2012 FC Counter and Table Top Upgrade

[MattB]

I thought I might share my experience to show a little how I replaced the countertops and table top in my 2012 30' Flying Cloud. It originally came with the solid white textured laminate tops, which I have grown to dislike strongly, especially as we have re-covered our dinette cushions to change some colors.

We picked out some nice Formica laminate, and a single 4' x 8' sheet did everything. I also wanted to replace the kitchen faucet at the same time, as it seemed to have an intermittent leak and the filter system was an annoyance at best.

Finally, my hatred of the arrangement of the bathroom sink and faucet knew no bounds. The faucet was canted and installed too far away from the edge of the sink, the result being if you washed your hands or rinsed your toothbrush, you didn't have room to hold them over the inside edge of the sink and water went everywhere. That had to go. My wife picked out a nice pedestal sink and faucet, and set me to work.

Normally I am working on a vintage trailer, but working under a deadline from the boss.

[afk314]

Pictures!!

[MattB]

In order to get to this stage with the counter loose, it took a few steps that were easier than I expected.





First, the range and oven are held in by only four screws on the sides of the range, and the gas line.




The sink has tension screws effectively clamping it in place. It comes right out with a scraper to break the seal at the top. Then the sink fitting just unscrew.




The biggest things to get it to the point one can work on the laminate itself, are to carefully examine and find all the holding screws. There is one piece of angle aluminum along the wall and L-brackets periodically, plus a few ordinary screws from underneath. The bathroom had four at one end that were thoroughly hidden and accessible only from the bedroom wall. They were pulled and repaired. Also, there are shaved off screws holding the corner moulding on the back of the counter tops. You will need replacement screws for these.

On the bathroom counter, since the pedestal sink will sit on top of the counter, I cut and carefully fitted a round piece of plywood of the same thickness and glued it into place. I also ended up filling the voids around it and for the faucet with wood filler, and sealing with Trempro. Very solid.

[MattB]

Originally Posted by afk314

Pictures!!

Sorry, working on it! We just had a tornado delay...

[MattB]

This is the first time I have done laminate, and I learned it is not rocket surgery once you cut a large enough margin and have the correct flush router bit to make the finished edge.

As I mentioned, SWMBO picked out the new pieces, which look rather nice I must say. Standard techniques were employed after watching YouTube for a bit. Only one hole was needed for the new galley sink. But I started with the galley flap because it was smallest and a little easier to manipulate.




Also, took a bit of extra time to confirm the location of the bathroom sink due to the radiused curve of the counter so it didn't look wacky.

[Bubba L]

Looks great, but what about the 55 FC? You would have really enjoyed the Pismo rally. A lot of vintage ASs.

[MattB]

Sinks and new faucets were fitted. The bathroom sink was positioned so it was equi-distant from the edge of the counter on the radiused side.

The a bit of seal under the galley sink, put and put both counters back in with the corner moulding. I am partially skipping a step in this description, but will come back to it in the next picture post.

The bathroom sink and faucet just required to holes cut for the drain and the faucet. Then with the aid of a quick trip to the hardware store and $10 of brass fittings later, the piping and faucets all hooked up. Testing for leaks revealed that I forgot to tighten the bathroom faucet and soon all was in working order.

Putting in all the mounting screws was tedious and took a while but was not difficult.

[MattB]

Originally Posted by Bubba L

Looks great, but what about the 55 FC? You would have really enjoyed the Pismo rally. A lot of vintage ASs.

Hi Bubba, been watching pictures from Pismo and just loving them. Wish I could have been there. Or just see it some time. Along with your trailer. Love seeing it come along. It gives me hope.

The '55 is still coming slowly. Some drama, or lack thereof, in getting anyone to even bid my cabinets. I am behind in updating the blog for it, but while this was going on, some local flooring guys were installing marmoleum in the 1955. It looks amazing.

We are enroute to Alumapalooza, and then I need to do some work on a 1985 Casita (which you can check out on the Fiberglass RV forums, I will post a link later) and also perform some work on a natural wood-fired sauna. This will give me a chance to finalize some details and acquire a few more tools needed for the cabinets. I have already invested quite a bit in some nice woodworking equipment, and I plan to use the heck out of it.

[MattB]

So...I came all the way from Kansas to eastern Ohio, to dodge tornadoes. I can do this at home, thank you.

[MattB]

Now, down to the not as easy part. I couldn't find an edge trim that would work for me that I liked worth a damn. So I said the hell with it and got some aluminum.

Key here is to cut the groove in the counter top before putting that thing back in the trailer. Then the next key is to put the trim on the router and measure the depth of the bit about six times to get it where it needs to be.



Then test it on a piece of scrap until you know it's right. Don't think it's close, be confident that it is right. Then take a deep breath and cut that groove.



Then smoke your pipe and think about how you are going to bend this very expensive trim without messing it up.

[MattB]

I learned a few lessons along the way:

1) For very tight corners, such as on the counter extension flap, one needs to start with the mechanical shrinker and then cut grooves in the back of the T portion and then gently massage and tap it in around the corner with the rubber mallet.

2) For the less tight outside corners, the shrinker was the way to go to get it to the 90% solution and then push in by hand and tap in into place. It also helps to clamp one side as you go around the corner.

3) On the very tight inside corner on in bathroom the stretcher was necessary all the way, and then gentle tapping with the corner of the rubber mallet until it was all the way in. Then finish the wide outer curve of the radiused portion of the counter around the sink.

4) Once everything is bent and trimmed precisely to length, I rand a bead of Trempro along the routered slot in the edge, then used it to glue and help seal the edge. It is by no means perfectly sealed, but it holds. I clamped everything in place to let it set.

[MattB]

The last piece, and my favorite of the project was the table top.

I wanted something very unique and wanted to incorporate a technique I learned this spring.

I ordered a very high resolution 19th Century map of the Black Hills, and area and map that is meaningful for personal reasons from growing up and doing advanced degree academic work. Then ordered a poster as close to the size of the table I could find with the high resolution picture file of the map.

The map was the perfect dimension for the width of the table, but about 3" short on the length, so I would need to trim a couple of scraps from the laminate to fit the ends.

The existing laminate and the first layer of ply would need to come off for the table to be thin enough for the 3/4" aluminum trim after I put on new laminate/map and a 1/16" thickness of epoxy over it. But, before taking it off, I needed to put in the trim groove. So routered in the trim groove, and then went to work on the old laminate. Even with heat gun, etc, it took about four hours to get that all off. Painful. Then got out the belt sander and sanded the crap out of it until I had reduced it enough and it was smooth again. Fortunately, some of that first layer came off with the laminate. The laminate would not come off any other way.

Spray adhesive and a careful rollout got the poster on. Trimmed straight edges on one side of the laminate scraps to match the poster edge, then turned it around and put them on the ends next to the poster. Lined up nice and trimmed to match the table edge.



Masking tape around the outside to hold the epoxy. Then mixed up the kit, which was quart sized for 7.5 sq ft, poured it on, spread and prayed for the best. A little bit of light heat gun kept things smooth and helped me remove a gnat. Let it cure for 36 hours then fit the aluminum trim after filing to match the trim again after the epoxy had leveled. Clamped it all up and waited another 72 hours. This epoxy takes longer to fully cure than the box says. Be careful. But it came together nicely.

[MattB]

[rmkrum]

Beautiful results. Lots of careful work gave you a beautiful look. The map topped table is stunning!

[Doc Foster]

It looks fantastic!