Camper Remodel

Here is another installment of our ongoing project to remodel our travel trailer.

My last post showed the built out bed boxes we created to replace the queen-size bed. Last week, we took an hour after dinner to install the hinges, and covers for each mattress. We opened up one of the mattresses (this is the cheapest foam mattress available from IKEA) to make sure my calculations were close enough. Overall, I'm really pleased with this part of the project. 

Last weekend we moved on to fixing this section of ceiling. The ceiling had been patched in response to water damage prior to us purchasing the camper. My other half pulled out all the damaged ceiling bits to find almost no insulation remaining after that repair. 

We picked up some foam board panels from the home improvement warehouse and cut and pieced them to fit. 

This part wasn't difficult, but it did take almost all the duct tape in the house (both Duck and Scotch brands) piecing and sealing the gaps. I don't know how this compares with the original insulation, but compared to the non-existent insulation after that previous repair job it is a definite improvement.

After that, we attempted to wrestle the 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of ceiling into place. That caused some cursing and tired people but not a finished ceiling. We pulled it back down and took it out. We cut that piece into two pieces and then installation was a breeze, at least when compared to our first attempt. We'll need another piece of trim to cover that join, but it will be worth the extra $5 or so it is going to cost.

Tools for this project:

• Hitachi staple gun and air compressor
• Black & Decker Jigsaw, and cordless drill
• Simple hand tools one might need (such as needle-nose pliers to pull out old staples or nails, a hammer to pound in staples that can't be pulled out, a Sharpie for marking, a carpenter's square for marking and cutting straight).