Camper Remodel

We've had our travel trailer for a few years. One of the many things we've learned is that we don't particularly care to share a bed while camping. The queen size mattress is short (this is a trailer thing that makes little sense to me), and we seem to roll into the middle of the darn thing and it isn't a very good mattress. We decided to pull out the cabinets, the bed, and make remake the space for two twin mattresses. To call the plan a plan is to use language a little too strong. But, we did have a plan.

Here is what the bedroom looked like on one of our trips. What these manufacturers think is attractive in a window treatment doesn't really sit with our tastes. After Darling Husband did all the demolition, it was time to get down to building a replacement for that bed.

Here is my rough plan, taped onto the floor. It doesn't make much sense, but I did warn you that 'plan' was a strong word. This section was covered in questionable carpet. The manufacturer didn't see fit to cover the entire floor with vinyl. I do think they save about two trailer's worth of vinyl in ten by not filling in this space with vinyl. That meant I had to fill in that gap.

We built a box around the forward section where there is outside access. This is where we store the camp chairs, chock blocks, leveling bricks and the like.

I trimmed the vinyl floor and pulled up the truckload of staples the manufacturer used to hold it down. A good sweep and a vacuum and we were ready for tiles. 

I laid down the tile and realized I was short by five tiles. General work stoppage so we could head back to the home improvement warehouse. We live about 3 miles from one, so it wasn't a terrible thing. We always come up with about three things we forgot, or learned we needed. 

A metal threshold to cover up that seam, the heater vent reinstalled, and the first layer of paneling to enclose the forward pass-through. For the record, we found the pneumatic staple gun (we went with the Hitachi) to be well worth the investment. 

The next step was to build out the boxes for each bed. We used small lumber to keep the weight down. We almost manged to finish both of them before we ran out of lumber. 

On the second day, we picked up a couple more pieces of lumber to finish building out the starboard side box. Then we finished the sides with more paneling.

The last step this weekend was to put in the section along the wall for the hinges. I think our floor space will be comparable and the storage space as well, even though it is now split into three distinct sections instead of one big T-shaped space.

Next week we'll pick up the last piece of plywood and the hinges for the beds. We still have finishing details, but the bulk of the work is done. Of course, then I will have to make new quilts since the last quilt I made for the travel trailer was a queen size.

Tools we invested in for this project:
Hitachi pneumatic staple gun
Skil circular saw (with a freaking laser)

We already own a Black & Decker Jigsaw, a staple gun, cordless drill, and all the simple hand tools one might need.