A 25'-30' for the power cord is fine, especially if your going with 50 AMP. Check with this seller. I've seen shore power cords at very good prices. He's got good deals on surplus RV items.
Good luck with your project.
Thanks, Mike, both for the encouragement and for the link to that seller, he has some very low prices.
Maybe a bit to late, but before you place the windows into their framing You might have made a plastic U channel to surround the raw framing plus the thickness of the interior wall material.. That way any water intrusion would not have leaked into the wall's interior instead into the interior where it would be noticed. this same applies to the ruff roof openings/ framing, don't do as every one else has and just have the roof material folded down leaving the rafter exposed. Counter flash under this fold extend down below the wood, to just below the ceiling material. The same would apply here as to water leaking, sliding past the wood into the interior & noticed right away
Consider expanded foam for wall insulation. It encloses all air intrusion & is water repellent,,,,BUT, repeat BUT,,,do it in a shallow pass to began with, as if done in the way of house insulation it will bulge, as it expans, your thin exterior metal. Run your front to back inside wiring in a plastic channel in the interior upper corner of your trailer, easy accessible for all kinds of reasing, can be hidden with store bought wire enclose, and covered to a degree with cabinets. There is a wood sub flooring that is water resistant check out Advantech wood flooring.
Those low toilets in RV's can be raised by building a treated framing above the flanges & to the wall, to raise them the 17 1/2" chair height.
John H wrote: Maybe a bit to late, but before you place the windows into their framing You might have made a plastic U channel to surround the raw framing plus the thickness of the interior wall material.. That way any water intrusion would not have leaked into the wall's interior instead into the interior where it would be noticed. this same applies to the ruff roof openings/ framing, don't do as every one else has and just have the roof material folded down leaving the rafter exposed. Counter flash under this fold extend down below the wood, to just below the ceiling material. The same would apply here as to water leaking, sliding past the wood into the interior & noticed right away
Consider expanded foam for wall insulation. It encloses all air intrusion & is water repellent,,,,BUT, repeat BUT,,,do it in a shallow pass to began with, as if done in the way of house insulation it will bulge, as it expans, your thin exterior metal. Run your front to back inside wiring in a plastic channel in the interior upper corner of your trailer, easy accessible for all kinds of reasing, can be hidden with store bought wire enclose, and covered to a degree with cabinets. There is a wood sub flooring that is water resistant check out Advantech wood flooring.
Those low toilets in RV's can be raised by building a treated framing above the flanges & to the wall, to raise them the 17 1/2" chair height.
Wow, John, those are all some good tips. I have done some of what you mentioned, am contemplating parts of that, and have done a different thing for others. I'll explain it in the order you've posted.
Windows: As I removed the original windows I cleaned and prepared the exterior siding for sealing. The exterior skin was then sealed and stapled into the new framing.When possible,I flashed the opening with aluminum trim coil into the opening. Before installing the windows I applied a butyl protective tape to seal the rough opening framing back to the exterior. A bead of silicone is applied to the tape and the window fins are then screwed onto this silicone and through the flashing and/or tape to the framing.
Roof and wall joint: The framing in this joint was sealed to the roof top skin and wall skin and stapled. A bead of elastomeric sealant was applied to the roof surface and to the wall surface and the aluminum trim rail was then screwed down through the skins to the new framing. No joists or top plate is exposed but if I had to do this over, I'd apply a piece of the same butyl tape, prior to screwing down the trim rail. I did observe one leak and that is due to missing a screw location on the trim rail in an area that has a roof seam. I will fix that small leak pronto and inspect my screw down schedule (I thought I got them all).
Insulation: I did investigate the spray insulation but it added $1k over conventional isocyanate, extruded polystyrene, and fiberglass batt, the three materials I'm using. I am using a sealant between framing and foam board, both for structural stability and to seal air passage. If I had that extra $1k, I would have opted for the spray.
Electrical runways: Great minds think alike, I plan to do just such a thing, adding in non-metallic conduit for future wire runs in the ceiling.
Flooring: The existing flooring is comprised (from the bottom-> up) of an aluminum skin, 1/2" Builtrite, the two layers of extruded polystyrene, and the 5'8" plywood. The floor joists are 2" x 2" layed up over the Builtrite. There are 2"x8" joists over the black water tank location. I plan to paint the plywood subfloor to offer better protection. I am still looking at flooring solutions but am leaning towards a laminate floor and maybe a tile entry area. It may all become sheet vinyl but I doubt it.
The toilet: That is a great idea, I may do that very thing, thanks for the tip.
Keep those ideas coming, guys, I need all the help I can get.
Quote: I am still looking at flooring solutions but am leaning towards a laminate floor and maybe a tile entry area. It may all become sheet vinyl but I doubt it.
