a guide. René had to lay the original
outer skin on the ground and had to
trace around it to recreate the curves
and rebuild the walls. René tells us that
she really loved the shape of the original
interior curved cabinets that, although
badly moldy, were in not-too-bad shape,
albeit rather smelly.
“I tried stripping and sanding the wood
cabinets, but just couldn’t get the smell
out of the wood”, René remembers, “So, I
made the decision to paint the cabinets.
This really gives a great contrast inside
the trailer and brightens up the very cozy
trailer.”
Not afraid of tackling the tough jobs,
René was fortunate that all of the original
hardware and light fixtures, the sink and
the icebox were all still functioning and
re-usable with a bit of elbow grease and
a good clean up. The windows were also
all in good shape, needing nothing more
than a bit of a cleanup, but the dinette
cushions had to be discarded due to
having been obviously converted into
a cozy rodent home whilst the trailer
had been uninhabited. René made and
covered all new cushions for the trailer
and made a new table and countertop
from Ikea Butcher Block herself but
when it came to the wiring, a project she
describes as “way outside my comfort
zone”, she called in the experts. Once the
wiring was all done, René then installed
insulation inside the walls, cleaned up
the outer skin and reattached it to the
trailer, having to replace a piece of skin
on the back that was beyond repair. A
couple of holes under the front window
were then patched up and covered with
diamond plate to prevent future damage
before the original lights went back
on and the glass tail lights were very
carefully reinstalled.
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