We have a ceiling!

Progress has slowed down a bit, in part to the loss of light and impending cold. Will installed some more lights for us, a city water intake, a drain valve, and he repaired our porch and overhead door light. Last thing he's slated to do for us is to rehab the taillights, and then I think it might be the end of his assistance for now. 

We discovered last month that one of the elders at my childhood church renovated a 2007 Airstream a few years ago. He had a lot of good ideas for waterproofing and it was fun to talk shop with him, but we also learned he was renting barn space and it sounds like a great option for getting some carpentry done during the winter! 

Speaking of carpentry, we built, insulated, and installed a wooden box over the wheel well. I am always so impressed with Peter's spacial reasoning and creative problem-solving. I thought making a box would be easy, but I was immediately overwhelmed by the most basic questions that I don't even have the language to even ask. When Peter works, I don't see the method in his madness, so part of me is a little skeptical, maybe even doubting, that he is seeing and addressing the problems I don't know how to work out. 

But then, voila! He creates something sturdy, lightweight, functional, and I am oh so impressed! 

We had snow one day, and when we arrived at the farm and stepped inside the trailer, I immediately saw all the condensation in the ceiling--even though it was freezing inside there, it was apparently still warmer than outside--so much water! There is no good solution to this, as far as my research reveals, but I continue my lobbying for a mini wood-burning stove. 

We set about the arduous task of putting the ceiling back in. We used zip ties threaded through holes Peter drilled in the ribs to hold wires in their indents and it was so refreshing to be able to walk the length of the trailer without getting whacked in the face by a wire! We riveted the ceiling panel tracks into place (omg, they look so terrible, I did not get anywhere near all the paint off them) and closed off our access to the wall wiring for good. Hopefully we ran wires to everything we need! 

In the walls we had used a layer of Reflectix against the skin, but after reading that this had no real effect without an air gap (except maybe as a vapor barrier) I was keen for an excuse to leave it out of the ceiling. The wires made insulating very cumbersome, and the spray glue we had was trash, so we had to work quickly. We enlisted Aidan to hold one end of the ceiling panel, I held the other end, and Peter put a few clecos around the skylight to hold the middle while he helped us push one side in place. Aidan and I pressed the panel against the center of the ceiling, while Peter worked to pop the other side into the rail. It went way smoother than I expected! 

One issue with doing a side bath is that the bathroom wall is likely to encroach on the part of the ceiling that will be covered by the air-con shroud. We attempted to ameliorate this some by moving the mounting bracket as far over to the opposite side as we could. We also installed the frames for the Fantastic Vents. We didn't cut them to follow the contour of the ceiling, so there was a gap in the center where the ceiling skin pulled away from the frame. We fixed the look of this by stuffing extra insulation in there to force the ceiling skin down to meet the frame. 

Last thing was to extend the vent pipe from the drain valve and then bolt the electrical components platform into place. Peter dry-fitted all the venting several weeks ago, but it was covered by a blanket of leaves and has disassembled itself with the passage of time. But plumbing is next! Maybe at a new location . . .

Primer & a turning point

Only a few hours put in this weekend. We sanded down all the bumps from the drips from last week's priming attempts. The paint was actually pretty thin, so the texture wasn't as bad as it looked and I was less mad at myself. Still, Peter did the rest of the painting because, well, he deserved a turn. 

We finished priming and also put a second coat on there. We also towed the Silverado out of the way so we could hitch the trailer to the F-150 and take it on a jaunt around the yard. Very cool to see it moving! Wheels, tires, axles, and shocks all seem to be functioning properly. We asked Will to bail us out with wiring the brakes and the tail lights, and we are thinking about towing it to a friend's house so it's a little closer for purposes of working on it through the winter. 

The ceiling is still not installed, in part to spare Will the aggravation when installing a few additional lights this week, but also it's just a pain. Maybe we are a little insecure, too. Last year we buttoned it up around November, but now that we are at the fun part it seems a shame to press pause for the winter again. 

Venting, plumbing, and framing are next. Wall and bed frames need to be built around the vents, so I guess vent pipes come first. Plumbing is our next summit. Also need to box and insulate the wheel wells. But it seems like there are a million other little tasks to occupy ourselves with. A little TLC for the windows, their fixtures, and their frames, replacing rusty external rivets, rehabbing the faded blue paint, addressing the red numbers and external stickers, creating a spare tire holder, sanding and painting the hitch, repairing the canopy, et cetera, et cetera. I feel a little overwhelmed, but luckily I'm not the project manager. ;) 

The amazing thing is, we have a portable camping shell with working lights and fans and propane, and even if we take our sweet time with the inside, it is so satisfying to have covered all this ground the past six months! 

