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Old 10-07-2006, 09:41 PM   #1
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Edge , Texas
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The Ultimate Monty (AKA the Cloud in my Silver Lining)

Welp, here we go!

Starting demo work on the interior Tuesday- right after I go 15 rounds with that rat...

My darling wife promised pictures, so pictures there will be!

First- the before and after shot, thanks to a LOT of hard work and occasional controlled terror by Caliann:

Before Caliann:


After Caliann:


The difference there is *32* full size lawn and garden bags of trash!

And a couple more of the interior cleaned up:








Here's our 4/8 track player and radio:


and of course the exterior shot:



I post some more when I get her completely gutted. I am taking a week off of work starting on the 18th, so look for some actual progress by the end of the month

The plan so far (in no particular order):
1. Replace the floor
2. Replace pretty much all of the interior
3. Sandblast, repair/reinforce, prep and POR-15 the frame
4. Repair axles/running gear
5. Replace appliances as needed
6. Re-insulate with modern materials
7. Convert to a tankless hot water heater
8. Add grey water tank? (Maybe)
9. Bamboo hardwood floors
10. Die of Old Age (while bankrupt)

Ever been terrified, resigned, excited, overjoyed and anxious- all at once?

Merlyn and Caliann
-One day closer to Mobility.
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Old 10-07-2006, 10:19 PM   #2
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WOW. I could probably stop there. Now that you have the stuff cleaned out, at least you can see what you've got. It will be a big job as you know. Hang in there, It will be nice when finished.
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Old 10-07-2006, 11:06 PM   #3
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1963 16' Bambi
1962 22' Safari
Yreka , California
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WOW!

I am at a loss for adjectives! You are a very brave person! Not to mention the fine work by Caliann!

Good luck on your project, it will be really enjoyable to see how it moves along! We completely redid our trailer, frame off, but then it is only 16' long! And I thought that was alot!!!!!!!

Good luck and keep us posted! Great beginning!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)
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Old 10-07-2006, 11:20 PM   #4
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Kiln , Mississippi
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I have helped a few friends post Hurricane Katrina "GUT OUT" their homes. You have taken on a project which reminds me of what they have gone through without the personal devistation associated with losing everything. That said, some words of caution are in order here: (1) WEAR A MASK - mouse and rat poop carry things you don't want; (2) GETTING RID OF THE FLOORS? soak it with bleach 20% solution or some other cleaner to kill the mold - this helps with the smell; (3) JOKES ASIDE ABOUT THE RAT when cornered they will attack - it's been their home for a while and they don't want to give it up. Good Luck, you have alot of energy and a promising AIRSTREAM.

I had a 4.5 pound (THAT'S A BIG RAT) chase me out a house and into the back of my truck. He had enough of me swinging a shovel at him.

BTW - what have you found that completely dumbfounded you in the cleanup of all that stuff? The one thing that you went Huhhh?? about.
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Old 10-08-2006, 01:12 AM   #5
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egad!

I'm breathless, speachless, horrified and full of admiration!

The "after" isn't inviting.... especially the bathroom, but wow, that's a load of progress already. Frat boys would probably do one of their gross-out pledge week activities in that bath!

Suggestion - keep a picture of "before" laminated and inside the trailer. It will help you remember that the worst isn't yet to come!

Paula

Sending you Karma, hope you have industrial strength rubber gloves!
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Old 10-08-2006, 01:20 AM   #6
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The $200 Airstream?

It is a good deal for $200... I wouldn't do it, but I admire your work. I'm amazed that it looks so straight. I hope the frame is salvageable.

I would suggest you look at some threads re the tankless water heaters. They may not be such a great idea for a trailer after all. You can get a 10 gallon heater, which is a lot more capacity than the 6 or 8 gallon ones.

I live alone, but if I turn off my water heater when I get up in the morning and flip it on, it's plenty hot by the time I've brushed my teeth and had a quick cup of coffee... I like long showers and can run mine cool, but it really doesn't require me to take a bird bath.

Good luck and keep us posted... this could be the start of a famous thread.

Paula
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Old 10-08-2006, 07:44 AM   #7
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1976 25' Tradewind
. , Maine to Arizona
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Great Project!

Yes, nice start. Keep the pictures from where you started and you can always see how much it has changed.
I paid a lot more for mine with a bad frame. We use ours, I love it!
I get a lot of support on this forum as well as a full spectrum of great advise.
Please keep posting pictures, a lot of us learn and simply enjoy the restoration/rennovation progress of others.
There are threads of the costs of components such as frame, axles, windows, etc. The search option is tremendous.
Good luck,
R
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Old 10-08-2006, 08:24 AM   #8
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1956 30' Sovereign of the Road
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BIG Difference!

