The Battle of the Three "R"s

We are just over a year into our 1954 Canned Ham Trailer remodel.  It's starting to feel like an episode of "Grand Designs".  (If you haven't checked it out, "Grand Designs" is a fabulous British TV show about self-builders. Season 1 is now on Netflix!)  In pretty much every episode, the naive homeowner has a unrealistically small budget and and even more ridiculous time frame.  Build a whole house in 9 months with 300 pounds? Sure! Why not!?!  2 years later and 600 pounds in the hole the home is done and the show is over.

Thankfully, our little "Grand Design" is on a much smaller scale money-wise but our original plan of having it done last Labor Day was hysterically unrealistic.  At this point, we are about $1000 in and have just finished getting the main shell of it back together.  Our main huddle to get to this point is just having enough of a full weekend to get work done.  This has not been a project that we can put in 1-2 hours and walk away then easily come back.  It's needed FULL days of undivided work which is pretty much impossible with 3 kids.

A year of work- walls and framing done

So, to get us back on track, we created a calendar that gets us finished in June.  We have already altered our calendar several times, trying to decided what order of operations most makes sense but we are getting there.  Our walls, floor and framing have all been replaced so we are now on to building the furniture.  So here, we get to the three "r"s.  Do we Renovate, Restore or Replicate?

My definitions of the three in the context of this project:

Renovate: Use the shell and restore, modernize, overhaul the rest. (Think of the bathroom we renovated in our Decorah house.  We tore it to the studs and built everything new on top of that, totally changing the layout, fixtures, etc)

Restore: Take what is already there and fix it up.  Return it to it's original condition.  (Take old carpeting up and restore the hardwood floors under back to their original- or close to condition).

Replicate: Make an exact copy. (Like when "This Old House" takes a piece of existing molding, creates a mold of it and makes a cast to then replace this missing portion).

When we set out on this adventure a year ago, we had every intention of replicating the original design where it was still present.  We carefully took measurements and drew outlines of old cabinets and shelves planning on making copies since the original wood was too moldy to use.  Fast forward a year later and we are a lot less interested in making exact replicas of the original trailer.  Vintage trailer enthusiasts are going to have our heads but at the end of the day it's our trailer and our project.

Many things contributed to this decision including time and money but a lot of it came down to supplies.  When you work on a project for such a long time, luan that once was $5 a sheet and at the local hardware store is now no where to be found, the closet match an hour away for $25 a sheet.  So unmatched luan which makes up the interior walls and ceiling of the entire trailer forced us to rework our original plan and make adjustments.  Such is life.

Right side wall out of original luan; ceiling curving to back wall in new, lighter luan

This mind flop from replication over to renovation then took us on our never-ending search for supplies and design ideas which took us to every home improvement, restore, and building supply store in the entire Portland area... much to our children's dissatisfaction.

 And husbands.

 On top of potty training the littlest one, I don't know how we've made it.

Make your own port-a-potty in the back of the car!

So, after several months of searching, looking at paint colors and debating bed layouts, I think we finally have settled on a design. Good thing because if we had made the kids look at flooring options anymore we would have had a mutiny on our hands- no matter how many donuts we bribed them with.

Here is our "final" design plan.

We reupholstered the front benches last winter so the fabric there was our jumping off point for everything else.  Next step was deciding what cabinet wood to paint and what to leave wood- after our luan debacle which caused us to decided to paint the side walls, we decided it would make sense to paint most of the wood so it blends in with the walls better.  We are restoring the old, original turquoise stove so we have picked a great, dark blue for the kitchen cabinetry, "Approaching Storm" by Glidden.

The side walls will be painted white which will showcase the beautiful luan that wraps over the ceiling.  Picking white might be the hardest thing around but after much contemplation, I settled on "Sleek White" by Behr which is nice and warm but doesn't show too yellow like others did.

Finally, the flooring decision.  We had originally settled on beetle kill blue pine.

