1994 AS What would you do?

[CWSWine]

We purchased our 1994 28 foot AS June of 2021 as a family RV. My granddaughter wants to paint the cabinets white and the bottom ones gray and put gray floor in it. I told her you need to wait at least year before doing anything other then fix problems. Well 1 years is this June. She also wants to make the twins into one RV queen or king and put storage down both sides of the bedroom. She wants to remove the couch and put in theater seating which I can see if she keeps the original couch. I'm the only one that thinks that you should keep close to original and my wife also thinks we should update it.

I'm going to loose this battle with my wife leading the charge. Now I considering selling this one since it's in great original shape and taking the money and buying a newer one and let her go or just make one less original AS. What do you think?

The only thing I'm just tolal lost is what to do with dropped selling material. I called several different AS dealers and they don't want to touch the ceiling repairs.

Here is the video I took the day we bought the AS and the rear windows was replaced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l76nKLAms78

[n2916s]

A conundrum.

A 1994 is old enough to be old but not old enough to be a classic. So, personally, the interior painting your daughter wants to do won’t really effect the value of the unit as long as it is done well.

We had a 1986 Sovereign with the varnished doors and wall sections and we painted it white. Really brightened up the unit and made it seem larger.

I would not convert the twins to a queen. You lose the storage under the twins and whatever you gain in the center with the queen is difficult to access. I know that twins are not as “friendly” but they are but a short distance apart so visiting does not involve taking a cab…

As for the overhead, what you need i an automotive trim shop. They replace headliners regularly and can probably reattach yours or replace it for reasonable bucks.

When my exterior started to exhibit “male pattern baldness”, I just stripped it with Citri-Strip and then did a ridiculously light polish with plain old Meguiars Aluminum Polish. Followed by Walbernize. Was it “shave your face” shiny? Nope, but it was very presentable and easy to maintain.

[heslinhotel]

Personally I prefer original... But the real question is what do you want to do? How do you anticipate using it? Bath layout is ok for a couple, but its central open floorplan makes for little privacy. To sell it and get another one with a better layout takes time. Its already pushing Easter. Do you plan on Camping this season or doing renovations.

Have you tried camping in it in the driveway? Just to see how it works for you and your better half.

I had a 1989 29 Excella that I converted similar to what you described. Made the rear twins into Oversize Calif King and theatre seats instead of Jack Knife sofa. Was a great plan for 2, not for company. I loved mine still a favorite.

[richard5933]

First - great video about the trailer. I especially liked the intro.

Twins to queen? No. At home it might be nice but in an RV being able to walk to the bathroom at night without waking your sleeping partner is much easier with twin beds. Plus, the twins give you usable space between them for standing and getting dressed. That little walkway around a queen (especially on a narrow body trailer) is not going to be of much use at all.

Ceiling is a relatively easy fix if you want to take a common route to fixing it. Mine was done by screwing a pattern of button caps through the vinyl and into the aluminum behind it. The photo shows some of the ceiling with the button caps. These can be ordered online easily. This make a good fix - not perfect but perfectly workable.

The vinyl can be removed, but it leaves a layer of crumbling foam padding behind along with the hardened glue.

Painting the woodwork? What drew me to my trailer was the solid oak cabinet facings. If they were painted I probably would have passed. I get it that woodwork is not everyone's cup of tea and that the current fad in decorating is different, but it is a timeless look. Perhaps you can convince them to start with new flooring and wallpaper and see how it goes from there.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Paint is cheap and easy. I'd cave in on that one pretty fast. Flooring isn't quite as cheap or easy, but it's still not crazy.

Past that, the complexity and cost shoots up pretty fast. You can DIY this or that, or you can job it out. If it's DIY time ( as in significant amounts of time ) will be involved. If you job it out, finding a good shop and getting a reservation also means time used up. It also bumps up the cost quite a bit.

As you dive into anything like this, the project can easily balloon. Finding floor rot or frame rust is one pretty common bump in the road. The other is the very normal "while we're doing the bedroom, let's redo the kitchen as well ...." scope creep.

For some, having a $5,000 project turn into a $60,000 project is not a really big deal. For a lot of folks the project stalls part way through and (ultimately) never is finished. The same applies to an overly ambitious "done in a month" schedule that now has stretched into it's third year.

If this is a "forever trailer" then doing mods is no big deal. If you want to resell it, then "stock" likely is the best way to keep it. As mentioned above, paint and flooring likely have
very modest (if any) impact. Tearing out beds and seating ... yup .. .that will matter. Recovering your costs is unlikely.

New from the factory trailers are going to take a while to get. Last time I looked, used prices on newer stuff were insane. That may be changing, but it's not 100% clear that it is. If you are thinking of bumping up to something 5 years old, you will spend a lot doing it.

My vote: Be very honest about the budget and timing. If the consensus is to do this or that, go for it.

Bob