We moved into the new rig about 6 weeks ago. After a few weeks of hard work painting, re-flooring and organizing, it's home. We are enjoying the extra space, the washer/dryer we installed, the larger water heater and the "great room". We now have enough room to kick our feet up and watch a movie or football game as a family on the giant couch, something we couldn't do in the last RV.
Some of the upgrades and repairs we've made, with some information as to how we did it are included here.
Fixed Leaking Tanks
Painted Interior wood
Re-floored Master Bedroom and Dining Room slide
Installed a Vented Washer/Dryer Combo
Installed a Bumper/Frame Bike rack
Fixed Leaking Tanks-Priority 1
We bought this unit used, but we had no idea how used it actually was until our first test drive of the entire rig. We pulled into our local campground, hooked everything up and discovered multiple issues. The most concerning was the leaking tanks. You want your tanks to be sealed shut for many reasons.
1. So you don't get an unwanted shower while removing the drain cap when hooking it up. (See Jon's blog here.)
2. So you don't get backwash into any different tanks.
3. **Most importantly** so you don't get a huge mound of 'ehem' solids stuck in your tank with no liquids to wash it down.
The fix: After checking the cables that activate the valves, we discovered that the valves weren't closing completely. Jon removed them, cleaned them, replaced some of the seals, and then reinstalled them. After making some small adjustments to the cables during re-installation, we have sealed and working tanks!!
Painting
I know there are so many ways of painting the interior of an RV. It's nothing like painting a home. There isn't a lick of drywall or stucco anywhere. It's all finished wood and textured luan, making it difficult to get paint to stick. Being a mom of 3 youngins I wasn't really excited about taking the time to sand everything down. Many other RVers have had success with using chalk paint, cabinet paint, and bonding primers without having the sand. So I set about making a plan for how I was going to do it.
Materials: I decided on 2 coats of primer and 1-2 coats of paint.
Let me preface this with a full picture of what this process was like. It was June, in Maryland, and we were working on the RV in the storage lot. No electricity, no air conditioning. We would arrive, start up the generators, pray the AC wouldn't overload them and get to work. By the end of the day we were drenched in sweat and our hands were cramping from holding a paintbrush from 5 hours straight. Not to mention the speckles of paint in our hair and drips down our arms.
The Process: I first started by cleaning all of the surfaces to be painted. I made a mixture of vinegar, lemon essential oil and water to de-grime the entire place. After wiping all the surfaces and allowing it to dry I tried to figure out where to tape and removed all hardware and cabinet doors. Some taping was a waste of time (it didn't stick to the luan) and some was crucial.
There are a ton of small areas that require a steady hand and a lot of focus. Something I got better at as the process went along. I chose a shade of white with a bit of purple in it. I do not like purple and did not want purple, but I wanted to find a shade of white that wasn't blinding or made the RV look dingy. I ended up with this color and am very happy with it! I went with a dark indigo for the island, which had been black and needed a good coat of paint to hide the scuffs and gashes the previous owner had made.
It took me about 5 full days to complete the process and there was a bit of a learning curve. I thought, because latex paint is water based, I would be able to clean up my small errors after all was said and done. But that is not the case. I went back over with a very small makeup brush and diluted lemon essential oil to get rid of the mistakes I had made alone the way. It was tedious and hopefully this save you from making that mistake too.
Flooring
During that first trip to try out the RV we decided to give the carpets a nice washing. We rented a carpet cleaner from the store and set to work. Now imagine, if you can, what it's like to have 3 kids running around in 350 sq ft with a full sized sectional in the middle of their room while shampooing a carpet. It was a circus. After 2 days and numerous tanks of black water the carpet still smelled overwhelmingly like a wet dog had expired on the carpet. It had to go.
The master bedroom was a slightly different story. It didn't smell like dog, but have you ever been in one of those cheap hotel rooms where the carpet is almost sticky? Like, you sleep with your shoes on because you won't dare touch the carpet with bare feet when you have to use the restroom at 2am? That is what the carpet was like in the master. Gross!
