Motorhome Remodel...Part 2

Time for the new cabinets and countertop to go in.

Mike wanted me to remind everyone that this job was not as easy as we make it look. It is very nerve racking to redo things in motorhomes and you never know what you might find underneath. It takes a lot of time especially removing all of the glue and black rubber stripping that Winnebago used.


OK....now onto more pictures.

Time to work on the cabinets. First we have to bring the first cabinet inside to see how the depth is going to be. If it is too wide we will need to cut the backs off of the new cabinets. We measured and we are pretty sure it will be OK. We bring the first cabinet into the back and put it in place. It does not extend past the refrigerator Mike measures the cabinet around the wheel well.


Time to cut.

Mike starting to cut the back of the cabinet out to fit over the wheel well.

Using the reciprocating saw to cut out the rest.

And our measured opening is cut. Hopefully it fits

It fits and we got it in place.

Next we measure some boards and paint them to cover the inside of the cabinet. We don't want any openings into the motorhome. Winnebago left two open holes in the bottom of the old cabinets. No wonder why we had mice inside

Here is our supervisor, Niki. No matter what project we do, Niki will always find the most comfortable spot to sit whether a towel, sweatshirt, or paint cloth, lol.

Next Mike works on the "wet" cabinet. We decided to designate one cabinet for all the plumbing, the water heater and also the sink above.

We took the styrofoam off the water heater so Mike could work on things. He had to cut down the drain pipe and add a part of his own. He will attach a longer pipe to this later.

Mike already cut the hole in the cabinet for the water heater. Now he is cutting a hole for the drain pipe.

Before all of the cabinets are installed I paint the back tops black. You can see the backs of the cabinets from the outside of the motorhome. The windows are tinted but we want to blend them as much as we can.

Mike uses the cutoff wheel to cut off the bolts from our old passenger seats. They are above the floor and we need to level it before the last cabinet and new floor can go in.

The bolts by the door.

The cabinets are in place and the drain pipe will work

Time for the wiring. This is where I am no help at all



What Mike has to figure out.

Drilling a hole inside the cabinet and through the shelf for the pipe that will hold the electric wiring.

The large pipe to protect the electric wires.

Where the wiring begins...and it needs to go through each cabinet. By the time Mike gets to the front cabinet most of the wires will drop off except for the last electric outlet.

The tubing that will protect the wires behind our new drawers.

And over the refrigerator.

And into the front two cabinets and out the front cabinet where Mike will install our new electric outlet.

Next is plumbing.

Mike works on the hot and cold water using pex tubing inside the "wet" cabinet.

Mike uses the torch to soften the pipe so it will slide in easier. 

Crossing fingers for no leaks. Time to test Mike's plumbing work. He hooked up a temporary faucet to the hot and cold pipes and is using a coffee can to catch the water when it is turned on.

Yay...no leaks....better than Winnebago


Now we are ready to try the countertop. First we open the back doors and take the sofa bed out. This is one of the main reasons we bought an ERA. We also use this motorhome as a remodeling van and we need to get the back seat out for the cargo space.


Next we carry in the countertop and measure for the length.

We bring it back outside. 


Now that we have the basics ready to go....we bolt in the cabinets to the exterior wall of the motorhome. This is a scary part. You do not want the screws to go through the outside wall. Mike put the first screw in and he told me to go out and see if it went outside. He followed me out and was behind me. When I got around to the other side I said "oh no" and he said you're kidding me. Gotcha ya. I know...it was mean but he would have done the same me



Mike makes the first cut in the countertop.

We bring it back in and take measurements again. It takes awhile but we decide that we can get away without having to cut the whole backsplash off. This was very tedious and nerve racking. Lots of back and forth with the countertop, lots of measuring, and lots of rechecking before we cut anything.


Next we measure for the new sink and the stove. Mike makes the fist cuts for the stove using the circular saw for cleaner cuts.

And then the jigsaw for the tighter cuts.

We are ready to go back in but first we want to make sure there is no gap or rubbing between the countertop and the cabinets.


While I paint the back of the countertop(to hide it from the outside windows), Mike puts some small weather strip around the whole perimeter of the tops of the cabinets.

We get the countertop on and Mike hooks up the stove and turns on the gas. All is good



Next he installs the sink.