OMG SOME PAINT YESSSSSS!

Rolled into our worksite just after 7am and got to work. Peter patched (1) around the back window, (2) a slot in the back wall where the shower was, (3) where the hot water heater was, (4) the original location of the outlet we moved, and (5) the fridge vent. He also made wooden mounting plates for our two new 12v outlets. He filled the tires to the appropriate PSI.

Then he turned his attention to a house projects, specifically, replacing the tiles in front of the fridge, which involved cutting away the rotted subfloor, fitting a thin plywood board to reinforce the floor, and laying tiles. (No grout or sealant because the tile mastic needed 72 hours to set.) 

I was on paint-prep duty. I finished sanding the walls, then I sanded the aluminum, then I washed the walls with TSP, then I wiped them down with water. I taped all the windows and fixtures over with newspaper, and then I used self-etching primer on the two end caps and aluminum patches. (It took 4 cans! Omg!) 

Like, it sounds like not a lot, but for some reason it took me like all day. 

I spent a little time looking around for the paint sprayer, but unable to locate it, so I left for a run with the sisters. When I got back, Peter had found the paint sprayer and was testing it with some old blue paint, but the sun had already set and the Alabama game was starting and it didn't seem to be working properly, so I thought, well, paint next weekend . . . 

But my husband is not to be deterred like that. He made our 3rd Home Depot run of the day (first, rivets, second, insulation and more self-etching primer, third, nozzle for paint sprayer) and we got to painting around 8pm. And actually the painting part itself took maybe 15 minutes. We didn't get enough primer! Probably some waste during the testing/unclogging portion, and then I sprayed it on too thick before I got the hang of it--I was so dismayed to see some dripping in some parts! The key is to hold it at least 14" from the wall, and to hold it sideways like you're a gangster about to fire a Glock semi in the movies. 

Next weekend, we will (1) sand down those drips and thick spots, (2) get the ceiling panel attached and (3) finishing priming. May we will just throw the final paint color on there, too, while everything's taped up? 

Concern

My husband read Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, but it was before we were even dating, so I didn't get the benefit of his audible processing of the material. My friend turned sister-in-law* also read Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and she got to me first with this message:

We each have a circle of concern and a circle of influence. If we focus on our circle of concern, our anxiety and powerlessness will expand until we are so immobilized that our circle of influence shrinks. Conversely, if we focus on our circle of influence, it will continue to expand until we have more control over the things that concern us. 

This blew my mind. 

Because how often have I dreamed of hiding away from it all? Just finding myself a spot of earth in the middle of nowhere, so I could live simply and quietly, not hurt anyone and not be hurt by anyone. Sometimes I just want to disappear. If I can't make the world a better place and alleviate any suffering, why should I even be here, making things worse with my shallow existence?  

Reading the news and cringing at all the pain in the world, both up close and far away. A client struggles to come up with $20 additional dollars to pay for the required flu vaccine. Getting texts from my former admin at the public defender's office about a frequent flyer client. Uighur people in China in modern-day concentration camps. Refugees and asylum seekers biding their time in the crime-plagued border towns. Families I love battling autoimmune diseases, mental health episodes, financial hardships, and relationship dysfunctions. The persecuted church. 

Bad things happen. The world is broken. We are broken. The only place we can go to escape the weight of all these brokenness is the arms of Jesus and the seat of His promises that He is coming back for us and He is making all things right. 

So, there is an escape. And that escape is not daydreams about traveling or backpacking, it is not the zany antics of Malcolm's family. The escape isn't online shopping or cooking or yoga or face masks. Not that any of these things are bad or wrong, but I am still using them to soothe an anxiety that they cannot soothe! 

The escape is in obedience to Jesus. In remembering and encouraging my friends. In taking care of my husband. In working as unto Him in my job. In praying for those who suffer and are persecuted. In studying His words and promises that I will not forget what He said. In serving strangers with my time and money. 

Only He can help me grow my circle of influence so I am not swallowed up entirely by my circle of concern. Only He is my escape. 

*If you are the wife of her husband's brother, you are sisters-in-law, and this is the dream of most friends, that you marry a pair of attractive brothers and your kiddos grow up as cousins, I am living that dream, y'all!

End cap completion!

Friday night we rolled in like ghosts and loaded up, eight--yes, eight!--tires into our Toyota Camry to try to squeeze them in with an oil change. It was only $25 per tire to swap them out and balance them! (Also I learned what it means to balance a tire, lol.) The wheels were too old for the place to guarantee the tires for warranty purposes, but they put new valve stems on there and they look 100. 

