Road Trip!

It was my Mums birthday at the weekend (Happy Birthday Mum!) and we decided we would join them in their caravan up Skegness to celebrate, and thought it would be a good road test for Waki. Also with a deadline to work to it helped make us push extra hard to get lots done so we could enjoy at least a degree of comfort on the trip. So when we decided with only a couple of weeks to go we cracked on and somehow managed to achieve in only a handful of spare days what had taken us many weeks before!

The floor panels under the sofa

We have completely replaced the battens and plywood for the drivers side wall, got it lined with the foil blanket and foam sandwich, filled the rough edges and even wallpapered AND painted! We also done the kitchen wall and window, didn't have the time to get it papered and painted like the rest but it does look a lot better than it did! Ryan mended the blinds and got them back up so we have some privacy in the living room again, and has replaced the plywood on the floor under the sofa area where the water tank had previously leaked and ruined it.

We also bought ourselves a gas powered blown air heater, but Ryan can explain that gadget in full detail in it's own post once it's properly fitted!

The bedroom area with our taped up front window!

Whilst Ryan was at work on Saturday I got to clearing out all of the stuff that we didn't need for the trip, and I got the ceiling in the bed area clad with the pine tongue and groove so we now have a lovely clean new ceiling to look at. It also means that we don't keep getting gritty bits of foam in the bed which feel as nice as the notorious bed toast crumbs and were just as difficult to brush out!


The sofa is now repaired and back in place too which took us until nearly midnight on Saturday night and some of Sunday morning, but with a good clean up Waki was as presentable as she's been in a long while and ship shape for the journey.

So on we went via the A1, on which she made excellent speed (so much so that Ryan had to keep backing off to a comfortable 60mph!) and then headed on up to the flat expanse of Lincolnshire farming country. After previous bad experiences in the Clio with accidentally ending up in the centre of Peterborough we figured it would be awkward at the very least with Waki so chose the Spalding route instead. The trouble is all road signs literally disappeared as soon as we turned into the place, (which I think is a ploy to try and get people lost so they stop for directions and cream teas!) and we ended up causing a little bit of mayhem in the old stone-cobbled town centre! It's great though how because of our size everyone sees us coming a mile away and suddenly becomes super polite and flashes us through all of the tight gaps, perhaps that will change once we get the paintwork done!

We stayed at Cottage Farm campsite in Addlethorpe which was a in pleasant and and quite peaceful area outside of Skegness. At least it was peaceful whilst we were there, there's a Banger Racing and Stock Car track just up the road and it can sometimes be heard from the site or the racers parties can be noisy but there was nothing on whilst we were there. We had some rain showers overnight but I slept better than I had to date and there were no leaks by morning either so the night was a success!

It was nice to be able to just wake up feeling good and put the kettle on like home. We hadn't had time to get the water tank cleaned out and re-fitted, and we need to fix the water heater yet too, so we just used bottled water for drinking. We also used Ryans 'camel pack' water carrier, which has a drinking tube and a stopper like a tap, suspended over a bowl in the sink for washing up. The trip to the toilet blocks and showering on a freezing tile floor for 20p wasn't particularly fun though, so can't wait for our own toilet and hot water!

We went home via Peterborough as my Stepdad assured us that the previous bad part of the road that messed us up last time had been fixed, and it was a much smoother journey though we met the rain again nearer home. We had taken out AA breakdown cover for the journey just in case, as none of our mechanic friends would be able to tow something of our size, but thankfully it wasn't needed. Not wanting to give up the holiday feeling we ate Fish & Chips for dinner in Waki and I then had a normal busy evening at St John Ambulance to attend. Better get back to work then... :)

Busy busy!

Hi everyone, I've been a busy bee recently and have profited from a bit of crafty holiday booking around this Easter to get 2 straight weeks off work *Insert smug grin*! Well OK I haven't been working in the motor home for the entire time, everyone needs a break, but I have been sure to go in and achieve at least something each day.

***

To start the week off Ryan helped on Monday by getting the cab holes filled with fibreglass (see below pics) and we got the supporting beams in place. It was a big job as there were so many holes and the original screws (and actual nails in some places!?) had to be removed so we could get the nice new supporting battens and beams into place.

He also made some D-shaped sections of the thick plywood to screw into and to hold the shape of the curved part of the over-cab. We will be filling the curved section with expanding foam which should give us a nice layer of insulation and help keep a bit of rigidity.

Tuesday I managed to get the foam into place on the bed section, fun if you like puzzles and Tetris! I also have the emergency blanket and foam roll layers for the bed cut to size and neatly folded away, ready for Ryan to help finish the cab. I also got the wood cut out ready for supporting the corner of the bed by the sofa which after our earlier investigations we found to also be completely rotten.

I had to modify the curved fabric sections that cover up the cab/bed edging to fit around the new supporting beam of wood we will need for the permanent fixed bed, but we have also now decided to recover them with new fabric as well so will still need more attention yet. I unscrewed all of the fixings in the cab ceiling so that we can recover the grotty stained fabric there, that will certainly freshen up the place but now it means I need to go fabric shopping again soon!


