winter of 2009/2010, in order to give the same treatment to the front half.
As I'm sure most have noticed, Summer 2009 is just about gone, and I have yet to go on a full-fledged self-contained camping trip. You know, like, with beds and running water and stuff.
SO... I've decided to postopone the front half renovation for a year. But, I did want to do something about the floor, as some of the vinyl tiles were starting to peel up and separate.
I prepped the floor by cleaning it, pulling up loose and separating tiles, scuffing the surface of any still-shiny tiles with an electric sander, and skim-coating with Ardex in a few places where it needed it. Then I began laying the new vinyl plank floor, designed to look like oak in a medium-dark stain. The product is made by Novalis and carried at the big blue box, and I really liked that it had "grain" embossed into it and had a fairly realistic wood look to it. It is similar to the TrafficMaster Allure product carried at the big orange box, but is designed to adhere directly to the floor, and is a bit cheaper, too. I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money, since I know I will be tearing the whole thing up in a couple of years anyway.
Enough exposition, here are some pictures of the finished product:
Marcus, your work looks fantastic! I have a question though. It looks like when you walk down between the beds to get to the bathroom, those drawer handles look like they are just waiting to take a bite out of your ankles. The way the stick out and appear to have square edges. Is this an optical allusion?
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The handles are all curved. They curve downward, which you can easily see above, but they also curve from the outside-in. Not a square angle on them, except where they meet the drawer fronts of course.
Marcus, the new floor looks very much like the old floor, only better. I was recovering from major surgery when I put the flooring in, and it wasn't as smooth a job as I would have liked. Looks like you got all the lumps and bumps out from under it, which is a big improvement.
Thanks Terry, the old floor served well, no doubt about it.
I was able to remove some of the lumps and bumps, and some of them are just "smoothed over" due to the plank nature of the flooring. The new flooring is also fairly thick which helps to hide some of the unevenness as well, but as you know, the subfloor up front has some "issues" and won't be perfect until it is replaced. But I'd say that it deserves quite a bit of respect for lasting as long as it has.
These Airstreams might have their design and manufacturing flaws, but they're still constructed extremely well. I am more impressed every day with how solid they are. In my rebuilding efforts, I can only hope to duplicate the good design that went into this unit 46 years ago.
Thanks again for all of your help and for following along, I hope you and Marie are enjoying what you see.
Thanks Terry, the old floor served well, no doubt about it.
I was able to remove some of the lumps and bumps, and some of them are just "smoothed over" due to the plank nature of the flooring. The new flooring is also fairly thick which helps to hide some of the unevenness as well, but as you know, the subfloor up front has some "issues" and won't be perfect until it is replaced. But I'd say that it deserves quite a bit of respect for lasting as long as it has.
These Airstreams might have their design and manufacturing flaws, but they're still constructed extremely well. I am more impressed every day with how solid they are. In my rebuilding efforts, I can only hope to duplicate the good design that went into this unit 46 years ago.
Thanks again for all of your help and for following along, I hope you and Marie are enjoying what you see.
-Marcus
One thing that is sadly lacking in the kitchen is counter space. Originally there was a stove cover that folded out to make a counter to the right of the stove, but it was in bad shape, and was missing parts. You could probably use a piece of 3/8" plywood, some Formica, and two piano hinges to make something that looks like it might have been there.
One thing that is sadly lacking in the kitchen is counter space. Originally there was a stove cover that folded out to make a counter to the right of the stove, but it was in bad shape, and was missing parts. You could probably use a piece of 3/8" plywood, some Formica, and two piano hinges to make something that looks like it might have been there.
I've definitely been considering that. I think I'm going to end up completely rebuilding that galley cabinet (in another couple of years, after ENJOYING the coach for a bit ) because there's quite a bit of rot around the furnace opening.
I'll redesign some of it, including possibly adding in a narrow pull-out pantry under the countertop for canned and boxed goods. At that time, I'll also likely attempt to reproduce the flip-over stove cover you're talking about, in order to gain back some counter space. The cutting board that Marie put in there works great to create additional counter space over the sink, and I'll probably make another one to cover the second bowl when not in use.
I'm also excited about the cabinet space I'm going to gain back when the furnace is removed. I think I'm going to build a sliding holder of some kind, custom fit to hold my RV toolbox and maintenance items.
BUT... all of that is sometime in the future. I want to have some fun first!
One thing that is sadly lacking in the kitchen is counter space. Originally there was a stove cover that folded out to make a counter to the right of the stove, but it was in bad shape, and was missing parts. You could probably use a piece of 3/8" plywood, some Formica, and two piano hinges to make something that looks like it might have been there.
Speaking of a flip up counter.....here's one someone is selling on Ebay. It's even located in Texas (Arlington).
This listing () has been removed, or this item is not available.
The other reason I pulled off the counter is the new range sat a bit higher than the old one, and the cover no longer fit. Rather than spend days jacking with an already broken part trying to get it to fit, I removed it completely. My intent was to make a flip-up counter with a wedge-shaped brace under it to go on the end of the counter area.
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) because there's quite a bit of rot around the furnace opening.
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