Oh . . . there is vinyl flooring under all that stuff! Who knew? Bamboo hardwood is an awesome choice. I'm impressed that ya'll have maintained your sense of humor thus far. Caliann, I've almost spewed coffee with my laughter while reading your descriptive prose on your *What have I HERE* thread. You're surely going to need that humor on this project. Here's wishing you a resounding victory over the "Rat that ate Cincinnati"!
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Old 10-08-2006, 08:31 AM   #9
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i want to see a picture of the rat if you get it!

john
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Old 10-08-2006, 09:05 AM   #10
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About the rat, did you see the movie RV? Maybe you could get one of those bombs that Robin Williams used to drive off the racoons.
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Old 10-08-2006, 09:18 AM   #11
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What a job!

As new folks here...are you aware of the Parts section in the Classifieds? Looks like a lot of great, budget sized, Soverign parts there now. It will save time and money after the floor work.

Put some Rock and Roll, '60's stuff, in the 8 track player.. Makes the work go faster.

P.S. An emmotional lift during the work....get some aluminum brightener...diluted muriatic acid....use it to clean the exterior. It will clean it up, won't hurt the surface for whatever future lies it waiting, and will boost your morale , I'm sure, as you dig in.(looks like you finished a lot of digging already.)
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Old 10-08-2006, 11:07 AM   #12
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1968 30' Sovereign
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Parts, rats and work...

*smiles* I *have* to have a sense of humor...believe me, if you saw *my* family, a sense of humor is the only way to survive them!

The better half and I discussed buying parts. We decided that since it all has to come apart anyway, we'd wait on parts until we knew JUST what was salvagable, and what wasn't. No use getting, say, a new blackwater tank if we don't know yet if the old one is fine....or a new A/C until we know the old one is toast.

So, once it is completely gutted, and we have done and extensive inventory...AND we have an interior design that has had the kinks worked out of it, has been double checked by the professionals...and listed up here for at least a week of "peer review", THEN we'll buy parts.

Merlyn says he wants to live trap the rat, get it vaccinated,tested, wormed, de-bugged, etc., and then have me tame it and keep it as a Streamer Mascot. I told him we would, but he has to catch the rat before the cats do.

We have been wearing dust masks, nitri-gloves and being extra careful. LOTS of ventilation, also. Believe me, if we had had them, we would have done the clean-out wearing Class A Chem-suits.

I do want bamboo floors, but I had some odd notions:

Hardwood floors now-adays are basically a thin laminate of the appropriate wood laid on a cheaper wood backing. If my memory is correct, they lay out huge sheets of the stuff on prepared wood backing, glue it down, then LATER cut those sheets into the smaller peices that are used to floor houses and such.

My thought: We're replacing the floor anyway. Wouldn't it be easier, cheaper, etc., to put in the new ply floor, screw it down good and tight, fill in cracks, crevices, etc., with wood putty, dry it and sand it smooth ....then get a sheet of that laminate and glue it down? It would seem, to me, to be easier (and lighter) than installing the plywood flooring, then installing even thin, sectional hardwood floors on top of that.

On tankless water heaters: If I don't come out of the shower looking like a lobster, then I am not clean. Now Merlyn likes his showers and baths tepid, but I like mine HOT. And when I say a LONG shower; I mean 30 minutes to an hour.

Yeah, the tankless heaters are expensive and troublesome to install, and figure out how to design around...but as long as they work as advertised, they are worth it in saved annoyance and irritation to me. A long, hot shower has saved my marriage in the past, and saved me from being imprisoned.

Other thoughts: I hate that middle bedroom. I hate the idea of anyone, including me, having to walk through my bedroom to reach the bathroom. Also, dual twin beds are bad for my marriage. I've searched through a bunch of threads, looking for twin-to-queen conversions...and moving bathrooms, but I only came across one (about moving the bathroom) and it wasn't very detailed....and I didn't come across any for a conversion from twins to queen that *wasn't* a rear bedroom.

Since I am already going to be tearing just about everything down to it component peices..to clean, sandblast, inspect, etc., how difficult would it be to, say, move the closets forward over a chunk of the wheel-wells, then have a split batroom (shower/tub on one side, toilet/sink on the other side)...moving the bedroom completely to the rear? Has anyone done this?

Again, I realize that no-one in their right (or unright) mind would do such a redesign if they had a livable AS....but ours isn't...and if it is going to be reduced to compnent parts to be evaluated and fixed, moving rooms will not be that much of an extra headache.

Okay, last thing:

The niftiest thing I found in the mess was my new coffee cup....which is a hand-thrown, pottery cup with a blue glaze...and a white, raise, moon-and-stars medallion on the front of it.

The oddest thing was that in the right side bed cabinets was the most *ungodly* stash of chocolate, candy, sweets and sugar-substances...mixed with about 20 bottles of unused diabetic perscription medications.

Okay, I am off to do more washing, scrubbing, bleaching and more. Then, it might behoove me to actually *study*, since I have tests this week. (Back in college for a mid-life career change)

Peace,
Caliann

*The I am sick of the smell of bleach Mrs. Merlyn*
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Old 10-08-2006, 03:22 PM   #13
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do you have pics of the inside of the fridge??
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Old 10-08-2006, 05:55 PM   #14
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Oh really???

