Today: Bathroom Door - plastic edge trim sections, hinges, door stiffener, latch/handle, mirror. And okay - door installed.
When we first bought Lil' Queeny, DW was so excited about getting rid of all the cream colored plastic trim in the camper: door edging, gimp (that beaded stuff at all the wood edge joints), paneling seam covers, etc. Not that the color was problematic, but the fact that it was plastic, and that a lot of it was broken, brittle, faded or stained, and... well, just plain ugly. But I had different ideas. Plans even-en.
To me, that stuff WAS "the character" of the camper. Just like the old vintage appliances, the aluminum framed windows, and the birch paneling itself!
Oh she came around, so much so in fact, that she won't even CONSIDER we do upholstery without piping, that beaded stuff on cushions that will mimic the wall gimp.
But, that ONLY came after I cleaned up the plastic, which invariably was simply done with steel wool. And I've never found any reason to buy anything other than the four-aught (0000).
Once it was buffed up, it quickly grew on her.
We were fortunate - we had two campers with the door edge stuff. So when we parted out the other camper, we kept the doors and drawers (wood sections), removed the plastic frame pieces and the metal or plastic corner aligners (these go inside the plastic corner joints to aide in keeping the ends aligned - and the plastic ones are easy to break), and stored it all away.
But there are a lot more short pieces than long. Sections long enough for this bathroom door were sparce! In fact the one long side from the original Lil' Queeny door was too short, just because of the PO's notch cut on the door so it would clear the heater! Down to three pieces to choose from.
And the plastic parts from the parts camper were in much worse condition than were Lil' Queeny's, in the sense that not only were many faded and warped, but some were very brittle! These long bathroom door sections were as brittle as any. And as it turned out, I used the parts camper hinge side on this door, ON its hinge side (remember, the door came out of the parts camper too, so hinge holes aligned), and I used Lil' Queeny's original hinge side trim on the handle side, because her handle side original was cut, and too short, and the handle side on the parts camper piece was in really bad shape.
So you can see hinge holes on the inside door surface plastic trim above and below the handle. I was able to trim some back because of the changed door height, but there are still two places visible. Too bad, so sad, you can only do what you can do.
When the trim becomes brittle, it starts doing this number with the least little pressure.
That rounded break? There's two like that on that side.
Or breaks like this by the hinges.
Once pieces were chosen, I cut the 45's on the table saw like this. And you have to feed it slow!
Thereafter I installed the hinges.
And the door stiffener, which I recently painted with the hammered copper.
Now with the hinge holes already in play at three spots on the door, and using a tape measure, I balanced those three to the same measurements from the other direction, so that visually I would get six total in balance with each other, even if they were not ALL exactly the same distance apart, as in the middle.
And from the front side.
Next? The handle/latch. It was definitely showing its age.
We painted it with the hammered copper.
That's the one off the parts camper. We chose it over Lil' Queeny's original (more rounded knob style) handle because with a narrower door, and the chosen placement of the door stiffener (to use original screw holes) Queeny's original lock mechanism would not engage. Side mount lock - as opposed to this one's top mount position.
Like this - unlocked.
And locked.
And of course I had to drill new latch holes.
We chose that height after installing the door hinges to the opening and picking the best height placement for the door feel in the camper.
Now where did I put the mirror? Oh, there it is.
This is a DW specialty! DW does stuff with mirrors. No! Cereal! Isn't that cool? We took it off a basement room wall to use on Lil' Queeny. We'll fill that spot with something else. Oh no - our house and other property items know the drill - it's what we do and everything is expecting it. So sharing never comes as a surprise to anything.
When we moved to Fairbanks, the house we bought came with a bunch of wall mirrors. All unframed. All glass, right the the edges. While I was at work, DW was planning and doing. She painted frames on them. It sticks better than you'd think! We've never had a problem with it peeling or coming off. But, she uses a secret process that she won't share, even with me!
We took some extra (old style reclaimed from one thing or another) wall mirror brackets and selected some appropriate screws...
And then examined the door for best "excess-holes" coverage...
And got it mounted.
So that's 22 pictures so far. Too many? Too long of a post? I won't be here tomorrow. Have that other thing now. Should I finish this matter today? All in favor - raise hands!
Okay let's continue.
I set a spacer on the bottom of the door opening and set the door into place. Verified plumb and level, and screwed it into position.
Once inside and all tucked away nice and quiet from the rest of the world, you can open the door, and come and go as you please. Or use the mirror from the aisle.
Now for the test drive! Don't worry, I kept my pants on.
Maybe you remember way back ago when I was talking bathroom dimensions, I said my foot is a size 12 - and it's a good thing it ain't 13!
And then sitting on the stool (cover closed) in "shower mode", with full use of the counter, basin, and water controls.
And of course, this is a room with a view!
Once I get healed up from my time off starting tomorrow, it is THIS little room that will be coming together as a major portion of the final push for Lil' Queeny.
Until then, I DO have more stuff done, so as to keep up SOME posting. And we'll be taking advantage of my down time to learn about sewing upholstery using an industrial commercial machine.
