Sunday 24 June 2012

Almost finished really (or not ...)

So we have spent another day working on Morris and have done a great deal. This is the first day I feel we have made real progress, probably due to us actually adding to the van rather than taking stuff away!

So we have finished emptying the back corner, and have cleaned and sealed inside to allow that section to dry out temporarily before the weather keeps dry enough (not sure if this will ever happen!!) to take the seals off and repaint / re-seal properly from the outside:




We have also taken the back trims from the interior back wall of the van, sanded, white spirited and painted with ivory matt melamine paint.















And finally, we purchased some boat type "wood effect" vinyl covering from B&Q and covered one door in this to decide whether this was something we wanted to do all over the van. We're not sure we can tell yet, until the cream has dried and we can attach the door back to the trim. Let us know what you think anyway - t.malam@btinternet.com! Thanks for reading :)

 


Monday 18 June 2012

Making progress

So, after carrying out a great deal of work at the weekend, please see our photo's of progress below.

As you can see, we have now removed the single bed, all shelves and cupboards down the back end of the caravan and all internal walls.

This was actually a fairly therapeutic experience, as not only did it reveal where the damp has come from (this appears to be the top seal on the corner of the back of the van) and the rear lights (which didn't work as the electics were sat in a puddle of water) but showed that the rott was actually alot less than we thought it would be.

We still have a few questions that we could do with answering (please email t.malam@btinternet.com):

1 - can we paint over the Sikaflex sealant we are planning to use to seal up the exterior?
2 - once we have chosen a Vinyl to use on the interior, can we paper straight over the old vinyl?
3 - we need to paint the exterior of the caravan as firstly the previous owners painted a light green stripe with a paintbrush and secondly because it is looking very grotty, what is a cost effective way to do this?
4 - does anyone know where we can get retro style rear lights?

Hope you can help, and I will update again soon!





Saturday 16 June 2012

The Damp Discovery!

So, after posting my first blog, full of excitement and ideas about how Morris will look once finished, I am now filled with dread after discovering the reality of the task in hand...

Having opened up all cupboards and cleaned everywhere, we have discovered that there are 4 areas of DAMP! One of these areas is particularly bad - at the back of the van.

 (Looks lovely here - not so much now!!)

On removing part of the wall covering, we now know that not only is the wall behind the vinyl completely disintegrating, but the timber framework that it attaches to has rotted through!





However, we have made real steps forward today. Not only have we managed to remove all the interal cupboards and shelves (this was a real pain as they have been screwed in from the outside and the screws were not accessible so we have literally had to saw them off) but we have exposed the whole wall. We still haven't discovered the culprit of the damp, but suspect it is from an aerial fitting right at the top corner at the back of the van (screwed in from the outside and not sealed).

Once we have done this, it will just be a case of removing the outside screws and trim, removing the old sealant, removing the dodgy paintwork by the previous owner, repainting the whole outside, resealing the whole outside, then replacing the internal timber frame, the plywood walls, the vinyl coverings and we are pretty much there! Simples! (Oh God, someone please help us!)

These (above) are photos of where we were up to last week. I will add photos of today's work when my stiff back (Morris felt fit to drop a heavy shelf onto my lower back where I now have a huge bruise) has abated tomorrow!

Thanks again for looking, Tanya

Monday 4 June 2012

Month 1 - June 2012

My husband (Pete) and I (Tanya) ...



have just purchased this lovely 1970's Elldis Tornado Caravan (my husband more by duress than free choice!).We have been thinking for some time about buying a caravan.



We first got into camping 18 months ago, pitching a tent in our back garden and thoroughly enjoying the experience. We then decided to start spending some of our weekends at different sites around the country with our golden Labrador puppy, Winter, in a Trailer Tent we bought also as a project.



Although we have enjoyed this experience, we hit three snags:

1 - there isn't a great deal you can do to a Trailer Tent in terms of a project other than change the curtains!!
2 - The thing is so damn heavy to fold out that with my spindly arms I have no chance.
3 - Winter can hear everything through the canvas and will jump up in preparation to bark a number of times a night.



So after getting married in May 2011, we decided we would get a caravan in the near future. We have used the "TT" again a few times this year but have now been fortunate enough to find Morris.

We have bought Morris for £300. You will see from the photos that there are two benches down the front of the caravan which convert into a double bed. There is then a wardrobe on the left and a kitchen area on the right complete with sink and cold water tap, 4 gas hobs, a gas grill and a gas oven (the latter we are struggling to get working at the mo). Then it has a 3 way Electrolux fridge which seems to work fine. There is then a single bench / bed at the back of the van with a loo compartment.






We have given ourselves until our second wedding anniversary (28th May 2013) to get the refurb mainly complete. This will consist of the following:

1 - Eradicating the three areas of damp - one by the door caused by a screw being drilled into the outside and not sealed, some in the corner under the right side of the double bed caused by some trim on the front falling off, and some damp in the corner under the single bed caused by an aerial fixture drilled into the outside again and not sealed. We will then remove all the trim and clean, give the outside a coat of exterior acryllic paint in a rich cream and paint the stripe in duck egg blue (removing the underneath layers first). We then want to replace the exterior lights with retro chrome fittings.




2 - Replace damaged internal walls and re-paper all walls with scrubbable industrial paper in light cream. Replace light fittings with chrome fittings and LED downlighters. Paint the background fixtures in cream and replace the cupboard doors in wood / boat effect with cute ceramic handles. Replace floor with new wood effect lino. Add water pump and boiler and fold-out sink in loo with new portapotty.

3- Re-upholster cushions in biscuit coloured hard wearing material. Add duck egg curtains and navy blue cushions, with cream blinds for a general nautical feel e.g. by. adding bunting to give it that homely feel.

Please follow these links for my inspiration:
http://pinterest.com/sweetpink/renovating-a-caravan/
http://www.silvertrailer.com/design_tradewind.php?content=Interior
http://www.hearthandmade.co.uk/2012/05/summer-vacation-dreaming-beach-hut.html

So, I know what you're thinking, easy right? Probably not, what with most of the work that needs to be done completely new to both of us who have no previous experience or qualifications in DIY. But we are going to take it one step at a time and use it as a way to spend time enjoying each-others company (we are going to try not to fall out too much!). So we will keep our progress updated on here. Any tips and advice would be grately received!

Thanks for reading

Tanya and Pete :)