Airstream Argosy Office Remodel - FINISHED WITH PICTURES!

[Wgbarrbevco]

Hello All!

I had been waiting to write this post until we launched our website, but now that we have, I decided it was time to share this project with the airforums.com community. We started a beverage company based in San Francisco and our first product (which will be released late 2012 or early 2013) is called T.W. Pitchers' Snake Bite, an alcoholic drink that is a blend of lager beer and apple cider. It's based on a very popular British pub-mixed drink of the same name. Anyway, about 6 months ago we decided it was time to start looking for office space. We didn't want to spend too much (and anyone that has spent time in San Francisco knows how expensive rent can be!) and we wanted to do something unique. I had always liked Airstreams, but knew they could be pretty pricey - even used. Nonetheless, I crunched some numbers and realized that if we could find the right deal, it could make financial sense to buy an Airstream and remodel it into a mobile office space for the company. Not only would we not be tied into a long lease or high monthly payments, but we'd also have a very cool, retro, one-of-a-kind office that doubled as a billboard. On top of that, we figured it would be a fantastic project! We scoured Craigslist for a few months until we finally found a great deal on a 1975 24' Argosy trailer in Salinas, CA. We called about it right away and we're lucky enough to be in line ahead of 8 other people interested. We drove down, took a look (everything seemed to be in good shape), and paid for it on the spot.

Over the next few weeks we came up with a plan for the remodel. At first we thought we'd keep the rear bathroom intact, rip out the living space, and build in some new desks, etc. But once we started gutting the trailer, we realized that it would be much better (albeit more expensive) to just gut the entire thing down to the plywood floors and start fresh. So we drew up some plans and got to work. The remodel took three of us about 3.5 months of working every weekend. My father is fantastic carpenter and was able to help us custom build the cabinets, desks, countertops, doorways, walls, vanities, etc. I rewired much of the electrical, installed 20+ new overhead LED lights (cutting holes in that ceiling was nerve-racking), cleaned the walls of 30 years of grime, and repainted with fresh white. My business partner became an expert de-riveter and riveter (unless you have removed all of the interior walls in an Airstream you truly cannot understand how many rivets are in these things!!!). We put in cork flooring, zinc countertops, two new sinks, a new A/C, an electric wall heater, an electric hot water heater, a flat screen wall mounted TV, new power outlets, a sliding rear door, new plumbing, and most importantly, a kegerator and double beer tap. In the end the the only things we did not do ourselves were the A/C installation and the exterior paint job (which turned out to be the most expensive part!).

Anyway, enough explanation…i've included a few pictures with this post, but you can see more pictures, a video, and a thorough step-by-step re-model blog, by going to www.twpitchers.com/airstream and clicking on the various links.

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have. I'll do my best to answer them and I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts. We certainly would not have been able to do this without the knowledge and expertise of many people on airforums.com. Thanks and enjoy!

[Taylormade]

Very cool!

[SmokelessJoe]

Wilson, Tom,

Your kind of youthful energy just floors me. It took me 5 years to complete my Argosy remodel!

Yours is as close as I've seen on these pages to my own design asthetic so what can I say but CONGRATULATIONS?

Your stuff displays really good marketing sense too and you have a good chance to be a winner. Good Luck.


Sergei

[timmaah]

Awesome job.. You hiring?

[jimin pa]

very nice

[3Ms75Argosy]

Looks fantastic! The only suggestion I'd have to to ditch the hubcabs, and get some alloy rims to make the trailer look more polished. Great web site too!

P.S. Where'd you get the slider hardware for the bathroom door?
Marc

[Wgbarrbevco]

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

Wilson, Tom,

Your kind of youthful energy just floors me. It took me 5 years to complete my Argosy remodel!

Yours is as close as I've seen on these pages to my own design asthetic so what can I say but CONGRATULATIONS?

Your stuff displays really good marketing sense too and you have a good chance to be a winner. Good Luck.


Sergei

Sergei - thank you so much for the kind words. Much appreciated. To be honest, your Argosy (along with a few others we found around the internet) served as a general template of the design we were going for. You did a really fantastic job on yours and the hard work you put in is evident in the finished product. Nicely done!

[Wgbarrbevco]

Originally Posted by timmaah

Awesome job.. You hiring?

Haha. We can't even afford to pay ourselves a salary let alone another employee's! But hopefully sooner rather than later we'll be at that stage!

