End of the Kitchen Remodel

Realized as I went back through posts on the blog that I never put in "after" pictures for the kitchen. I got sent good before shots from the cabinet maker, so here are the results of our 8 month kitchen remodeling extravaganza! Be forewarned - these images might make you green with envy, have sudden urges to rip out panneling, or cause momentary loss of bladder control!

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

After

Now I suddenly realize just how close we were able to remain to the "feel" of the original kitchen, while still gaining 10 feet of countertop space, a diswasher, a range hood, storage for pots and pans, a farm sink and a great microwave-friendly cabinet. I'm very happy with the results - and it works great for parties and entertaining. Still small and crowded with even 3 people in it - but a perfect kitchen where you can reach everything and have no room for slop. Yeehaw! A special kudos to the hubby type. He is a wizard, and though he's slow, he does amazing work. Anyone need a handyman???

What happens when it threatens to rain on your project trailer...

Does this tarp make his butt look big???

Seriosly, though - we're making progress forward for a change. Huzzah! starting to attach pieces which actually might hold the wall up, such as this one at the base:



And this one which will go on the top. It's contoured to match the angle of the roof, and grooved to hold up the ceiling framing...




I think this would qualify as a trailer moo-moo...

Demolition...

So, first comes the part of any project that my DH is best at (and that I have to admit I enjoy as well)... taking stuff apart. The bad thing about this demo project, however, is that with each new piece removed came more realization of what a big project we'd bitten off...

First, we took the siding off the bowed wall. We weren't really clear what we were looking at after the first piece. It seemed like there was nothing really holding up the wall on the outside...

Here the propane fridge is still in the trailer, and you can see that there are spaces where the structural pieces just don't attach to anything. As we went further, we began to theorize that the propane fridge might be at the heart of all this trouble...



That bermuda grass was more prevalent than we originally thought. Maybe it was heading for the light near the windows and the roof???





It kinda looks like this side of the trailer had been subjected to some sort of impact - all of the wood is shoved toward the passenger's side...


The original water tank - it seems fine, but it's pretty rusty. It's designed to be pressurized with a bicycle pump (essentially). It's also pretty heavy. We might upgrade this to a plasic tank with a electric pump.


At first glance, the header board looked pretty intact, however this photo illustrates some of the evidence that this wall has been removed before. It was sealed with silicone - not really the best material for this application and definitely not what came from the factory.


The horizontal piece you see here is the only piece of wood that runs the length of the trailer between the header and (what should have been) the skirt board. It isn't attached on either end, so everything attached to it is really just floating. This photo also shows why the windows leaked - there was nothing between the glass and the wood at all...


Here's that same board on the other side of the trailer. Not much to hold those cabinets up...


Then, as we continued to probe, the whole "header" board came from together. It did't come out, but the water that had leaked in from the bad sealing at the roofilne had caused the plywood to delaminate. That's some of it down on the ground where it fell all on it's own...


The corner, now with a lot less wood - indicating even more "floating" wall construction.


The inside, now that the cabinets, flooring and outer siding have been removed. Yeah, this is looking more promising all the time. The floor, however, seems to be very solid. That's at least somewhere to start.


One last photo - this one from inside looking at the gap between the floor and the exterior siding at the back of the trailer. This looks, again, like it might be the result of the impact on that right side. Or, it could just be another sign that we are looking at rebuilding this whole blinking trailer...

King Gilbert - the 1962 Aristocrat Land Commander...

Reviving the blog to start tracking some of our fun projects and keep up with the knowledge sharing. I figure it's better than futzing around on Facebook when I'm bored.

So, on May 2 2009 we adopted a new member into our family of dated, rusty, old and maintenance-intensive luxuries. King Gilbert the Land Commander joined Baby the '61 Plymouth Valiant, Nelson the '65 Ford F-250 and the 1921 Bungalow on our ongoing permanent and undending project list. As with all of the other family members, we didn't really intend to get into a major restoration project. We just seem to...attract them

Because restoration of a vintage trailer is of vast internet interest, evidently, I'm going to chronicle our adventures here.

So, meet King Gilbert, the way he was when we brought him home...

Straight off the hitch, as it were. Honestly, the photos all look better than the reality, which explains how we were fooled so easily by the shots on ebay. Does it look in this photo like it's been painted with flat housepaint, has broken windows, bowed walls and a general state of disrepair? I don't think so...


This is the bowed wall. It wasn't in any of the pictures online...

Here is the King's backside. That window is held in with ductape, and it seems there might have been a small impact on the back driver-side corner, but other than those things, this side seems to be in pretty decent shape.



This is a shot of the roof. The fact that a part of the roof is unfinished has lead us to think that perhaps parts of the trailer originally had a metal finish rather than paint. The nice thing here is that the roof doesn't seem to leak - at least, not from the top...



There are some interesting original details...



Two layers of carpet over the original linoleum flooring. We weren't sure how solid the floor would be after all the other flaws we've been identifying - but it felt okay. Floors are infamous trouble spots in these older trailers.



The kitchen unit - though nicely intact, also leans badly into the bowed wall. It's a bit like being in a carnival fun house...



The dining table which folds into one of the beds. The table is poorly attached and cracked on the bottom - the leg is not fastened on right. But, the benches work, and under there is a heater (not original) and a water tank (I think original). Upholstry and foam will need to be redone...



Water damage under one window, with an original light fixture. This sort of cosmetic damage can hide much bigger problems in the wall...



The heater and battery. The heater is an after-market item, and though nice to have seems to cause some problems of its own...



The closet and this whole side of the trailer seem to be in good enough condition...



This is under the bed/sofa at the rear of the trailer. There must be a problem down here somewhere, since bermuda grass was able to grow inside the trailer. There also seems to be more water damage here...



Looking toward the back of the trailer. It's, well, all sorta bent and warped. This will take a little work...



These are some of the lights that are intact. Most seem pretty original - there are propane, ac and dc units for every lighting need!



The step is original - bent, but original.



The shade and rock gaurd at the front is rusty and barely holding on, and a couple of the window panes are broken or missing. But, heck, that's all easy, right?



Apparently someone ran into a tree or post or something with the front. On both sides. Someone needed practice pulling a trailer, methinks...

Anyhow...watch for more demolition photos. Trust me, this gets interesting. Actually, it gets funny, as long as you're on the outside looking in.