So where do we begin? After contacting the manufacturer we agreed it wasn't worth the cost and process to order the exact flooring from them. We didn't want to build up the floor to install floating laminate and I was really opposed to having carpet in our 'dining room'. What is with that anyway? Most RVs have carpet in the dining room!!! Obviously they have never had to pick dried oatmeal out of the fibers before. Our slide is a 12 foot slide and most rolled linoleum comes in 10ft lengths. So I was going to need an excess 8 feet in order to pull this off. But I fortunately found a flooring store that had a few options in a 13 foot length. So I settled for something with the same color tones and placed the order.
Can I just say that installing linoleum is so ridiculously easy! I wasn't totally sold on the linoleum we got, so we trimmed it, placed it and then set the couch on top for a trial run. Well it's been 3 months and it hasn't moved and I actually LOVE it! But what about the master bedroom?? This product right here took me 1 hour to install and looks beautiful!
Washer/Dryer Combo
We decided it would be really nice to have a washer in the RV. Based on the reviews of the campground laundry facilities we are likeyl to be living out for a year in MD, we decided it was a must have. We purchased the Splendide Washer/Dryer Combo. This beast is 100 lbs of metal and concrete (yes there is concrete weight inside). The install literally took blood, sweat and tears to finish. We drilled a 5 inch hole in the side of our RV for the vent and started washing! Unfortunately our luck would run out after 3 washes. We've had to replace both the motherboard and heating element already. It works great, but I'm a bit unhappy with the warranty work already needed. I'll keep you posted on this one.
Bike Rack
We've been toying with the idea of installing a bike rack on the back of the RV since Day 1. But the problem is, most bumpers aren't actually designed to carry any weight. With 4 bikes and a bike trailer in use now, we needed to figure something out. Jon found this really cool apparatus that reinforces the bumper connection to the frame, adding weight tolerance enough for the bike rack.
While we have made some other minor modifications, these are the major ones we've completed. We have a few ideas for some other things we'd like to change but for now home is bigger and better than ever before!
For a full video tour check these out:
Some of the upgrades and repairs we've made, with some information as to how we did it are included here.
Fixed Leaking Tanks
Painted Interior wood
Re-floored Master Bedroom and Dining Room slide
Installed a Vented Washer/Dryer Combo
Installed a Bumper/Frame Bike rack
Fixed Leaking Tanks-Priority 1
We bought this unit used, but we had no idea how used it actually was until our first test drive of the entire rig. We pulled into our local campground, hooked everything up and discovered multiple issues. The most concerning was the leaking tanks. You want your tanks to be sealed shut for many reasons.
1. So you don't get an unwanted shower while removing the drain cap when hooking it up. (See Jon's blog here.)
2. So you don't get backwash into any different tanks.
3. **Most importantly** so you don't get a huge mound of 'ehem' solids stuck in your tank with no liquids to wash it down.
The fix: After checking the cables that activate the valves, we discovered that the valves weren't closing completely. Jon removed them, cleaned them, replaced some of the seals, and then reinstalled them. After making some small adjustments to the cables during re-installation, we have sealed and working tanks!!
Painting
I know there are so many ways of painting the interior of an RV. It's nothing like painting a home. There isn't a lick of drywall or stucco anywhere. It's all finished wood and textured luan, making it difficult to get paint to stick. Being a mom of 3 youngins I wasn't really excited about taking the time to sand everything down. Many other RVers have had success with using chalk paint, cabinet paint, and bonding primers without having the sand. So I set about making a plan for how I was going to do it.
Materials: I decided on 2 coats of primer and 1-2 coats of paint.
Let me preface this with a full picture of what this process was like. It was June, in Maryland, and we were working on the RV in the storage lot. No electricity, no air conditioning. We would arrive, start up the generators, pray the AC wouldn't overload them and get to work. By the end of the day we were drenched in sweat and our hands were cramping from holding a paintbrush from 5 hours straight. Not to mention the speckles of paint in our hair and drips down our arms.
