And the Renovation Begins (5er, Cosmetic, Flooring)

[Bjcombs1989]

The wife and I bought our first 5er (Only rented TT in the past) about 2 months ago. After getting the hitch and truck situated (Many thanks to those who helped out on here) we decided to paint... that turned into pretty much re-doing every surface.

The To-Do List:

• Clean all surfaces
• Paint walls
• Paint ceiling
• Paint cabinetry
• Do something with the countertop?
• Replace lights
• Replace electrical fixtures?
• Replace carpet (the wife added this...)

I'll be updating this thread as progress is made. We've budgeted about $1000 for this and seeing as I'll be doing all the work, I should be able to stay in budget.

My biggest fear is replacing the carpet on the slide out... not sure how it will interact with the new laminate.. is it going to be scraping/etc. Any thoughts? The wife wants to put down Laminate Wood (A good quality one is on sale for $1.40/foot this weekend locally). We have dogs and will be staying in the South (Texas) for the most part.

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[Bjcombs1989]

westend wrote:
Hey, your walls look green. Just kidding :B

Looks like you did a good job, no paint all over the windows and trim.

Thank you. My wife loves green so that was the color picked.

I made this album on my family's Blog site. It's easier to post the link instead of posting pictures directly here. There are some duplicate pictures I already posted on this thread.

Camper Renovation Album

[westend]

Hey, your walls look green. Just kidding :B

Looks like you did a good job, no paint all over the windows and trim.

[Bjcombs1989]

Here is an update. I got all the primer done and pretty much all of the painting done. Still got some small areas and some sanding/touchups to do.

Also got the carpet pulled out... hopefully will be getting the rest of the painting done this week and the new flooring this weekend (April 1st). Hoping to have it all completed by second Saturday in April.

[Bjcombs1989]

fulltimedaniel wrote:
You say you want to "Paint" the walls and cabinets. Be careful.

Just be sure you can really paint what you think is real wood.

We are replacing the doors, so no problems there. The cabinet frames are taking the paint just fine, hopefully they'll hold up (if not all that is lost is $15 in paint).

The walls are luan, and appear to have a wallpaper covering them. Decided it wasn't worth the effort to scrape the 30 year old paper off, so I just did primer and paint. Again, took it well and hopefully will last long enough.

[Bjcombs1989]

ken56 wrote:
Think about using a vinyl flooring, snap together strips just like wood laminate but is virtually indestructible.

Thank you for the suggestions, but personally I've had a bad experience with the floating vinyl plank a few years ago. Had to tear it all out and put down tile instead; it kept seperating at the seams. Won't touch the stuff since.

[ken56]

Think about using a vinyl flooring, snap together strips just like wood laminate but is virtually indestructible. I put some down in my basement because it did not need an underlayment and its water proof so it wont come apart if it gets wet under it, plus its only like 1/8 in. thick so it might avoid scraping from the slide. Might be better suited for your application

[fulltimedaniel]

You say you want to "Paint" the walls and cabinets. Be careful. Most of the walls are either plastic printed with a design or Luan plywood with an adhesive plastic printed sheet covering it.. This will probably not be paintable.

Similarly, While cabinet DOORS may be made of wood, the rest is more than likely particle board covered with a printed (wood finish) plastic.

Again this will not hold paint and over time it will bubble and peel and you will have a much bigger mess than anything you have now.

I have dismantled one of my slides to install a new floor, completely tore out most of my bathroom and replaced with real fixtures vanity and basically know my little trailer inside and out so I have some history with these things.

Just be sure you can really paint what you think is real wood.

[TheBreu]

I started a remodel last year on ours, I say started because I want to do more this year. I repainted, new flooring and built a swivel TV wall. This year I want to do all the counter tops and tables, backsplash, along with redoing the pantry and putting in a central vac system. Here is my thread which might give you some inspiration. Click me

[fly-swatter]

I did a bunch of renovations on my first fiver much like you're doing. It was well worth it and I had the satisfaction of doing it myself. Sold the unit 3 years later for more than I paid for it.

[Bjcombs1989]

DutchmenSport wrote:
That camper don't look too bad!

The pictures are deceiving. We've gotten all the cleaning done since these pictures were taken and it was pretty bad. Took about 6 hours for three people to scrub everything down till it stopped giving off sticky stuff.

Thankfully I have all the tools and such, so pretty much everything will be done for the cost of supplies. Should be done with spraying the primer tomorrow (about half done now) and will have more pictures soon!

[DutchmenSport]

I know pictures don't show everything and can be very deceptive, but based on your photos, that camper don't look too bad! As old as it is, I think I'd just give it a good cleaning, make sure everything works, and start using it. Replace or fix only what doesn't work.

Some soap and water on the walls and cabinets might make them look a lot better. A bit of Old English, or some polish might make a big difference too. Old and bad carpet ... always a good idea to change out. Still, don't make it harder or more costly than you need to.

Enjoy the camper! But most of all ... have fun! Even with your renovations!