We found this stuff at a local building supply resupply and fell in love.  Beetle kill pine is a result of a beetle epidemic in which the beetles bore through the trees, eventually killing them.  The trees have these beautiful blue streaks running through them, making them perfect for unique home projects.  Unfortunately, once we did the math on the wood plus other supplies for laying hardwood we were at $300.  A little pricy for our trailer project.

"Grand Designs" and "This Old House" to the rescue again.  As we were driving to yet another hardware store to look at linoleum yet again, when I remembered a technique where you paint on top of concrete then throw paint flakes over to give a polished concrete, kind of vintage linoleum effect.  This is usually used on basement or garage flooring but why not our little trailer?  Lightweight, fast application, easy clean and cheap?  Sounds perfect to me.  $50 later and we are in business.  We chose Behr's 1-Part Epoxy Concrete and Garage Floor Paint tinted in Pacific Fog with Valspar's Paint Flakes in Granite.

Sample of grey flooring before flakes are added with white wall color

Finally, design in place, we are now painting the walls and floor and then building cabinetry for the kitchen, back beds and front dining area.  Hopefully, we will starting making some more visible progress soon!

Side wall painted white

Flooring prepped for paint

Gidget Gets a New Floor

After two full weekends of hard work and clear skies, Gidget has a new floor.  We will not pretend that any part of our work on our 1954 canned ham trailer will be a "restoration" project.  This is full on replication.  As we dig more and more into our little gem, we are shocked that it lasted as long as it did, held together mostly with spray foam and rusty, crooked nails.  By the end of all of this, we expect the only original pieces left will include the metal skin, windows and stove.

A few months ago, we spent a weekend doing some basic interior demo to prepare the trailer for it's eventual and inevitable exterior repair.  In the months of rain, we measured all the cabinetry that came out to replace later, took apart and cleaned up every component of the Martha Washington stove and replicated the two front benches that fold into a bed.

A sneak peak of the new bench fabric

Finally into gorgeous spring weather, we took advantage of a couple of free weekends with the promise of no rain and tackled the front wall.  The biggest oddity in the way these trailers were constructed is you have to take them apart from the outside in just to replace any of the interior paneling.  All of our interior paneling was rippled from decades of water and growing mold on top of mold so we knew going in that every wall would have to be replaced.

Manned with our favorite demo tools- a cat's paw, hammer, crowbar, drill and screwdriver- as well as the knowledge from many nights watching YouTube videos from the expert trailer guru at http://www.cannedhamtrailers.com we started in carefully removing the corner rails then metal exterior skin.  Each wall of the trailer is supported by the adjoining wall so to maintain the structure, we only remove one section at a time.

Andy not excited about all the flathead screws

Under the skin, 1950s insulation, framing and paneling was revealed.

Once we carefully removed the window (which we will reinstall), we were able to remove the framing and paneling, leaving a large section we could then use to measure when we replicated and replaced with new wood.

Removing the front panel revealed the floor which kind of led into a long rabbit hole of thinking we could just replace small sections but then realizing it was better to just go ahead and replace the entire flooring.  (We made this decision after I had already spent hours trying to peel crazy old linoleum off of plywood, grr).

Removing the linoleum with a Ridgid JobMax... this turned out unnecessary when we decided to replace the floor

This was a slow process- not difficult but just time consuming to remove things slowly to maintain the original structure.

Using a circular saw to cut flooring into smaller sections to remove

The floor has 5 layers:  starting at the under carriage with the metal trailer frame, followed by soundboard, then wood framing, insulation and finished with plywood.  All of this needs to be carefully measured, cut and tucked inside through the small front opening then fastened with carriage bolts.

