Looks like I am getting a new counter front!

We decided to get a couple of hours in today before John left for his vacation to Oregon.  We wanted to get the kitchenette out if we could and check the drying progress.  We also wanted to get the old water tank out and decide the next step.  It was a cold day today and the wind was pretty strong so we didn't spend a real long time.  Things are looking really good as far as the drying is coming along.  I was very pleased to see that.

I also had a chance to check the upper right edge of the camper and found that there is a channel installed for an awning.  While no awning came with the camper I will be making one eventually.  I am happy that I will not have to go about installing a channel.

We've decided to remove everything from the camper and open up all of the walls.  We want to make sure that there is no rot in any of the walls and if there is we want to go ahead and repair and replace what we need to now.  We've also decided that, given the lack of support on the floor that we have found so far, we want to fully reinforce and replace the floor front to back and make sure that it is fully insulated.  It's a little bit more work but we believe it will be worth it in the long run.

We started by removing the sink and old cook top.  The sink looks good and solid, we had to cut the pipe leading from the drain and we will have to replace it if we put the sink back in.  I must admit that I am a bit torn about this.  I have never used the sink in any of the campers that we have had so I am not entirely sure that I need to put this one back in.  When I do dishes while camping I have a solar shower hung up that heats the water and I do them in two dishpans outside.  I know that some people might object to not having a sink in a camper, but I am leaning towards not re-installing it.  I'd be interested in your opinions.

The cook top came out easily, but is pretty old and corroded and we're planning to replace it with a convection cook top.  These cook tops are safer than propane, run on 110 power and look very nice once installed.  They are designed to either sit on top of the counter or be flush mounted into the counter.  I think I would prefer the latter.

Once we had the sink and stove out we got the counter unscrewed and pulled out.  We're going to replace the counter top, because the hole from the old cook top is too big and oriented the wrong way to receive the new convection unit.  This will also resolve the hole that would be left if I didn't replace the sink.

Counter top off and water tank coming out.  My cheerful demo/Mr. Fix it!

Old cabinet face.

Next came the nasty old water tank.  Even if we wanted to use it we wouldn't have been able to, the outlet valve was broken off from the tank and would leak if we had put water in it.  It will be going to the scrap man.

It came off in our hands, no interest in trying to repair this thing at all. 

Once that was out John started working on getting the counter framing and face out.  I am playing with the idea of putting the fridge under the counter below the cook top.  This would of course require a new counter face.  John was having some trouble with a couple of the screws and resorted to the simple expedient of cutting the facing in half and pulling out that way.  So it looks like one way or another I am getting a new counter facing.

Removing screws and shelf supports

Old counter facing, I'll measure it for when we make a new one.

Once we had the counter out we checked the floor and sure enough there was more rot and wet wood. We're not sure if this water was from the leak at the back that has run towards the front over time or if we have another leak to seal up.  I am sure that opening the walls will answer that question.  We pulled up what we could and decided to leave it at that for the day.

Taking measurements for when we replace the cabinet you can see the original flooring and the rot underneath it.  Yuck!

The copper pipe was from the old cook top and will be removed.  The horizontal pipe is actually the direct water inlet and was attached to the sink.

Prying up the old floor.

This corner was actually relatively dry, but we're going to get it out too when when we pull out the closet and cabinets.

Once John's back from his trip we will be removing the closet and cabinet unit and the upper cupboards and then get the walls opened up.  I'm anxious to get all of this done so that we can start repairing and rebuilding.

Let me know what you think about the sink question!

See you soon!

Mel.

Demolition Day 2

John decided to get back out to the trailer yesterday and work some more on removing the old flooring while I was sleeping after night shift.  Spring has definitely caught up with us finally and it's so nice to be out in the fresh air and sun shine.

Things had dried up a little bit in the Peanut since Sunday's demolition session but things are still pretty wet.  John started by working on pulling up more of the floor towards the back wall of the camper.  Turns out that many of the joists are either partially or completely rotted away.  They were providing no support for the floor at all.  I am starting to think those black and white tiles were made out of Kryptonite because they were all that was preventing us from going through the floor.  :) At some point someone had made an effort to reinforce the floor with 1" x4" boards, which were also pretty much destroyed.

Left rear corner.  The insulation will be coming out as we go, too.

Taken from the front area looking at back wall at those lovely 1"x4" 's

At least they tried, I guess?

This is the floor in front of the kitchenette area.  The door is to the right and the fridge/closet is to the left. 

