Leaks,Leaks, Leaks

Well, I think I've got two more leaks fixed. It's raining right now, so that will surely be my leak detector. The first leak was around the vent for the refrigerator. I finally ended up removing the cap over the vent. The cap is Fiberglas and was faded. Since it was off, I painted it with a shiny aluminum finish, using a Rust-o-lium spray paint. Since it was over fiberglass, its not real shiny but better than it was. Next step was to use Vulcram <sp?> to seal the joint between the vent and the surface of the Airstream. I also sealed the joint about 1/2 unch above the Airstream surface. A leak test showed that water was rising above that lip and getting in.

The second leak was around the jalousy window frame. I had to seal a couple of areas where there was a 90 degree but joint on the frame. It's mostly sealed, but there is still a nagging leak someplace on the lower frame.

Rebuilding the Closet

I started rebuilding the double closet. I used 1/4 inch birch from Lowes. A single piece of plywood was enough for both ends. THe plywood cost about $25.

I first disassembles the closet in the trailer, by knocking off the end pieces with a large hammer. I had already unfastened the closet from the trailer walls, which also required removing the tambor door mount going across the trailer to the tile wall portion of the tub area.

The first step I took in rebuilding the closet was to cut off the very bottom of the front of the closet. The wood, where it touched the floor, was in pretty bad shape. I replaced the section with a 1x2 piece of poplar. A jigsaw worked well for cutting off the bottom. I used a guide, set at the proper distance and clamped using C-clamps, to make sure I cut a straight line with the jigsaw. I used a fairly fine blade, about 10 teeth per inch. To mount the poplar, I countersunk some holes in the bottom and used drywall screws. One thing to look out for is that Airstreams uses big staples to hold joints together. Make sure to remove them before cutting.

I ran into a bit of a problem with one of the doors. The new bottoms went up a bit too high on one of the doors, causing it to not shut. There was about a 1/4 inch of interference. So I broke out the router, clamed a piece of stock at the right location and cut down the inside of the door. I'm really getting into clamping things down!


Next step was to cut the sides. I used the old ones as a template, laying each one out. I freehanded the cut using the reliable jigsaw again. Make sure to clamp things down.

I have the pieces in the airstream and just have to put it back together. I'm planning to use corner moulding to take care of the joint between the front and side. I may even use a little moulding to hide the fronts of the new ends.