Wednesday last, before the weather turned, I had buttoned things back up with duct tape and stuff. I looked at the sky, still no storm. Nice weather actually, ahead of what was being billed as an extremely wet system, lots of rain and sleet type snow. Slush is the worst on an RV roof.
Sometimes we get these spring systems come through and it lays down the snow depth on the mountain only. Other times the snow line falls, and we get it here in the foothills pretty deep. They forecast 2-3 inches, and we walk away with 7-12. Upslope.
I had cleaned up and prepped camper surfaces for reattaching trim later; now to get to the trim itself. Want to have it all ready when it's time to go back on.
This stuff was easy peasy, compared to Lil' Queeny's, which was really bent, and painted, and silicone ALL over them, along with the previously mentioned still really sticky dark green butyl tape. And in the end I got new stuff anyway! In fact these past few days in between letting paint dry, I was putting some up on her. That's to say on Lil' Queeny.
No, this Roadrunner's (still un-named, but that is soon to change - maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day) butyl on the trim all but fell off in my hands. Just a little attention here and there with the scraper, a Naptha wetted rag, and presto-chango - ready for storage. Temporary storage that is. This ain't Lil' Willy's first rodeo, but like me, he's loosing patience as he ages. ;) He won't put up with this for very long. No sir! Not with summer coming.
But with the trim stored safely away from the work area, I said what's next?
Now normally, I would have gone right up top, opened up the roof/wall edge metal and started replacing the wood framing pieces needing such from atop the scaffolding. With wet weather moving in though, several days unsettled, I didn't want to open up the camper to the storm gods, so I decided to make my build-plan-start at the bottom, under the drape of the metal - the wheel well.
However, same problem there. To do it right I have to pull back the lower sheet metal and get eyes on. Again, wet weather, rolling around in the mud, water getting inside, better just keep it closed and work from the middle, like westend said, remove all the paneling.
Well that wasn't going to happen. I had already experienced trying to remove twist nails from paneling and wood framing on Lil' Queeny. That was just a rule book for destroying the very stuff we buy these old things for, the interior panel refinishing. That's what it's all about right? So fixing comes from the outside, except here where the "behind the galley paneling" was been taken out anyway! Upper half real wood, lower half drawer bottom (hardboard). I have noticed drawer bottom is also over the bed platforms framing.
I try to reduce this sort of material, and especially particle board, but where it was used originally (different by camper manufacturer, but still a common practice), and in this case, since I wanted to replace it anyway, I chose real wood fiber plywood style 1/8" real wood paneling. There were two types of patterns "off the shelf" at the home center, a pricey stuff, and a pricier stuff. I got the pricey stuff. And some one-by's.
Here's the board for behind the galley.
The small board is the upper wall to ceiling curve, for a template. The half size board is the removed lower wall-half drawer bottom. In the background is Lil' Queeny.
But it still wasn't raining. Didn't want to open the outside walls, so I started in the middle.
This new 1x8 serves as both the bottom edge of the galley window rough opening (which I raised by about a quarter inch to get a better screw placement for the bottom of the window flange than original), and as a screw backing for the counter height cabinet mounting screws. Yesterday I said I missed that board (7.25" 1x8) by a fraction of an inch. Was I planning it to be 7.5"? But since then a subsequent planning change has raised the base cabinet (those plans all come later) and now the board is perfect.
There are many ways to fasten boards end to end. In this case I just need them to stay in place until I can get the paneling fastened to them. As westend said, the paneling (that's why I want real wood fibers) is part of the structure rigidity. Same with the sheet material and fasteners of the siding, the trim, the edge framing boards, the staples. All these little things add up to the overall "build" which creates the strength and structure.
I talk about all that somewhere in
here, Lil' Queeny's Structure and New Wood.So I put the board in place and stapled it with aluminum flashing strips and pieces.
Below the board will be the rest of the wall build. This will receive some modification. And this framing, which will be covered over with the plywood, will be built to accommodate future and existing systems - the hook-ups - the utility wall. Therein lies the planning stage. Why take the base cabinet up a few inches? For the future fridge install of course! :)
But we don't have time to talk about that right now.
And then the day was over.
The next morning dawned wet and soggy. Still no snow, but the flood alerts were looking likely. Fortunately, we're on the high, but not dry. I had the camper on rear tilt for runoff.
Today we work inside.
Okay - so next good weather days: wall framing, interior surfacing, exterior siding pullback and repair, re-fasten, but then what?
Well then we have to put the inside back together. And one of the things to go back, preferably finished so the kids can see what the end results can be like, while they camp in the unfinished portions, is the... wait for it....
Upper galley wall cabinet!
When these things come home from the RV dealer lot on that first day, they have a finish on them. No, not a very thick finish, and it does wear off over time. By the time 50 years go by, they need a bit more than furniture polish, if you know what I mean. Especially when they've been sitting under water intrusion for many years. Take that spot directly beneath the previously pointed out roof siding tear for instance. That big ugly black spot!
And the chintzy little upper ceiling/shelf combo board. Get it off, we'll replace that.
I removed hardware, and then ran the automotive style wire hand brush all over the thing. Getting the big stuff and rough stuff off and out. Especially hard to reach edges and corners with raised wood finishing and crud. Then a small wire brush, then the 60 grit sandpaper in most places, then the 150 grit, then the 220. With a new cabinet starting to come into view, I placed my attention on the lifted veneer here in the one spot.
I had removed staples holding on the gimp; that's the round vinyl edge trim stuff. I used thumb tacks to hold it out of the way.
After determining how I was going to proceed in saving this surface, I put it on edge and pumped the gap full of wood glue, letting gravity do the rest.
You can tell from the pictures, it wasn't just lifted veneer, it was also warped paneling. It all needed pull in and flattening.
But first, get that excess off before it dries too much. I used a kitchen sponge with the plastic scraper side.
And then, with a none-wood fiber surface against the repair (poly finish on these oak boards) I clamped the thing together tight.
While that dried for a couple of hours, I continued the sanding and prepping of the rest of the board.
When the clamps came off, there was a slight bulge in one area. It wasn't an air bubble, it was an excessive glue bulge. The veneer was wet of course, and therefore soft. I used this pizza roller DW gave me for my shop years ago, and pressed the bulge out.
Some came out the edge, and some came out new holes and tears in the grain created as I pressed. Being careful, it came out and the grain remained fine. It all got pressed down real nice. You can still see it, if you know what you are looking for, but even then it's hard to tell. The spot is here right in the foreground, between your eyes and the roller.
And I was happy - we had saved the piece!
Next up? Staining and finish. I guess it's time to introduce our color plans.