 John also took some pictures of the under side of the trailer to see if there was any obvious concerns that he could see.  Over all I think it looks pretty good, considering it is almost 40.  I plan to spray the frame with one of the rust retardant sprays and then paint it.  I probably should take things down to the bare frame and redo it as well but I think that is more than we can get into.  The white pipe is the outlet for the sink.  Presumably the intent is to just put your grey water tank underneath while you're parked.

Shot of the under frame.  I see some rotten wood just in front of the tire that I will have to address. 

Overall doesn't look bad for being almost 40.

Pipes and hoses that we will have to sort out.  The white drain pipe is visible as well. 

The last thing that John did was to get a little more into the front kitchen area, specifically the lower cabinet.  His preference is to remove the propane cook top, even though it is original to the trailer, and replace it with a convection cook top.  They run on 110 power and are much safer than propane.

We had noticed a pump arrangement under the cabinet.  After poking around a bit he realised that there is a water tank under the cabinet at the front of the trailer.  The fill valve is outside on the front right side.   John is thinking that we should remove that as well, given that it's unlikely we/I will be needing to carry water in a tank.  I must admit that from the pictures, I think the tank looks a bit nasty too and I would be hesitant to use it.  I am pretty sure that we are going to go ahead and take out the front counter and fridge/closet cabinets so that we can just replace the floor front to back.  Given the extent of the damage to the rest of the floor I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be rot under these areas as well.  

View of under the kitchenette cabinet

Floor of cabinet removed to expose water tank

Other half of water tank and pump arrangement.

Pipes from sink and from water tank.  The tank to me just looks nasty.  

That's about it for today, a bit of a shorter post than I usually make.  We're planning to go back out tomorrow and get the cabinets and cupboards off and the rest of the floor up.  Once we've done that the rebuilding process begins.  We want to rebuild the floor stronger than it was when it was new so we'll be re-framing and installing new joists and making sure everything is well supported before we move onto insulating and installing the floor.

We're enjoying the process so far, but I must admit that there have been a few times when I have looked at the scope of the needs for this little cutie and wondered what I have gotten myself into.  We're taking it one step at a time and I am sure that once this heavy work is done and we have the walls repaired, insulated and covered it will go a lot faster.

Thanks for stopping by, 

Mel.

Demolition Day!

We had a beautiful spring day here today and decided to go out and get started on opening up the walls and floor of the Peanut and seeing what we have to do for her.   While there were no real surprises as we got into it, we do have our work cut out for us.  While I say "we" throughout this post, in truth John did the vast majority of the heavy lifting today.  It didn't seem to be all that difficult, though and he only got one splinter.

Rear Wall

We started by removing the trim at the edges of the back panels and the rear window.  We also removed the table and all of the hardware that went with it.  As we pulled off the old paneling we could see how wet it was after the heavy rains from last week.

Trim off from around the rear window.  We've also taken the shelf/upper bunk down to prevent accidents. 

Dropping the table in preparation for removing it. 

Wet and rot around the rear window.

Another view of the same area. 

After the upper bunk fell and almost brained John while he was working under it, it came off too.  It would have had to come out eventually anyway and to be honest I am not entirely sure that I will put it back in.  It would never have been used as a bed, and I quite like how much more open and bright the back of the trailer was without it.  We've set it aside for now until we are sure that we won't need it.  

Demolition continued with the removal of the left and right benches.  We needed to get them out so that we could get to the lower sections of the back wall.  It was apparent that while some of the sections of the benches were original, as evidenced by the stapled construction, they had been rebuilt at some point in the past.  We've kept them aside to put them back when we're done.  I will be buying new foam and making new cushions once we've rebuilt things.  

Once we had the back wall opened up we decided to open up the rear side walls to further expose the wet areas.  We opened them up to probably just a bit less than half way.  We also removed the back ceiling panel that was installed by the previous owner.  I was hoping to keep it intact but it soon became apparent that it had to come down in order for us to properly repair what needed to be fixed.  

Preparing to remove the left bench.

Not too difficult, most of the screws came out easily.

Left bench removed, the power cord pulled through to the outside while we were working.  

Right bench removed and getting ready to pull off the rest of the paneling.  

Once we had everything removed we could assess what was going on.  As we expected the right rear corner was pretty rotten.  The rot is from ceiling to floor and several of the framing beams will need to be replaced.  Also, the large corner board that gives the upper back edge it's curve will need to be re-cut and replaced.  Once we've replaced the beams and supports we will have something to re-attach the aluminum skin to.  There was also some rot on the left rear side of the wall, although not quite as much as on the right.  

Right rear corner, showing rot that will need replaced.

Left rear corner rot, with some rot on the ceiling above the small window.