Have you thought about using natural cork flooring? It is extremely durable, light weight, mold/mildew resistent, is both thermal and accoustic insulator, easy to repair/replace, scratch resistant, and since it can be bought in tiles is fairly easy to install and put down. Not to mention it looks pretty darn good.
I have seen remods where it has been used in older Airstreams and it looks AWESOME. And with the amount needed for "The Hilton" it might be found as excess stock at some of the national online flooring stores.
Just my 2 cents!
Posts are for entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as endorsement or recommendations. YMMV!
Steven & Stacie, plus 2 ('02 & '07)
'04 Suburban 2500, Quad Seats, 8.1L, 3.73
'09 Rockwood 8313SS
I started on the wiring installation, yesterday. The only wires that still existed are the patio light and switch, the outside receptacle, and the receptacle near the dinette table.
As I posted previously, I'm upgrading the original 30 amp service to 50 amp. This meant a new load center needed to be installed and I also wanted to locate a receptacle for shore power and bring the converter and battery near the load center since we now can use AGM batteries that don't need a vented space.
First in the schedule was doing some measurements because there is a lot going on in this area. I finally opted to re-install the water heater because that is the most critical thing to make room for. I laso built part of the countertop framing so I had a better idea where water pipes, the stove, and the gas lines would be. Here is a picture of the efforts:
The converter and battery secured:
I allowed some space for additional batteries if needed.
The location of the exterior receptacle:
Today, I screwed in some more device boxes, installed the exterior receptacle and cover, and wired the converter and the shore power into the load center.
The immediate challenge in the electrical installation is making sure I distribute things equally between legs of the 50 amp service and get both the 120v. and 12 v. wires branched into the various device locations with a modicum of planning. It seems like every time I think I have everything drawn out on my layout drawing, another device pops up that should probably be considered. I have the converter on it's own branch, the kitchen devices will have their own branch, the lights on their own two branches, and the 12 v. will be divided as equally as possible. The 12v. water system is on one circuit.
Also, I haven't delved into any entertainment cable planning because I don't think I have the grey matter to coordinate that and the electrical terminations simultaneously. I'll deal with that after I have the more important things done, it shouldn't be a problem to do that after the 12 v. and 120 v. stuff is done.
Hoping I can get all the wiring done quickly so that insulation can get installed. The forecast is for colder weather and snow so I'm looking forward to getting the temperature inside the Hilton up a few degrees. Bending that 8-3 in 30f. is a good thing to have behind me,lol.
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edited 01/15/12 11:55am by an administrator/moderator *
Quote: I am still looking at flooring solutions but am leaning towards a laminate floor and maybe a tile entry area. It may all become sheet vinyl but I doubt it.
Have you thought about using natural cork flooring? It is extremely durable, light weight, mold/mildew resistent, is both thermal and accoustic insulator, easy to repair/replace, scratch resistant, and since it can be bought in tiles is fairly easy to install and put down. Not to mention it looks pretty darn good.
I have seen remods where it has been used in older Airstreams and it looks AWESOME. And with the amount needed for "The Hilton" it might be found as excess stock at some of the national online flooring stores.
Just my 2 cents!
I looked at the cork flooring at Home Depot, yesterday. They sell a plank type of interlocking cork laminate. It did seem to have the properties you listed, acoustic and thermal goodness. The sales associate remarked about it's lack of durability and proceeded to show me the Allure flooring, an interlocking plank made of plastic. I can see that either would be advantageous to TT flooring. This is something I'll be mulling over before I make a choice. FWIW, I operated my own small flooring business for 8 years so I'm able to install just about anything except wood strip. Thanks for the recommendation about cork,I wouldn't have considered it without your post.
westend wrote: looked at the cork flooring at Home Depot, yesterday. They sell a plank type of interlocking cork laminate. It did seem to have the properties you listed, acoustic and thermal goodness. The sales associate remarked about it's lack of durability and proceeded to show me the Allure flooring, an interlocking plank made of plastic. I can see that either would be advantageous to TT flooring. This is something I'll be mulling over before I make a choice. FWIW, I operated my own small flooring business for 8 years so I'm able to install just about anything except wood strip. Thanks for the recommendation about cork,I wouldn't have considered it without your post.
I have not heard of Allure but will investigate it next time in one of those big box home improvement stores. I have seen the cork parquet flooring in kitchens and it is pretty durable. Good luck and am enjoying watching your labor of love. It has inspired a lot of discussion between DW and I about doing something similar when I retire from the US Army and the kids are a little older.
If this is the outlet to plug in shore power, it should be the male version of the same plug. The shore power cord will have the female version. Important for safety
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edited 01/15/12 11:55am by an administrator/moderator *
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I allowed some space for additional batteries if needed.
