A structural issue corrected

Here is the FRONT wall of the camper, the wall that gets all brunt of wind etc as the trailer rolls down the highway. This wall didn't appear to have any framing or insulation; just a sheet of painted plywood attached to the window via caulk. Not structurally sound.  So David took it off....

and confirmed the suspicions.  Nothing but external skin there. 

 So he added some fresh framing and voila, now there is room for insulation and a good means to secure the SIDES to the FRONT (you know, details).

And a good way to attach diamond plating to the front, which looks SUPER COOL and helps protect against rocks, etc. And David re-attached the window with better quality caulk and that special butyl tape.

 It is coming along.  Stay tuned.

Some small things coming along

I graduated from sewing square curtains on a borrowed machine to sewing heavy duty upholstery covers on my very own sewing machine. With homemade piping!  Thank you everyone who has ever posted a YouTube video about sewing piping and seat cushions. I think I watched them all.

I got my sewing machine from my favorite sewing store, Selvedge Studio. It is one of their "student" machines- they teach all manner of sewing classes there and sometimes the used machines come up for sale. Perfect for me. They are very supportive and helpful over there at Selvedge, if you are ever in Missoula you should stop in and buy something.  

Here's the first finished seat cover (yaaaaaay).  It looks like there's a big lump in it but I assure you it is just a harsh shadow from the camera flash.  Now I have 4 more cushions to go! They aren't all dark brown- the seats are dark brown, and then the back rest cushions are a faux cowhide pattern.  By the time I get to those, I'll be much more confident in my sewing.  I broke the sewing machine needle last night, which is something I'd always been afraid of. As it turns out, this is completely not a big deal and it takes about 30 seconds to change to a fresh needle.  Who knew.

By the way, look at that beautiful table the cushion is sitting on.  David made that- he has talent.

We took of the Grizzly Bear decal the other day.  It just took a little time with a hair dryer and a plastic scraper.  The camper looks much better without that. No offense to Griz Nation of course.

Back on track

By now David has exposed all of the water damage, and it was pretty much permeated throughout, but that's okay because it's better to know NOW and get it all fixed. When will we ever gut this camper again? Hopefully this is it.
Here is the back, aka Master Bedroom, with new framing.

Notice the lack of rotten wood.

David added a very slight "crown" to the ceiling framing, to help with draining. Check it out.

It's subtle. But hopefully it will make a difference in preventing pooling water.  

And speaking of water, the roof still isn't water tight:

The roof  "skin" is just about an inch short of meeting the side skin.  Maybe if one of use gets up there with a rolling pin we can press out the wrinkles and make it work. I'm serious.  I like this picture because it shows the hole-filling process that David has been working on during sunny weather. We had a week of gorgeous weather.

What else? Now that there is real framing inside, the outer skin can be attached to the framing! This is kind of a big deal for stability. Here David puts in some nice, fastening screws that do their job!

So quite a lot has been happening.  I had some projects, too, which I worked on during the flu days (I believe I mentioned that already).  My friend Mary loaned me her sewing machine and it was fun to make all those curtains.

This is one of 3 different curtain fabrics we used. There's a different one for the Master Bedroom, the Kitchen and the Dinette.

Natalie the Cat was extremely helpful.

 I enjoyed sewing these, so much that I bought a sewing machine. I got one of the used "student" machines from Selvedge Studio (a great store in Missoula). They were SO HELPFUL and the machine comes with a private "Get to know your sewing machine" class.  I got a heavy duty one so I can make new seat covers and even our awning. Good times!