Right rear upper corner support piece that gives the roof it's curve at the back.

"I Didn't Know That They Made Liquid Flooring"

Along about this time I decided to do a Tim's run for some drinks.  John was still working on getting the ceiling panel off and said that he'd carry on while I was gone.  When I came back the decision on whether or not the checkerboard floor would stay had been made.   The floor overall felt very soft and spongy in most areas and we were pretty sure that at least some of it was going to have to be replaced.  The area in front of the door in particular felt very soft and I was quite hesitant to step too firmly on it.

By the time that I got back John had ripped up the old tiles and a good portion of the rotted wood on the floor.  It was absolutely saturated and John was pulling out handfuls of sopping wet wood rot. Once again it was obvious that someone had made an effort to repair or at least reinforce things at some point in the past.  The original floor was visible in places under the top layer of wood.  The original sheet linoleum was visible in places, as was the wood floor that was original to the camper. John had taken the floor down to the skin in places.  It was pretty stinky and quite nasty looking.  A large portion of the floor will obviously be repaired.  My preference will be to take it all down to the underskin and rebuild from there, adding some additional joists as we go for added strength.  Right now we have it airing out and drying out a bit before we do anything more.  

Taken standing outside in the doorway.  No way was I stepping on that mess. 

Down to the outer skin in front of the door.  This was sopping wet. 

The floor in front of the fridge/closet actually wasn't that bad but will be replaced anyway

Below the back wall, more layers need to come up but it needs to dry out a bit and we want to have the replacement wood ready to go before we get too much more up.

So there you have it.  So far the needs are about what I would have expected, given the age of the camper and the fact that it has been sitting for about three years.   I haven't made the final decision about the floor under the front sink/stove area and under the closet/fridge area yet, but I am leaning towards trying to replace them when we fix the rest of the floor.  

I look forward to your comments and appreciate any suggestions that you may have to offer. 

Mel.

First Look - 1976 Rambler Peanut

A little history:

I've always loved vintage travel trailers.  They have a look all their own and have more character than anything available new.

We've had several trailers over the years and have sold them all for some reason or other.  Some needed more work than we were able to manage, some were too big or not what we needed.

Late last year my husband, John, found a Road Trek Class B motor home for a good price.  He was quite excited to bring it home and get the work needed to get it on the road done.  While I agree that it is a good thing for road trips, I was finding myself not as excited as he was about his acquisition.

I started thinking about all of the trailers that we'd had over the years and came to the conclusion that my favorite of all of them was the U-Haul camper that we had bought in the US and brought up here. It was small, it was easy to tow and it was cuter than it had any right to be.  Unfortunately, it also needed more work than we were able to do at the time and we sold it to a friend who was able to do a fantastic job renovating and repairing it.  Part of me still regrets selling that little marshmallow on wheels.

Mike recently contacted us and said that he was interested in selling the U-Haul now and gave us first option to buy.  The price that he is asking, while fair, was beyond what were were able to invest.

John recalled seeing a small travel trailer in Belwood last summer and mentioned that we could look at it again to see if it was something that might work for me.  He went up and spoke to the owner and before I knew it, we were buying a camper for me!

A first look:

I was, understandably, quite excited to hear that I was going to have a little trailer for myself.  I had visions of road trips with only me and my dog dancing through my head:

Sierra - sweetest dog ever!

This is Sierra.  We rescued her from the pound 6 years ago and she's been my pal ever since.

John and I went up and had a look at the camper last week.  It is a 1976 Rambler Peanut, made in Burlington, Ontario by the Burlington Trailer Company.  The trailer is 13 feet long from tongue to rear bumper.  The box is 9 feet long by 7 feet wide.  For such a small trailer it is very well laid out and has quite a lot of storage space.

First look...still snow on the ground around the tongue.  

The outside looks pretty good, only one light cover will need to be replaced.

Front view

Only broken light that I can see so far.  

Back view - I don't think the box is original to the trailer but it seems solid and will provide additional storage.

It's been parked against a cedar hedge so the left side was a bit hard to see, but aside from needing a thorough power wash it looks solid.  

The right rear seam of the outside has come apart.  It has been temporarily covered with duct tape and caulked, but will definitely need more substantial and permanent repairs.  Daylight was visible from the inside out, as well...never a good thing.  The trim on the bottom of the same side has also come loose a bit, and will need replaced.

Right rear corner seam showing the open area.

View of same corner from the inside, the quarter round trim has been removed.