Peter finished bolting the shocks into place with the tires off and successfully made his own washer using a fat titanium drill bit. (Glad I did not see that project in process!) While the tires were off, he used some Rust Reformer paint to hit the exposed frame in that area--the steel was in great shape already, but some extra protection is good for peace of mind. 

I spent some time with the wire brush on the drill trying to polish up the hubcaps and they are 90% of the way there, save for some stubborn spots. Now that the wheels, axles, and shocks are all set, and the jack still works, we can tow this thing to the welder to get that one outrigger fixed! (Okay, after the brakes get wired in and we replace our taillights--still flummoxed.)

Inside the rig, I worked on prepping the walls while Peter (and Amanda, thank the Lord!) worked on the back end cap. It is a thing of beauty to watch them work together--they are in sync, Amanda can anticipate what Peter will need handed to him next, they see the same problems and speak the same language, and also, she never skips arm day--she is strong! 

It made me feel bad for a sec--the wife who will never be as helpful as the sister--but I was cheered to think that he still chooses to let me partner with him in this project and takes the time to teach me things even though this doesn't exactly come naturally to me. 

So I took some Bondo and patched empty rivet holes, small rips, and places where the vinyl had peeled away from the aluminum. In some spots I used heaps of the stuff, which mean sanding it down took foreverrrrr, but I was pleased with the end effect. I also continued my battle to scrape paint off from around the front windows and doors, as well as the door frame. Like I wish I knew what primer they had used for that first facelift painting, because it will not budge! 

The back end cap looks so nice. Peter used a thicker gauge for the height of the curve and for the center piece, and the original gauge for those two pieces on either side. A compromise for weight and strength. Each slice ended up with more like 9" width instead of the 11" in the front end cap, and so the middle piece is 2'. But it looks tight, strong, and symmetrical, and the fact that it doesn't "match" the look of the front end cap shouldn't matter since the view of it will be interrupted by the bathroom wall. 

Fewer electrical probs this time around, too. We only used one power tool at a time plugged into the trailer outlets, and compressor stayed plugged in to the house. We plugged into the living room outlet instead of the outside GFCI outlet. Surge protector did the same thing where it blocked power to the system, but after a few minutes it self-corrected and started working fine. And the battery charged! 

We bought some Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 Primer, painter's tape, and some self-etching primer at the end of the weekend. Now we just need to figure out how to support the wires in the ceiling and squeeze insulation in there, and we can hopefully close the ceiling up and prime that ish. Also, patches. 

Some small things

Got off to a late start thanks to my ill-fated decisions, but Peter was a good sport and he bought me a chicken biscuit. 

We are getting the hang of the electrical set-up. First I noticed that with the shop-vac and the air compressor both running via the outlets, the inverter was blinking overload, so we switched to running the air compressor directly from the house instead. Then the surge protector inside of the Airstream started blinking a red light that said "CAUTION WHEN BLINKING" and wouldn't send any power to the inverter. Strangely, the fans (which are 12v and theoretically hooked up to the battery, which had plenty of charge) would not power on either. 

And then after maybe 2 minutes of us staring at it and thinking, it fixed itself. This happened a few more times. Throughout the day, I would hear the inverter running while we were only using AC power, which troubled me a little because I thought shore power should be able to bypass the inverter, but once or twice the "AC Mode" indicator was glowing, which comforted me. 

What did not comfort me is that when the surge protector detected an error and blocked incoming power, the power tools we had plugged in would continue running off the battery like nothing was happening--a cool feature for uninterrupted power use, but now how I'm wanting to use our battery. I am regretting having it wired to bypass the fridge, because it seems like we actually would have enough power to run it off our battery. 

Also, the 12v lighting worked even when the battery switch was off. How is that possible? This is the disadvantage of not doing your system yourself--you don't know how to troubleshoot it! 

First, Peter installed the shocks. He used blocks and the hydraulic lift to force pressure on the tires until the wheel mount was aligned, and the shocks fit right into place like Colin said they would. The washers that came with the new one weren't quite right, so he reused the old ones. And we were one short! So Peter made his own by using a fat drill bit to widen another washer he had. Such a problem solver. 

After that, he came inside the rig with me and riveted in the rest of the upper walls, which took some finessing to preserve the tension in the curve, especially around the vista windows, where you can't rivet due to the sliding window shade. He also wrapped up with the rivets in the front end cap. We are still waiting on the aluminum for the back end cap. He ordered a thicker gauge for more support. 

I think he's glad he started with the front end cap, because if he had started with the back, he might have lost his enthusiasm for it, but the front one looks so good! And I think the back one will look nice also, even if it's not perfect. 

