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megan · 09-04-2019, 11:13 AM

Hi guys!

I'm on my 4th Airstream and while we do little updates, cosmetic things, we haven't done a gut job or anything.

We currently have a 1975 Overlander with a twin middle and front gaucho. The things that drive me crazy on the interior are this:

Lots of trim is falling down, many of the tambour doors are broken or stuck, and the bathroom ceiling mounted storage is looking pretty rough. The flooring is parquet, prob. laid in the 80's and an old leak damaged much of it. The interior has been painted and I don't like the color. The stove top is TOTALLY rusted and I recently burned the countertop near the stove. The bathroom is ugly with all the plastic surfaces having discolored over time. We had a bunk set up but we'll be removing that as the Little is too big for it now and the Big likes camping in his car.

I want to remodel and update it so that it's comfortable and looks great, but I totally want to maintain the 1970's look as my husband and I collect retro everything (houses, furniture, cars, etc).

My plan is to do this:

-Remove ceiling mounted cabinets from bathroom
-Caulk and glaze the entire bathroom (except floor and toilet) with the commercial grade glaze that companies use to resurface older bathrooms.
-Remove all the beds/gaucho and current flooring to lay cork tile floors and then replace fixtures/furniture
-Add tankless water heater
-Replace stove top
-Replace kitchen counter with hopefully the same burnt orange
-Replace curtains
-Paint Walls

Do you guys think that all sounds good? Do you think glazing the whole bathroom is a good idea and should I even take it to the remainder of the walls for longevity? My only concern with that would be expense and outgassing.

The exterior needs love too. There are some small dings and dents and many of the window braces are either frozen or broken. There are some small panels around the bottom that are missing.

We had it on Craigslist to sell, but now we want to keep it and just make it better for us. Here's the link so you can see photos...

https://orlando.craigslist.org/tro/d...961931456.html

Belegedhel · 09-04-2019, 11:43 AM

Hmmm.... Do you have any records of what rennovations the previous owner did? At a glance, it looks like it is not on th original axles, which is a good start, any idea whether the subfloor has ever been repaired?

My concern for you would be that when you start on your list of reasonably superficial fixes, you are going to discover that the subfloor is rotten in places like under the windows, all along the back edge, under the cabinets, and behind/under the refrigerator. If so, you will be facing a shell-off floor replacement, and the slippery slope gets even slippy-er.

So my recommendation would be to do a serious evaluation of the condition of the subfloor. Take an ice pick or sharp screwdriver and poke all the way around the perimeter of the floor, next to the wall.

As far as other things go, it sounds like your windows need some love, which makes me wonder what condition the window, door, and hatch seals are in--you should evaluate, and possibly add those to your list of fix-ups as well.

good luck!

megan · 09-04-2019, 01:06 PM

We’ve pulled the beds before to fix a plumbing leak and those areas were solid. The are around the door probably needs patching, which we did in our old airstream. The bathroom still “feels” solid when we walk on it or put pressure on the back. We have not checked behind the kitchen components yet. We’ll probably pull everything out when we do the floors to avoid all the cuts and check for weaknesses. I don’t know anything about the previous repairs but I was told by the last guy that it was structurally sound but that he didn't do anything with it. Other than the paint and curtains and parquet, I think it’s original.

KrazyKelleys · 09-04-2019, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megan

Hi guys!

I'm on my 4th Airstream and while we do little updates, cosmetic things, we haven't done a gut job or anything.

We currently have a 1975 Overlander with a twin middle and front gaucho. The things that drive me crazy on the interior are this:

Lots of trim is falling down, many of the tambour doors are broken or stuck, and the bathroom ceiling mounted storage is looking pretty rough. The flooring is parquet, prob. laid in the 80's and an old leak damaged much of it. The interior has been painted and I don't like the color. The stove top is TOTALLY rusted and I recently burned the countertop near the stove. The bathroom is ugly with all the plastic surfaces having discolored over time. We had a bunk set up but we'll be removing that as the Little is too big for it now and the Big likes camping in his car.

I want to remodel and update it so that it's comfortable and looks great, but I totally want to maintain the 1970's look as my husband and I collect retro everything (houses, furniture, cars, etc).

My plan is to do this:

-Remove ceiling mounted cabinets from bathroom
-Caulk and glaze the entire bathroom (except floor and toilet) with the commercial grade glaze that companies use to resurface older bathrooms.
-Remove all the beds/gaucho and current flooring to lay cork tile floors and then replace fixtures/furniture
-Add tankless water heater
-Replace stove top
-Replace kitchen counter with hopefully the same burnt orange
-Replace curtains
-Paint Walls

Do you guys think that all sounds good? Do you think glazing the whole bathroom is a good idea and should I even take it to the remainder of the walls for longevity? My only concern with that would be expense and outgassing.

The exterior needs love too. There are some small dings and dents and many of the window braces are either frozen or broken. There are some small panels around the bottom that are missing.

We had it on Craigslist to sell, but now we want to keep it and just make it better for us. Here's the link so you can see photos...

https://orlando.craigslist.org/tro/d...961931456.html

I might be interested in the gaucho/ living area stuff. If you plan to get rid of it. We have a 1975 Ambassador that is missing the Gaucho and “bar/cabinet” thingy.