Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Bella Before Demolition

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This is Bella's table.  The previous owner had covered it with laminate that is pealing off the topand the bottom of the table.  Oh well, orange doesn't really go with my color scheme anyway.
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This is the cabinet with the propane light above the table area.  Yep, that has to come out too.  The whole front end is rotten also.
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This is my little stove and oven and my tiny little sink.  It also will be painted a different color as soon as I can find appliance paint in the color I want.
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This is the back of Bella and this is her couch/bed and you can see the edge of the upper bunk above.  Notice how bad the cushions and the paneling
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This is the cabinet  above the sink and stove.  Looks pretty good right, wrong look below.
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The upper cabinet over the stove and sink looked goo until I opened the door.
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This is the celing in the center of Bella.  This is what I mean when I say, If the paneling is peeling off in sheets of 3, you have water damage.  When paneling gets wet, it separates into 3 sections and you have to peel off all three one at a time.



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This is the street side of the upper bunk.  It is amazing what the naked eye cannot see but what a camera will pick up.  All of that corner is rotten.
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And this is the curb side of the upper bunk.  Obviously the camper was leaning towards this direction when it was parked because the curb side seems to be in worse shape than the street side.
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More paneling peeling above the upper bunk and at that cabinet above the sink.
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Refrigerator area.  Minor paneling peeling due to dampness probably.
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Back end.  Don't you just love that 1970's green plaid cushion?

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Clostet area.  Water damage above the light and window.
Let me start at the beginning.  I bought "Bella" my 1971, 15' travel trailer from this fella in Kernersville, NC the end of May 2012 for probably more than it was worth.  However, I am sooooo excited to tell you about her.  I don't know what kind she is, but hopefully it will be listed on the title.

She has been sitting in his back yard for 4 years he said.  However, I think it may have been longer considering the shape she was in.  Anyhoo, I had to go to Walmart and buy 2 tires to even get her home.  He was kind enough to put them on for me and we hit the road after 8 hours dealing with the title and tires.  She kept falling off the jack!  Yikes!!

She didn't look too bad until I started pulling off the paneling that was falling off the ceiling.  Hint:  If the paneling is falling off in any place in your travel trailer in thin sheets of 3.....you have a problem.  It peeled off like paper.  I pulled all the original covers off the cushions and was able to salvage the foam.  Yeah!!!  Then I took all the hinges and locks off the cabinets and will paint them later.  I then unscrewed all the lights (except for the propane one over the table) so that I could get the paneling down.  Mass destruction is what I would call Bella after I started peeling away the layers and finding rot. Yuck!

Now I am up to today which was probably the 6th day I have worked on Bella.  She is torn all to pieces and now it is time to start putting her back together again.  I have removed all the rotten wood and all the paneling that needs to be removed.   You can see daylight out of all 4 corners.  What a mess, but I feel comfortable getting started on the wood replacement.

Washed the left side and part of the back.  It was so dirty it had moss growing on it.  My son Eric is suppose to come Saturday and help with the repairs.  I only feel about 75% comfortable with the repairs and he said he feels 100% comfortable.  His father-in-law is a contractor and he helps him out some.  We'll see!

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