And the plumbing from under the sink.

After that is done it's time for the electric outlets.


Our ERA came with a total of 6 outlets for the kitchen area. Two on each end of the cabinets and two more in the middle above the refrigerator. We were constantly juggling the back two outlets for the coffee maker, the toaster, the satellite receiver and Mike's headphones. Mike is going to fix this by installing two surge suppressors with six outlets each on each end of the cabinets. We will never use all of these outlets but it sure is nice to have them



Mike installing the first electric strip.

Then he installs the one on the front side. The cabinets, counter and electric is installed.


View from the back.

And from the front.

Mike will spend time making sure all of the cabinets and holes are completely sealed and secure for traveling.


I hope you enjoyed today's pictures.


Next will be the floor and the finishing touches.


Have a wonderful day!!! 

Chapter 107...Building a Bedroom Closet With Hidden Compartments

Off Grid...Chapter 107 Hello everyone. Right now Mike and I are waiting for some spackle to dry so I thought I would post another story I am going to take you back to the end of March to see how we built a closet in our bedroom... Before I do that let me share a picture of one of our new cows. Looks like Mike will have to give her a small pop or two with the BB gun to keep her out of our fence. The only good thing about the cows doing that is it saves on weed eating time....but they do stretch out the fence and we can't have that. OK....time to build a closet. When we built our house, Mike didn't want to build closets. He wanted armories...so we got armoires. They did a great job but we did lose some storage because of the height of our walls. Now that we are trying to make everything just right, we are going to build floor to ceiling closets. We are leaving one armoire in the bedroom and taking the other one for the TV in the living room. It's a good thing all of our furniture matches We took as much out of the bedroom as we could. Instead of finishing the inside walls of the closet we are going to make shelves for more storage. The first boards for the closet. We are doing 2x6 construction. Next we have to measure the sides to make the shelves all the same distance apart. Mike left that to me Yeah...I tried doing the measuring "on center" but that didn't work out. Then I tried measuring the whole board into sections and that didn't come out even Yup...I was definitely having a big duh moment in measuring. Mike had to come to the rescue and we did it together, lol. We measured and screwed the first "ladder". Then we used that ladder to measure the second one. Both ladders are almost done. Next step. Mike starts to take off the floor trim in the bedroom. After that, we brought both the built "ladders" into the bedroom and stood them up. Ooh...it was a close fit to the ceiling. Then Mike installed the cross section for the closet doors. Woo hoo...we are going to have a real closet. The next day we built the side wall and put that up. Mike installing the side wall. Now that all of the wood is up it's time to start the finish work. Mike is installing the sheetrock. Almost done with the sheetrock. I tried to get a picture to show you the interior shelves. Anyone can do this in between the studs inside your walls Next is the corner bead on the edges. Looking good Now it's time for the spackling. And the sanding. While Mike did the work and made the mess, I cleaned up after him. It's the least I could do We are almost ready for paint. Yes we are changing the bedroom color. We didn't like the yellow from last year. One of these times we will get a good color I hope Mike is inside the closet painting with our new color "Moose Mousse" New rack and built in shelves. The trim going back down. I painted the closet shelves. First bottom door is installed. Both bottom doors Top shelves are up. Now we just have to buy the boards for the top of the closet doors. BTW, today is the first day of April 2011 and this is what we have Mike, Niki and I hibernated. This is why Mike and I are doing projects inside, lol. I feel sorry for the poor cows. They are all huddled together for the heat. A few days later we were able to get back outside. Mike is filling our crack in the pavement with an asphalt filler in a tube. And spreading it out. We had another crazy night weather wise. Man it has been a crazy year. April 5 Snow is still on the mountain tops. We are still not happy with our wood stove which is a Pleasant Hearth from Lowe's. I have been doing some research and have heard rave reviews on the "Englander 2200". I found it for half price and we ordered one. It was $649.00 instead of $1199.00 plus free shipping I am also going to call Lowe's to see if anything can be done about the old stove which I think is a dud. On a good note, we got a Camfro Ecofan for the wood stove. It is a fan that blows the hot air around without using any electric. That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed our closet story Next time Mike and I will finish up our bedroom. I'll post again soon Lisa