I like the sign on the fridge...

I'm fine.
Really.

That saying ought to stay with the trailer somehow!

Shari
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Old 10-08-2006, 06:23 PM   #15
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1968 30' Sovereign
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There are NO pics of the inside of the fridge.

That is because when my mother finally managed to open it a tiny crack, thick, black, viscous, liquid with a rank, nauseating stench ran out of the bottom.

I hurridly shut it, and plan to get some steel bands, which I will weld around it to insure it never opens again, before I dump it into the Miranas Trench.

There could be a decomposing body in there for all I know....and, truthfully, I am not willing to ever open that fridge again to find out.

Peace,
Caliann

*The Mrs. Merlyn*
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Old 10-08-2006, 06:27 PM   #16
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1968 30' Sovereign
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Quote:
Originally Posted by InsideOut
I like the sign on the fridge...

I'm fine.
Really.

That saying ought to stay with the trailer somehow!

Shari
*chuckles* I like it also. However, it is only one of about fourteen bajillion cutsie, kitty posters in various stages of decay and damage that were removed from the AS.

Okay, okay....maybe I am exaggerating a little. It is possible that there were only thirteen bajillion of them.

Peace,
Caliann

*Who, after going through the mountians of stuff that was piled in there, is going to stay FAR FAR away from anything "cute" and concentrate on "simple and elegant"*
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Old 10-08-2006, 06:28 PM   #17
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Just installed a new gas/electric waterheater in our Argosy. It's just the 8 gal one but it gives lots of hot water and can be turned on by a remote switch. It heats fast on electric and you may be happy with the 10 gal of the same type. Good luck on your project. These trailers are worth it, but you have a long road ahead.
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Old 10-08-2006, 07:29 PM   #18
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I love my new tankless water heater IN MY HOUSE. Two things I have in my house: An Endless (hopefully) supply of water and a hole at the bottom of my shower where the used water goes - which I never have to see again. I don't have those two things when camping . . . sometimes I can get the endless supply, but that doesn't really solve the whole problem. And maybe you plan on semi-permanently parking your trailer where you have both(?).

The other things I would mention is it must have a certain amount of "flow" to get the gas burners to kick on so if I tried to take a "low volume" shower it won't get hot and it also takes a few seconds of flow to kick on so the Navy Shower (turning it on and off) doesn't work either - and I don't have any experience with an RV tankless so maybe they have those things worked out.

Great thread, thanks for sharing the pictures and info and progress and humor . . . good luck.
MarkR
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Old 10-08-2006, 07:46 PM   #19
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Clorox

You must spray all surfaces with a Clorox solution as you go. This is especially so given your location. I used a garden sprayer. A cup per gallon is plenty. Never mix with or let this contact ammonia as you will get Chlorine gas, not good, very very bad. Spray good and close it up for a few hours then air out. Be careful pulling up the floor and getting into the walls. The belly pan will be full of stuff, it is not dirt.... Soak it good... Great project.
How are the axels? This can be a big money item. I trust you know this will cost you more than buying one in very good condition.
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Old 10-08-2006, 08:17 PM   #20
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1968 30' Sovereign
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkR
I love my new tankless water heater IN MY HOUSE. Two things I have in my house: An Endless (hopefully) supply of water and a hole at the bottom of my shower where the used water goes - which I never have to see again. I don't have those two things when camping . . . sometimes I can get the endless supply, but that doesn't really solve the whole problem. And maybe you plan on semi-permanently parking your trailer where you have both(?).

MarkR
Use of it, once it is done, will be full-time, live-in with mostly permanent water and sewer supplies.

There will be times when there will not be un-ending water and sewer supplies......those times will be enroute to park in front of the houses of friends who beg us to come use *their* water and sewer supplies for a while. *chuckles*

There will also be a couple of camping trips, but it will mostly be in fixed locations.

Since I will be living in it full time, I *want* luxury. Long, hot showers when I have sore muscles are part of that.

We are seriously considering (in the interests of conserving water) of installing a gray-water tank, some filters, on-demand pump, etc., and having the toilet use water from the gray-water tank. I can't think of a reason to pump perfectly good, potable, drinking water down a toilet.

This would also help on camping trips, as the fresh-water tank isn't that volumnous.

An over-flow valve in the gray-water tank would be useful for watering my flowers, also. Again, double use of perfectly fine water. My flowers have never minded my shampoo *before* this.

Thoughts? Ideas? Since this is basically a frame-off restoration, the pain-in-the-butt aspect is a nil con. Also since we're going to be replacing all the plumbing anyway, re-piping is a nil con. Anyone able and willing to give me convincing arguements why it wouldn't work?

Peace,
Caliann

*Who is busy designing things in her head*
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