As this has been a bit of a patch up operation with cheap supplies, and like refurbishing an old cottage instead of a nice new straight walled house, we have a lot of slightly wonky bits and edges to fill etc. The cheap plywood is a bit on the rough side so needed sanding down, then I had to smooth out the transition between the plywood wall sheets by shaving down the wood, cue axe wielding maniac :)

Before anyone asks the axe was the sharpest and most controllable tool I had available for the job in hand, when supported carefully with both hands (I know you can only see one hand in the pic but I had to hold the camera somehow!) with fingers out of the way and a good cutting action AWAY from myself it cut through the tough ply nicely.





Once it was as smooth as I could get away with I sanded the edges down, dusted it off and then got to work with the filler, smoothing over any rough knot areas on the wood and also over any screws positioned in the middle of the sheets that wouldn't be covered up when the blinds go back on.

After another good few sets of sanding down and sneezing sessions, (I know a dust mask would have been healthier but I hate getting the sweaty face feeling too!) the wall is now ready for some wallpaper and paint!






Another job that I'd been meaning to do as well was to get the old stuck on paper off of the bathroom door and the kitchen cupboards.

It was at that annoying stage where it was peeling badly around the edges so had to come off, but the glue was still perfect in the middle so it left most of the backing behind. So armed with some warm water, a sponge and a wallpaper scraper I set to work determined and at least half an hour later I finished with an aching arm, glue covered hands and a big satisfying pile of paper scrapes on the floor!

It's hard to keep the motivation up when you're working on your own, unfortunately Ryan didn't get as much time off work over the Bank Hol as I was originally hoping but it should mean that he'll get a day off this week in lieu so I'll put him to work again then! Sorry Ryan but you want this finished too! In the meantime I shall keep putting my 'You Can Do It!' motivational YouTube playlist on and making sure I do SOMETHING each day. So let's go and have a look at this wallpaper then...

Back to Bare Basics

Last weekend we finally got ourselves two days in a row to get the roof lining and walls off so have been working hard! The plan was to get the rotten plywood off and any bad battens out of the wall and ceiling so we could replace it all ready for everything to go back on.

From previous investigations I had discovered that the best tools were my trusty hammer and chisel so I got started on a rather frosty Saturday morning (see the picture of the window right! >) while Ryan was at work and managed to get pretty much the whole ceiling layer of ply down, then got back to it again on Sunday with my aching arms and finished the walls too.

Me & my trusty hammer!

Peeling back the layers

After two days of wielding that heavy hammer I feel like I should have one arm like Popeye, arhg,hrh,hrrr!

As with anything we do, it took much longer than expected as there was a lot more damage than we had previously thought hidden away (see pics below), but all we can do is keep going and at least we'll know it's been done right so will last as long time.

Another composted batten!

The extent of the damp issue around the window.

The awning was attached to the side we needed to expose so we devised a rope system to safely catch it and lower it to the ground, all went well and we leant it against the van while Ryan toddled off into the garden to clear a space for it. Things suddenly got interesting when I was still inside ripping off the wall ply as I felt a peculiar rocking motion to the van and, naturally assuming it was someone rocking the van for a laugh (a regular occurrence with our friends!), glanced out of the window to see the scenery moving past! I scrambled to my feet screaming something at Ryan who wasn't in earshot just as the awning smashed into the ground, and rushed into the cab to jump on the brake pedal! At that point my heart was beating out of my chest and, (having a little adrenaline freak out!) I left Waki in the middle of the street and sprinted into the back garden to shout something I can't remember at a bewildered Ryan! :S Thankfully the awning seems to be mostly OK with just a couple of bent bolts, luckily no-one was driving passed at the time, and we stopped just before Ryan's car which was parked on the grass directly behind it!

Daylight!

Ryan helped get the roof beam cut back, and the battens out of the walls, though seemed to be finding way too many patches of daylight for my liking and we agreed that since I had mastered the chisel technique I should carry on with that (despite the complaints from my right bicep and shoulder!) and so he climbed back aboard the roof to investigate the leak issues at their source!

Ryan staring on the roof beam

The rot has now been cut out of the main roof beam, expanding foam sprayed in to fill the wavy edge and another strong beam capped on for support. All the wood we could get to we painted with a rot treatment for piece of mind. We've put in a new upright support post just behind the cab and sorted out the bow in the wall due to the sagging weight that was there when we got her. Ryan applied his expertise and used a hydraulic car jack with a piece of wood on top of the bed platform to take the roof weight while we worked! The side window was taken out so we could do the battens around it, though we didn't get to finish cleaning up around it to re-seal as we run out of time on Monday so we've just put a few of its clamps back on to hold it place for now.

Ryan's done a fantastic job and kept me going when I started stressing, (like I always do when things take longer than I want them to!) so thanks Ryan, I love you! xx