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Friday, November 26, 2021

My Trailer Redo - Days 187, 188 - Details

  I spent about one day doing everything except the trim around the door, so I'll call this two days of work. These are all finishing details, and it accounts for a large part of the list of small projects I crossed off a couple of days ago.

I hadn't actually shown you this kitchen shelf unit before, but it was completed about the same time as the overhead bin. And I added two hanging baskets on the front side of that. They may be attached well enough to stay in place during travel. I had to send back the first ones I ordered. They felt too big even though they fit in the space.
shelf unit in a fiberglass trailer


I did add trim around the front window. Found this clear vinyl outside corner trim in the cabinetry section at Lowe's. It's stick-on. I roughed up the surface and painted it white. The self-stick worked on 3 sides, and I glued the fourth one. It nicely covers the rather ragged edges of the window opening. windown trim in a fiberglass trailer

It's still pool noodles held on with butyl sealer around the door. The door is just too whacko for any normal gasket to work. The more I look at the whole thing, I'm thinking the door opening is as much at fault as the door. But those aren't things I'm dealing with before this trip. This works fine, and I was able to stop the drafts almost completely. You can see blue peeking around the door in later pictures too. pool noodle door insulation in a fiberglass trailer

The vent is finished off with a new trim ring, and there is a piece of insulation up there behind the screen for the cold months. This time I installed the whole thing, I figured out how to get the two screws that hold the screen frame in without spending an hour. vent trim in a fiberglass trailer

I put the other three window frames and the curtains back up. Ultimately these will both be different, but these are still fine for this trip. That cheap Wal-mart fabric is at least the right colors, and although it is beginning to fade, it has done the job nicely since June 2016. A trailer like this needs curtains even if nothing else is done unless you like living in a goldfish bowl! curtains in a fiberglass trailer curtains in a fiberglass trailer

Here is the trim around the door. You can also see that I put the little mirror back up. That was purchased at back-to-school time, and was designed for a locker door. It has worked very well. Anyway, around the door, I custom cut the rest of the sheet of FRP board. I mounted it with the smooth side out. It's really designed for the pebbled side to be the "right" side, but command hooks or whatever can be attached to the smooth side. The outer edges (against the wood wall) just have the FRP trim, but I need to get something for the curved edge around the door. Looking for a white product that will grip something this thin. I'm sure there is something, but it's not critical, and I'm out of time for right now. I'm fairly pleased with how this came out.
door trim in a fiberglass trailer


And one more little item- I mounted that battery-powered light bar that I bought four years ago under the kitchen overhead bin. If one person is cooking after dark (very likely in the winter), they will be working in their own shadow from the main light. This supplements enough to help although it was still light outside when I took the picture, so it's hard to tell. The lights swivel and angle independently, so you can put light where you need it. light bar in a fiberglass trailer

I still have to get a few command hooks in a size I don't have, but most of this sort of thing is done.

In other news: I worked on a major personal project this morning. Can't quite cross it off-probably tomorrow. I sewed on the cushions. That involved tightening the belt on the sewing machine before I could do any more. Didn't really want to have to service that today, but the sewing machine is a completely selfish creature. It only cares about its needs not mine... Since I had it opened up, it also got cleaned and oiled. A friend stopped to see Sunny today, so I started moving things back inside to make it look nicer for her. Have to do a lot of organization yet, but things are beginning to exit the piles in the house. I'm going to call one more BIG ITEM done, and that is to have places arranged all along the trail where I can put the trailer for a few days. I still have a couple of small gaps in places I'm not worried about, but a couple of people are now working on western North Dakota for me, and I'm confident that I have a workable matrix of places.

I'm sleeping outside again tonight. This time I put up the tent, and I have more layers. I'll go out when I finish working this evening. I'll also try to blog from out there in the dark and the cold... much more realistic than how I managed a remote post last night. Meanwhile, I'm headed back to the sewing machine for the evening.

13 BIG ITEMS to complete or drop (49 done). 6 small items done that were on the list; tons more small ones to do (65 done). 4 days to go.

See Days 185, 186 - Insulation

2 comments:

Ann said...

The trailer is looking fantastic.

Sharkbytes said...

Ann- thanks- I'm pretty happy.