Yep, I am awful at this... thought about making updates but never made the time. With a sick kiddo at home and all appointments cancelled; can't think of a better time to get an update in. Two years later and many hours of sweat, some tears and unfortunately a little blood... we are making some serious progress. Our GOAL is to be able to camp in IKE by the end of the summer. It might only be in our backyard, but we are pushing forward.
The last update told about our woes with the garage and flooring. We resolved the garage issue with a fabric garage from Harbor Freight and some cinder blocks. It is isn't perfect, but it is doing the trick. For the flooring, we found a laminate remnant in the backroom of a local carpet shop. It is a robin egg blue with speckles. It looks FANTASTIC and the best part is was under $200 installed. It was a super easy installation because there were only 6 real cuts around the wheels that needed to be made.
Fast forward to 4th of July weekend 2018... this is when the magic started. After a super terrible week, we needed to work on something to get our minds off the issues. The side walls went up and we have been working on Ike every chance we get. With the mild Colorado winter, we have been able to work on Ike almost every weekend. We have a small space heater that makes it very warm in the camper.
I'll touch on all the areas we are working on right now and what we completed...
Interior walls/ Roof- We installed the side walls over 4th of July and quickly added the back panel and 2 more roofing sheets. The side walls and the back panel are all shellacked and look amazing. They are 3 coats of amber Zinsser and two coats of clear Zinsser shellac; sanded in between. It takes forever to do, but worth it. We hope to get the trailer enclosed shortly after installing the wall cabinets.
Kitchen/ Cabinetry- It is clear that the best class Scott ever took was wood shop. He is a seriously talented carpenter. We knew he could build anything, but this has project has proved it. When we embarked on this project, Meggan sold it to Scott as a way he could get some new tools. Scott jumped on board rather quickly and as promised has he gotten some cool toys. One of our favorites was the router bit for the rounded cabinet corners. The original corners are 1 1/2" rounded; lots of people use the 1 1/4" when they rebuild because the bit is substantially less expensive and you cannot tell. Our close friend (who has a hardwood floor business) found one on sale in a pro-shop and helped us get the 1 1/2" bit at a great price. He also helped Scott round the corners of the birch. The birch also proved difficult to find in the sizes we need. We found a wood store in Denver that had larger pieces we ripped down to the size we needed. Again, maybe a bit more expensive, but so worth it when you see it in the camper.
The kitchen is installed, shellacked and ready for plumbing. All it needs is a lower cabinet door and two drawers under the stove. We put in a retro laminate counter top that looks amazing. Thank you Home Depot special orders! The cove molding and the counter edges really make the area look great. We even were lucky enough to find a vintage Princess stove online for a reasonable price. Thank heavens I checked Craigslist... we found one in Colorado Springs that a couple removed from their vintage Shasta camper. It is the ugly brown color, but even so it is amazing. Someday we will actually get around to seeing if it works and rebuilding it. We even found a place near where Scott travels for work to have it re-porcelained.
Scott is now working on the upper cabinets and the passenger wall cabinet. The passenger wall cabinet is in place and the "fridge" is installed. We are trying to figure out shelves and use every inch of the space wisely. He still needs to build the upper cabinets on the kitchen side, the cabinets above the bed and then the upper cabinet above the table.
The table and the seat benches are finished. We installed the one bench, but are waiting to build out the door frame before we install the other side. The table is waiting for the front wall of the camper to be installed. One day in the near future we are going to be able to have a very easy day of installation.
The table and the seat benches are finished. We installed the one bench, but are waiting to build out the door frame before we install the other side. The table is waiting for the front wall of the camper to be installed. One day in the near future we are going to be able to have a very easy day of installation.
Meggan has also finished stripping and polishing all the windows. She replaced the screens and has them waiting for glass and installation.
We still need to run the electrical wiring for the lights and fan, but after that and a few sheets of plywood we will be ready to put the skins and roof back on. Meggan found a place in Denver where she can order a new sheet of aluminum for the the roof. Easy peasy right?
Misc- While Scott is busy building cabinets, Meggan has been working on miscellaneous interior and exterior things. She stripped the fridge door and frame and repainted them. She also removed all the paint from the original hardware. We are missing a few pieces, but thank heavens for Vintage Trailer Supply. She also rebuilt the exterior marker, tail and license plate lights. She is working on converting the overhead table light from AC to DC... we will see if it is possible. There are lots of little (and big) things still left on the interior. We still need to do the electrical, lights, plumbing, water storage, bed and under space build out, polish the interior window frames, have reupholster the table benches and find some birch door fronts. The good thing is that we either have the parts or know where to get them and just can't store them for that long.
So, as you can see lots getting done. Now with every day we work on Ike, we are seeing results. It is super motivating! We will try to get another update up soon!
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