Original flooring section- the original didn't have insulation but we decided to add it

Every carriage bot needs to be removed from underneath- many needed to be cut off

New soundboard and framing

New insulation

We only replaced the front half of the floor on the first weekend because we were afraid that if we took all the flooring out the structure would be too flimsy.  Once the front floor was replaced, we replicated the front paneling using 1/8" thick luan and 2x2 framing cut down into 1 1/4" to match the original framing.  All this was screwed back into the side walls... that will eventually need to be unscrewed when we replace the rotted sidewalls.  Super annoying but we don't know another way around it since you definitely can't take all the walls off at once as you would loose all the structure.  As it was, to get the front panel screwed in, we had to push on one side while screwing the the other just to get it all straightened out again.

The next clear weekend, we did the exact same thing to the back half of the trailer first removing the exterior metal, framing and paneling then replacing the flooring.  The back section was especially disgusting with sections of moss growing in the flooring as well as a new birds nest in the floorboards.

Terrifying hole in floor covered with random pieces of plywood

The back bar of the metal frame was so bent out of shape that after some waffling, we decided to replace it.

Old bar on left; new on right

Really, Andy doesn't need much of an incentive to whip out his welding mask and at $12 for the metal was a cheap fix.

New bar welded on, the rest of the floor was replaced.

Back half ready for insulation and plywood

Gidget is happily sitting in our driveway now with a new floor.  After 7 months of renting, we are all happy to have the cheerful hum of saws running again.  We aren't getting too much into specifics here with these updates so please check out our favorite resource: http://www.cannedhamtrailers.com if you are tacking a similar project.  Thankfully, we have our super helpers on the job with all our projects.

Meet Gidget

2 weeks, 3 days.  That's all it took for these two DIY junkies to crave for our next project.  I suspect family members were taking bets on how long it would take us to become stir crazy in a rental house with no "next project" around the corner.  Andy and I tried to fool ourselves, planning minor furniture rehab projects and filling our time with outdoor pursuits but, alas, renovation is in our DNA.

This last Wednesday, I was chilling out with the boys and surfing on Pinterest.  Not something I do on a frequent basis as it can quickly get hobbyists into trouble.  A scroll or two down the "Popular" page reveled a finished vintage trailer remodel project.  It was love at first sight.  A really quick search on Craigslist yielded a 1954 King vintage trailer for sale a mere 2 1/2 hours north of Portland.  At $1750, the price was incredibly reasonable considering how rare they are and that restored ones can go for $9000+.  I knew convincing Andy of our new endeavor was only an email away.  Considering I am a mega planner and preparer and never do anything spontaneously, Andy jumped on my one act of madness and quickly contacted the seller and put all the other steps into motion.

New trailer hitch installed on our mini van, which amazingly enough has plenty of power to tow the caravan, we loaded the kids up at the crack of dawn and set out to meet our newest project.

Named "Clarice" by it's current owner, the caravan is an 18 foot, 1954 King canned ham.

Clarice is a pretty cute, old fashioned name but considering it immediately puts us into mind of a people-eating psychopath, we have decided to rename her "Gidget", a 1950s fictional character portrayed by Sandra Dee that spent her chasing after Moondoggie, surfing and having beach parties.  As far as we can tell, Walter King manufactured the trailers in the 1950s out of California.

"Canned ham" refers to the iconic curved shape of the roof.  Many of the trailer's original features are in intact and ready for restoration such as classic 1950s light fixtures, hinges and knobs and Martha Washington stove.

Andy and I have no experience with campers but are excited to dive into this new arena.  We plan to carefully disassemble the camper, repair the "guts"and then build it back up, using as much of the original materials as we can.

"Bedroom" light

Fridge Missing

Built-in bedside table

Open exterior windows

Bedroom area with recent loft addition that will be removed

Dining area with folding table and benches that lay into a bed

What we can't use, we hope to build or purchase period-accurate reproductions.  Our goal is to have this camper ready for the road (I won't say "done", because when is a project every truly done) by summer so we can take her on the road, visiting the amazing National forests, parks, oceans and lakes all within a days drive of our new home.  Follow along as we learn on the job breathing new life into Gidget.