The Process: I first started by cleaning all of the surfaces to be painted. I made a mixture of vinegar, lemon essential oil and water to de-grime the entire place. After wiping all the surfaces and allowing it to dry I tried to figure out where to tape and removed all hardware and cabinet doors. Some taping was a waste of time (it didn't stick to the luan) and some was crucial.
There are a ton of small areas that require a steady hand and a lot of focus. Something I got better at as the process went along. I chose a shade of white with a bit of purple in it. I do not like purple and did not want purple, but I wanted to find a shade of white that wasn't blinding or made the RV look dingy. I ended up with this color and am very happy with it! I went with a dark indigo for the island, which had been black and needed a good coat of paint to hide the scuffs and gashes the previous owner had made.
It took me about 5 full days to complete the process and there was a bit of a learning curve. I thought, because latex paint is water based, I would be able to clean up my small errors after all was said and done. But that is not the case. I went back over with a very small makeup brush and diluted lemon essential oil to get rid of the mistakes I had made alone the way. It was tedious and hopefully this save you from making that mistake too.
 |
| Stock Photo for Before the Painting |
Flooring
During that first trip to try out the RV we decided to give the carpets a nice washing. We rented a carpet cleaner from the store and set to work. Now imagine, if you can, what it's like to have 3 kids running around in 350 sq ft with a full sized sectional in the middle of their room while shampooing a carpet. It was a circus. After 2 days and numerous tanks of black water the carpet still smelled overwhelmingly like a wet dog had expired on the carpet. It had to go.
The master bedroom was a slightly different story. It didn't smell like dog, but have you ever been in one of those cheap hotel rooms where the carpet is almost sticky? Like, you sleep with your shoes on because you won't dare touch the carpet with bare feet when you have to use the restroom at 2am? That is what the carpet was like in the master. Gross!
So where do we begin? After contacting the manufacturer we agreed it wasn't worth the cost and process to order the exact flooring from them. We didn't want to build up the floor to install floating laminate and I was really opposed to having carpet in our 'dining room'. What is with that anyway? Most RVs have carpet in the dining room!!! Obviously they have never had to pick dried oatmeal out of the fibers before. Our slide is a 12 foot slide and most rolled linoleum comes in 10ft lengths. So I was going to need an excess 8 feet in order to pull this off. But I fortunately found a flooring store that had a few options in a 13 foot length. So I settled for something with the same color tones and placed the order.
Can I just say that installing linoleum is so ridiculously easy! I wasn't totally sold on the linoleum we got, so we trimmed it, placed it and then set the couch on top for a trial run. Well it's been 3 months and it hasn't moved and I actually LOVE it! But what about the master bedroom?? This product right here took me 1 hour to install and looks beautiful!
We decided it would be really nice to have a washer in the RV. Based on the reviews of the campground laundry facilities we are likeyl to be living out for a year in MD, we decided it was a must have. We purchased the Splendide Washer/Dryer Combo. This beast is 100 lbs of metal and concrete (yes there is concrete weight inside). The install literally took blood, sweat and tears to finish. We drilled a 5 inch hole in the side of our RV for the vent and started washing! Unfortunately our luck would run out after 3 washes. We've had to replace both the motherboard and heating element already. It works great, but I'm a bit unhappy with the warranty work already needed. I'll keep you posted on this one.
Bike Rack
We've been toying with the idea of installing a bike rack on the back of the RV since Day 1. But the problem is, most bumpers aren't actually designed to carry any weight. With 4 bikes and a bike trailer in use now, we needed to figure something out. Jon found this really cool apparatus that reinforces the bumper connection to the frame, adding weight tolerance enough for the bike rack.
While we have made some other minor modifications, these are the major ones we've completed. We have a few ideas for some other things we'd like to change but for now home is bigger and better than ever before!
For a full video tour check these out:
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