Re: The Pup's Penthouse - 7/17/12 - Flooring

[synaps3]

That orange would look awesome with my KTM. It matches the "Edge" text on my truck too. Good idea, I like it. I actually like the 1st one with less white a lot better than the predominantly white design. Maybe mostly white isn't necessary.

Thanks for the designs.

[Martiangod]

[synaps3]

No progress since the last update, I've been busy.

I did upload my sketchup drawing of the build here though: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=49163

I also figured out how I am doing my electrical system. It's going to have two 15A 120v circuits, one for the point-of-use water heater I'm putting in, and the other for everything else. The two circuits will be completely separate, so when I park at a campsite, I can just plug in two standard 15A plugs and be done with it. One of the plugs will hook into the 15A they provide, and the other in the 30A they provide. The 30A hookup will be downconverted to a 15A, then pass through a 15A fusebox onboard. I'll be able to wire most of the dual-15A setup without spending anything (other than buying a box to have 2 15A fuses in, and a 30A to 15A adapter), and it will allow me to hook up to anywhere -- even someone's house -- by just plugging into two separate circuits.

As for paint, this:

Looks really good to me, so I'll go with it. Chris, your idea for paint looks way better than anything I was able to come up with when I was sketching on paper.

I think the front being orange will be too much, so the orange area on this will be white, and the U shape will be orange:

[campmaster-k]

Dave - what a journey. Keep on truckin.

[O'Shell]

Just finished reading your build thread buddy, nice work! I have learned a few things on this thread and will be using them in my build. I will be keeping an eye out to see your finished camper! I am in the first stages of my build (planing and collecting supplies) I am going to start a build thread here so let the fun begin!

[synaps3]

I've been super busy with work, no updates for awhile... But I'm back getting progress again! The next post starts about 3 weeks ago.

First off, the tiny 4300 BTU AC unit I had wasn't cutting it, so I'm upgrading to this:


Yay BTUs!


Cabinets coming together:


Top cabinet, where the microwave will go:


Shelves going in passenger side:



Real quick, here's how I did the shelves... Start by putting support pieces across the bottom:


Cut a couple of pine boards to size:


Nail those splintery monsters into place:


...Then repeat for all the shelves.

I had a bit more time that night, so I went ahead and increased the sleeping area, per the boss (my wife's) request...
Before:


After:


About 7 more inches! I can probably cram a full-sized bed in here now:


I added hinges and filled in the gap:


Woodworking was pretty much done, so I spackled the next work day...

[synaps3]

...Next day, time to spackle!

The neighbor's derpy dog, Bolt, sometimes likes to watch me work:


He's quite adorable:


And occasionally derpy:


He's amused by whatever I do, and I'm amused when he goes and humps the paint buckets in their backyard. Ever seen 10lbs of Chihuahua / Spitz mount and make love to a bucket? I have. It's hilarious. And I'm scarred for life.

Back to building though, I used spackle on the wood to smooth seams and cover blemishes. It'll all get painted white anyways, so no need to waste coin on fancy wood putty when I have drywall spackle laying around.


More spackle:


Spackling the roof:


Each seam and screwhole got a good coat:


Also, spackled around the windows to smooth them out. My windows were under $30 each from Ebay, and none came with trim rings. So, they're in there with liquid nails... I used a LOT of spackle to smooth them against the walls:


FINALLY done with spackling:



Even though it doesn't look like much, that's easily 20 hours of spreading spackle over a week.


I went ahead and put up the bathroom wall to spackle/smooth it too. I'll probably fiberglass the whole interior, but a flat surface will be easier to work with. Here's the wall up as I started sanding:


Here's the floor:


It'll taper down to a drain in the side there:


At this point, I was out of luaun plywood, so I sheathed with 3 scraps:



I also realized I had forgotten to add the wall on the other side of the bathroom, under the kitchen cabinets. I added it after I had sanded some, which is why this looks half-sanded, half-crap, all mess.


"Are you done yet? I wanna ball..."

[synaps3]

I didn't take pictures of the sanding. It's tedious, boring, and not worth taking pictures of. Cleaning is exciting though!

