Cleaning the not so glamours job

Nothing glamorous going on in the camper redo department.  We have been so busy with such social children and friends, today was the first time I have had a chance to dig into the camper cleaning.

Of my gosh it was gross.  It was used as a deer camp. Visions of hunters coming in from the woods covered in who know what, sitting down on the couch and not even washing their hands filled my imagination. The grim was an inch thick. Black gross grim.

I also wanted to get the cushions real good and clean. I threw away the dirty ugly curtains and cut the cloth off the couch cushions.  While I cut the cloth, dirt and dust was flying.  It was a ugly camo cloth and it was nasty, dusty dirty stuff. 

My first chore was to get the cushions clean.  I did this once before with the cushions from our pop up camper and it worked great so I am using the same technique on these.   I started  covering the foam with  baking soda and letting it set for a couple of hours. Then brush off the baking soda and spaying the foam down with vinegar mix with water. I used just regular white vinegar and mixed it about half water. With a spay bottle I sprayed the foam and let it dry.  I repeated this technique again in a few days after it dried.  This treatment neutralizes any mildew and odor.   

But noting glamours about this chore. 

Going to recover the cushions with black material with big white polka dots.   Can't you see it?

We have for sure some water damage in the wall under the window ac unit. It leaks inside the camper.  I also noticed some of the other paneling is loose and in poor shape. So I spent some time peeling paneling off.  One good discovery. The wiring was replaced sometime not to long ago. It is newer and in good shape. The paneling, not so much.  There is some mold behind the first layer of paneling and so I will be pulling it all off down to the insulation and metal.  The insulation itself is thin.  Going to put a little extra insulation back in. 

We don't have the money to buy it all  or the place to store items for the camper so we will just be buying as we go. This afternoon we went to Lowes and went window shopping for new walls and new ceiling materials.  Where the walls are in sad shape. The floor, (other than around the door) seems to be in good shape. We picked out some wood looking flooring that is neutral. Going to do the walls white. 

The cabinets seem to be sturdy and in good shape. But the handles are the kind that have little plastic tip you pinch to open. It is supposed to keep the door shut, but they don't work anymore.  We haven't figured out what we are doing with those.

I am eager to get new walls up. Impatient is what I am.  Next weekend I will be out of town half the weekend. The other half, well I see more demolition coming then.  I want to twitch my nose and have it done and glamours already! 

Previous blogs about our Fan camper remodel:

Fantasticfanrvremodel 8-12-14

So this is the beginning.  Hopefully the rough start is not an indication on how this remodel will go.  
You see, we drove almost two hours to pick up our vintage fan.  We got her for a bargain but I paid a little more than money and it came with an ouch.

The camper was at the shop of the seller in Ark.   Living around the  camper, under or behind it, was a nest of hornets and yes they found me.   I have had a lot of bee stings in my time but I can't remember the last time I have had an hornet sting.  I was rewarded with stings on the knee and the eyebrow.  My face swelled and my eye was almost swelled shut.  Lots of steroids, zyrtec and three days later, I think I am finally ready to move on and tackle this job ahead of us.  (we have lots of ongoing jobs already but are under a deadline with this old girl)

She is a 1971 Lee Liner 18foot Fan.   It was a sweet price but there are so much work to do on her. Where to start?   Right now I can hear my friends say "Didn't you just remodel a pop up camper?"  Why yes, we did.  Gluttons for punishment maybe.  But the pop up has an axle issue, and it is just not enough room for the four of us. So here we go again.  Ok, I made a list of things we have to do. Starting with number one CLEAN.  Oh my gosh the camper was previously used as a deer camp.  It is inches deep in dust and dirt.

We are planning a camping trip to the mountains in Oct when the kids have fall break.  So we have a deadline and a lot going on between now and then.

Looking at a lot of examples and we have decided to go with red, white and a little black both inside and out.  Fun colors for vintage camper rebirth.

So here is what we start with, she is a mess.

So right now I am just in the investigation stage, trying to find out the best way to go about this remodel.  And looking for inspiration. Reading lots of how to blogs, doing some research on how to.   I can see the end results,  now to just make it happen. 

Here's some of our inspiration.  And some ideas Dave and I both can agree on.  

We like the lines in this one and red.  But we will stick to white and smaller black line 

Love the red..  Also love the stone cover on the front window.  One of the things on our girl that needs some attention. 

See how pretty she can become?  Going to take lot of sanding, sanding  and did I say sanding?  Then we will paint.  How you ask?  I have done lots of research on the best paint to use on aluminum.  Oil while it goes on well,  will not give and will crack when it dries.  Latex on the other hand, gives some and will stay on the aluminum well.  For those who do not know me,  I know a little about paint but usually my canvas is a canvas or wall and not aluminum.  BUT  Stay tuned I will post more info on how we handle this part of the challenge.  

Another major challenge?  The dirty, dusty interior.  We will need to replace the two skylights. They have leaked at some time and the ceiling around them will need to be replaced as well.  Along 

with some work on the far end wall near the air conditioner.  Going to be getting a new paint sprayer and will put it to work painting the inside too.  

Here is what we have to start with.  ugh 

I pulled out the cushions tonight.  Will rip off the covers and clean them.  I learned how to get them clean when we did the pop up remodel.  Stay tuned to see how I handle this job. 

I  threw away these gross ugly curtains.   Got to make new ones. :-) 

Here is a little bit of our interior inspiration.  Use a little imagination. 

Yes this is a big job,  I think we can handle it.  Then when we are done,  we will enjoy our time together in campgrounds.  We love, love, love to go camping and plan to take this baby all over the country.  

It will be a couple of weeks before we can really get into this project.  But stay tuned for updates on our journey to a fabulous fan!