[Wgbarrbevco]

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

Looks fantastic! The only suggestion I'd have to to ditch the hubcabs, and get some alloy rims to make the trailer look more polished. Great web site too!

P.S. Where'd you get the slider hardware for the bathroom door?
Marc

Great suggestion ont he hub caps...I'll look into that.

We got out sliding door hardware here:

Johnson Hardware® SLIDING, FOLDING AND POCKET DOOR HARDWARE

Home Depot sells their products, but its actually cheaper to order directly from their website. Plus, they have a larger selection.

[altnbndr]

A window office with a kegerator one could only wish. Beautiful rig it will definitely stand out in the crowd and be remembered. Before you ditch those hubcaps I would suggest painting your bottle cap logo on them to see what this may look like, Also a polished keg up front (with logo of course) may be a nice touch.

[3Ms75Argosy]

A couple of other suggestions... make sure you get a generator big enough to run your AC and beer cooler... not sure of your tow vehicle, but a 3000w Honda in the bed of a pickup would be plenty, or two eu2000 or Yamaha's... If you have a SUV, you could make a generator platform plus cover on the tongue. Make sure your generators exhaust away from the door. Then paint the cover with your logo.

Also, a matching logo wrapped tow vehicle would be a nice touch.... Going to put bar tables outside under the awning?

Make sure you limit how many people may use your bathroom... that black tank only holds about 10 gallons. It wouldn't be cool to have a PR event with an overflowing toilet!

You might want to switch out that old converter for a newer one (Intellipower is one brand). I wouldn't want it to fail on you while out and about.

Great idea! Good luck!
Marc

[dkrug]

Very nice! A sure way to get attention for your beer. I like the idea altbndr suggested. Those hubcaps would look cool painted like your bottle caps.

[AlumFalcon]

Looks fantastic!! Both the office and web site, clean and minimal.

Good luck on your venture, can't wait 'til you product demo up in Seattle area.

IMHO, black rims would look sweet.

[Wgbarrbevco]

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

A couple of other suggestions... make sure you get a generator big enough to run your AC and beer cooler... not sure of your tow vehicle, but a 3000w Honda in the bed of a pickup would be plenty, or two eu2000 or Yamaha's... If you have a SUV, you could make a generator platform plus cover on the tongue. Make sure your generators exhaust away from the door. Then paint the cover with your logo.

Also, a matching logo wrapped tow vehicle would be a nice touch.... Going to put bar tables outside under the awning?

Make sure you limit how many people may use your bathroom... that black tank only holds about 10 gallons. It wouldn't be cool to have a PR event with an overflowing toilet!

You might want to switch out that old converter for a newer one (Intellipower is one brand). I wouldn't want it to fail on you while out and about.

Great idea! Good luck!
Marc

Marc -

Thanks so much for the advice. At the moment we're actually just running the trailer on shore power. Eventually, when we've got some spare cash, we'll get a couple of generators to power the whole thing. Like you said, we'll probably need a 3000w or two eu2000's and that is a pricey endeavor We tow with an SUV, so we'd also probably need to build/buy a generator housing for the front...there should be plenty of room though, since we no longer need propane tanks. We'll probably also get a new converter at some point...for the time being the original has held up well - plus I like hearing that hum sound - it lets me know we have power Thanks again for the advice and kind words. Much appreciated!

[Nolavalkyrie]

Looks fantastic!

So, here's an off the wall question: is that chalkboard paint, or did you actually repurpose an old chalkboard to fit the space? Curious minds want to know.

Julianne

[TBRich]

Love it! Someone should build a rally around you!

[Wgbarrbevco]

Originally Posted by Nolavalkyrie

Looks fantastic!

So, here's an off the wall question: is that chalkboard paint, or did you actually repurpose an old chalkboard to fit the space? Curious minds want to know.

Julianne

Hey Julianne!

It is indeed chalkboard paint. Really cool stuff and very inexpensive. But if you use it, make sure to paint as many coats as you can handle...I think we ended up doing six coats...it takes quite a bit to make it work correctly, depending on the surface you are painting.

[Wgbarrbevco]

Originally Posted by TBRich

Love it! Someone should build a rally around you!

Thanks!!!!

[Travel Bird]

Your Argosy is way cool!!!! Congratulations and lots of luck with your new biz!!

[Wgbarrbevco]

Originally Posted by Travel Bird

Your Argosy is way cool!!!! Congratulations and lots of luck with your new biz!!

Thanks Travel Bird! Your blog is awesome by the way!