I pulled the trailer out so that dust wouldn't blow over all my tools in the carport... There is a LOT of dust...


Just look at that layer of dust. Crazy.


It all looks nice and smoooooth after sanding:


HELP DUST EVERYWHERE


End result was nice and clean again though!

[synaps3]

I started painting everywhere, but didn't quite finish. The below is from 3 hours of painting:







The finish is nice and smooth, the sanding was worth the effort. I definitely have at least another 3 or 4 hours of painting left now.


Thinking about it, here's what I have left to do
1 ) Finish painting...
2 ) Electrical (Already bought supplies)
3 ) Waterproof the bathroom (need to get lotsa stuff for that)
4 ) Plumbing (Need to buy everything but hot water heater)
5 ) Install AC unit properly (Already bought supplies)
6 ) Countertops (Already purchased)
7 ) Flooring
8 ) Refinish exterior (Already bought supplies)
9 ) Install new door lock / fittings
10 ) Install decor, curtains, window screens, etc.
11 ) Move back in all the camping gear

I'm now caught-up on the build journal, I'll try to update more as I get more progress. I'm supposed to finish in a month, we've taken a couple of weeks off for vacation in early August.

[Woodbutcher]

You are making some great progress. Sanding is never fun, but it is something that can make a big difference in the finished product. Can't wait to see the finished trailer, keep up the good work and you will be camping in no time!

[synaps3]

Being ever the budget-conscious individual, I mixed all the random paint in my shed. I had some white, yellow, and two greens... It turned out pretty!


Dead cans


Maddiedog had to stay inside during paint, I didn't want her getting paint on paws.


Time to roll it on:


Pretty colors:

[synaps3]

Up next, I started the countertops.

I'm using bamboo flooring. It's cheaper than countertops (formica or otherwise), lighter, and I love the way it looks. I'll use bamboo flooring on the floor as well, so everything will match and be pretty. I'll have to go back and smooth the edges later.

As with anything else, measure, cut, put in place...


Then repeat:






Also, do the other side:

[synaps3]

Next, I put up FRP for the shower/bathroom.

FRP was miserable. FRP adhesive is basically liquid nails, and they recommend putting it on like you do tile backing (with a trowel, grooved onto the surface). The FRP adhesive was so horrible, I didn't have a spare second to use the camera without getting adhesive on the camera, or without the adhesive drying. It's horrible crap, and I don't recommend anyone using it. Actually, if I could do it again, I would have just fiberglassed the whole thing.

Oh well, live and learn.

My dad came over last Saturday to help. We went to Home Depot, got FRP, and got to work. Here's my dad, pondering how we should proceed:


We used my utility trailer as a sawhorse, because the sawhorses were being used to hold up all the stuff that normally resides in the camper. It's all on a board, on sawhorses, on the leftmost portion of the carport in the picture above. I covered it all in a tarp, to stay dry. I've got my Coleman portable grill, camp chairs, cook gear, the mattress, fridge, AC, etc all under there. Anyways, I digress.

We cut the FRP. It was nasty, and smelled like ghetto napalm (put styrafoam in gasoline, same smell). After cutting and sizing the three pieces, we used the aforementioned AWFUL liquid nails FRP adhesive / horrible doom gunk crap on the walls and started mounting the pieces.

End result was ok, the trim pieces didn't line up, so a bead of caulk will go there:




I still need to caulk the edges and put FRP on the ceiling. It's a mess. Like I said before, never again.

[synaps3]

I started my electrical work by wiring the light in the bathroom and the light over the counter.

Both fixtures were cheap, on clearance at Home Depot for under $10 each.

In the bathroom:


Under the cabinet:


Tonight, I had time to wire the switches for the two lights (actually pictured above in the pictures of FRP -- they were taken today ), an outlet above the counters for the microwave:


And started wiring an outlet below for the TV:


I'll keep doing wiring the rest of the week, hoping to finish wiring at least by Friday.

[CliffinGA]

Dave its coming along and looking good! I hope the actual color is better than the pics because the pics give it a puke green look. Is really more sage colored? Keep things covered this week and weekend atleast in the afternoons because of all the rain we've been having. Hope to see it firsthand sometime.

Cliff