Dog Tired

I am soooo tired!  I worked on Bella all day.  I peeled the front off and replaced all the rotten wood.  Air Condition will be put in this week so had to frame up front so that A/C will rest on tongue and will blow under the table.  I didn't want to mess up any of the windows.  At least the front is almost done.  Now I think I will work on the side over the sink and stove.  I didn't take any pics today.  I will try to get some tomorrow.

Bella is a 1971 PlayMor

Well I finally figured out what kind of travel trailer Bella is.  She is a PlayMor.  This makes sense since her title said she was a Play.  I just stumbled upon a YouTube video of a PlayMor being taken out of storage.  Really stupid video but at least I know what I have now.  Also found a couple of Bloggers that I hope to connect to on repairing Bella.

Screen on the front door has to be replaced.

Back Stree side corner after paneling and insulation removed.

Back Curb side after paneling and insulation removed.  This and the picture above is where the fold down bunk bed goes.

Lower back street side ...as you can see the corner is opened up.  Rotten wood and bench top removed .

This is where the upper cabinet was above the sink and stove.  This is why I had to tear it out along with the paneling and insulation.

This is the sink and stove now.

This is the wheel well under the sink and stove where all the rot was.  Removed paneling off end of cabinet to clean out debris.  Sorry about the pic, not sure how to rotate it.

This is in the closet on the street side.  This seems to be the only damage on the side midway Bella.

This is looking at the back where I have removed all the paneling and insulation.

and this is the bench/couch/bed under the back window.

Accepted

Yeah!  I heard from the application I submitted and I have been accepted to the Thomasville Everybody's Day Festival which will be held on Sept. 29th!  I can't wait!

First Craft Show App Sent

I can now breath!  I just sent in my very first Craft Show application!  Who knew just filling out an application and sending it in would be so stressful and so much work.  Wow!  Glad that is over....now it's wait time to see if I am accepted.  I'll keep you posted.

Now on to more applications to fill out and more work to be done.

I did get my batteries and my handheld rotary saw works great.  Wouldn't want to use it on 2x4's but works great on my 2x1's which is really only 3/4" thick. Just heard the temperature will be in the 100's this weekend....just when I wanted to work on Bella.  Maybe I will get lucky and lose a pound or two. LOL

Busy Day

Today was....interesting.  Got a lot done and not a lot done.  Had my Santas, Carolers and Witch professionally photographed today for my Etsy store and Craft Show submissions.  Then Eric came over to help repair the camper.  First of all, I spend most of my time hunting for my tools that my husband (Steve) puts where he thinks they should go even though he knows nothing about tools!  The rotary saw I was going to use was hand held and perfect for the job but I needed batteries and a charger, which I didn't purchase yesterday because I was unsure of the size without the tool in hand and also Eric said he would borrow one from his father-in-law.  Well put it this way...we were unable to cut the boards with what he brought over.  So on to plan B...pull nails and staples out and remove the inside window frames to get ready for the paneling.  There's always tomorrow I guess.

Plum Dirty

Okay...armed with steel wire brush!  Still hard on the wrist but a little better than the steel wool.  Decided to measure Bella today for some odd reason.  She is 12' in cabin length and 15' counting the tongue.   So do I say she is 15' or 12'?  I am soooo confused.  Think I will sweep the debris out today (only 4th time doing this).  I will be so glad when I can go in there and not have black dust up my nose. LOL

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Notice the steel wool in my hand.  OMG...what a mess!

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Notice front curb side corner.  This is why the tarp is on.  The trim has been removed from her entire side so that I can get to the rotten wood.

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This is Bella after I got some of her washed.  As you can tell she was very dirty.  She had moss growing on her back end.

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!