As I mentioned, the interior is very well laid out for such a small trailer.  I must admit that I have never been a fan of wood paneling.  I find it to be dreary and drab no matter what's done to it.  My plan will include painting the walls to brighten them up.  I know that some people don't think that restored campers should be painted, but this is going to be for me and so I will do what works.

I don't know what I am going to do with the cabinets yet.  They are laminated and some of the laminate is lifting from one of the doors.  There are also a fair number of hooks and eyes and cup hooks on the cabinet doors which will leave holes when I take them out.  I will have to figure out if they will take paint or not.  If they won't I will have to decide what I am going to do with them.

Interior Tour:

These next few pictures are taken standing in the door way. I love the black and white checkerboard floor but I'm afraid it will have to be torn up.  There is a large soft spot in the floor in front of the door that will have to be repaired fairly quickly.  If I am tearing up one section of tile, I might as well tear up them all and inspect the whole thing so that I can replace and repair it as it needs.  I plan to lay a new floor once that is all done, I haven't decided if I will be using a sheet of linoleum or tiles when the time comes.

Kitchen area 

Fridge, closet and cupboards

Dinette area which folds down to a bed.  The bunk above will be used as a shelf to store bedding when I have the dinette set up.  

 Under the table you can see some water staining on the paneling.  There is also staining on the wall near the upper bunk on the left side.  I am planning to take all of the paneling off of the back wall and as needed and repair whatever needs it while I am doing the the right rear corner.  This will also allow me to reinsulate if needed.  I am also seriously considering replacing the old paneling with 1/4" birch so that I don't have to contend with water stains seeping through the new paint.   The fellow that we bought the camper from replaced the ceiling so it looks pretty good and I'll be able to use it when I put everything back together again.

There is storage under each of the benches.  It will be perfect for storing larger items like lawn chairs or the like.  I don't see a fresh water tank anywhere, so unless  I missed it I may use one of these spaces for a tank.

Kitchen area:

Upper Cabinet above the sink/stove area

Front window and sink.

The original specification sheet lists a Colman cook top so I am fairly sure that this is original. 

Lower cabinet and drawer under the sink and stove.  I'll need to look more closely to see what's going on under the cabinet. 

Fridge/Closet:

The fridge is right ahead as you step in the door.  It's quite small, even for a camp fridge.  I am told it works but I will see once I have everything plugged in.  There is another cabinet above the fridge and a drawer below.  Under all of that is another cabinet that I think used to house a heater or perhaps even a small furnace.  There is a vent that is taped up on the back wall of this cabinet so it definitely had SOMEthing in there at one time.   I am thinking that I will patch the hole to keep the heat in. There is a vent cover on the outside of the trailer over the hole that I likely will keep in place to hide the patch.

Cabinet above the fridge.  It's small but will be useful.  I inherited the coffee maker from the former owner.

The outer skin on this door is peeling off.  I have to figure out if I can reattach it or come up with other options. 

My teeny tiny fridge.  

Cabinet under the fridge that I think used to house a heater.  I'll be patching up the hole to keep the heat in.

To the right of the fridge is a small closet.  I will either be converting this tiny closet to house a port-a-potty or will be adding shelves for additional storage.  I am leaning towards the former option, mainly because the trailer has so much storage already and it would be useful to have a bathroom to avoid those late night runs to the public restroom.  I also tend to believe that the closet originally was a bathroom because there is a door handle on the inside of the door; which I don't think would be necessary if it was just a closet.

I think this little closet would fit a portable toilet, and I like that it has a little window.  

Dinette/Sleeping Area:

The table is attached to the back wall and folds down to create a bed when the cushions are removed from the dinette benches.  There is also a bunk above the dinette that could theoretically allow another bed.  It does fold up and forms a shallow storage area.  I will keep linens and pillows up there, either with the shelf folded up or open, when the dinette area is set up.  As I mentioned, there is storage under each of the benches.   

One thing that I love about this trailer is that all of the windows slide, none of them are the crank style.   I have never liked crank windows and was pleased to see that I don't have to contend with them here.  

Dinette area with table set up.  

Conclusion:

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and check out the pictures of my new-to-me camper.  I didn't really expect this post to be quite so long; so if you've stuck with me 'till the end, I appreciate it!  

I'll be posting pictures and commentary of my progress with the camper as I go along.  I do have ideas on the new color scheme for the trailer.   I am leaning towards the colors of the Caribbean. 

Azure water, warm sand and white clouds.  There is something about the waters of the Caribbean that is mesmerizing and I love the idea of having an oasis in those colors all of my own. 

I would love to read your comments or suggestions on how to do the repairs.  If you have any experiences that you feel like sharing I would appreciate it.  

Until next time....

Mel.