My contribution was to try to strip some of the lingering paint lumps off the skins and also the rods that hold the ceiling in place. I also used some 60 & 120 grit sandpaper on the multitool to prep the walls for painting. It was so nice to have our fans going while we were working in there! And the light! We got some Bondo to patch areas where the vinyl has pulled away and also too-large rivet holes. We also got some self-etching primer and TSP. So close to painting, so close! 

Starting the back end cap

We couldn't wait to get to the trailer to admire Will's handiwork--lights! Omg! All the outlets and switches are wired in, too! He cut three holes in the interior skin for the addition of a switch, DC outlet, and AC outlet next to the bed, and it looks professional AF. Propane also looks stealth. Feel really lucky to have found someone to help us who does such great work! My sister stopped by so we gave her the demonstration--but she hadn't seen how far it had come since demolition so I think she was confused about why we were so excited. :P 

When we installed the axles, the shocks wouldn't reach the mounting bolt sticking out of the frame, so Peter called up our axle vendor for more information. He said because we had the frame up on blocks, there was no weight on the wheels to push the torsion arm forward. Peter took the frame off of the supports and sure enough, the first shock installed perfectly. 

Since Will tested the AC power, we were free to use the outlets inside the trailer for our power tools! I was nervous at first because the inverter was definitely running, but the battery level was unaffected, so I think it is indeed working the way it's supposed to. With the wires more or less squared away (I say more or less because we have lighting still to add in both of the endcaps, the bathroom, and above the sink), we were free to turn to the back end cap, the last piece of exposed wall! 

The challenge presented by the back end cap as opposed to the front is that there is less window and more wall; the back is so much bigger than the front. Peter was worried the aluminum might be too thin to provide its own tension and rigidity. He went to Home Depot and came back with an 8' aluminum bracket, which he cut in two and rivets between the closest rib and the window frame. Then he cut two 24" panels to rivet into that bracket and the original skin on the panel below. 

While he was doing this, I was adding insulation behind all the upper wall panels and trying to adjust the AC wires so they would press flat against the curve of the wall between the ceiling track and the inlet to the electrical platform. One of those fussy little jobs that took me a stupid long time. I also unearthed the tracks for the middle ceiling panel and attempted to scrape paint off of there--went a little rogue. 

I wasn't present for most of the construction of the front end cap, so Peter talked me through how the magic happens. He cut our remaining aluminum into 12" strips. We sorted them so that we knew which long side was the straightest: this would be the visible side. We pulled two pieces with the ugliest long sides to be the bottom pieces, because these guys were going to be cut again. We took one, cleco'd it into place, and traced the curve of the wall to the window frame. Peter cut along the line and then used it as a template to cut the other side. And these are the only end cap pieces that need cutting to fit the curve! 

Peter had made a rivet spacer out of an old campaign sign, so we clamped the 12" strips together and drilled holes along the straight, attractive long side. Then, piece by piece, we slid each panel behind the existing wall, anchored it with clecos at the rib, at the start of the curve, and at the window frame. Used the rivet holes we had drilled on the bottom edge to drill out rivet holes for the top edge of the piece underneath. Peter riveted while I laid insulation for the next level. 

There is almost too much tension in the pieces up so far, on the curbside because of the vent pipe nested in the wall and on the streetside because of the thick tangle of AC wires I couldn't fully tame. Some of the pieces we cut are longer than others (because we were at the end of the roll), and the longer pieces aren't sliding behind the existing walls quite right, they're hitting a rib or a rivet or something. When Peter would rivet the next piece on top, the tension would pull out of the piece below a bit, so hopefully this trend will continue up the wall, but so far this one is much more finicky than the front end cap. 

I was unraveling like a little baby, so we only got 4 pieces in before it was time to call it quits. When she was over checking out the Airstream, my sister had asked me if we fight at all during this project. Of course we get frustrated with each other, but on days like this when I am just a noodge, I am so thankful for Peter's kindness towards me! To finish the end cap we need to order about 8' more aluminum, which is a bummer because shipping is so expensive, but we have several interior patches to do also, so it will be put to use. 

We spent our ride home learning how to break the bead and change a tire, so that might be something we end up doing ourselves! It feels so empowering to be developing these new skills. 

Once the back end cap is finished, we have to cut out the Fan-tastic vent holes from the ceiling panel and figure out how to hold all the wires in the ceiling into their little slots so they aren't resting completely on the ceiling panel. Then we have to locate the paint sprayer at the farm. I was supposed to start sanding the walls this past weekend, but, you know how it be. Painting feels like the next frontier, and also a priority before it gets too cold out. The trailer doesn't look like much inside at the moment cos the walls are so ugly, but with a coat of paint on there I feel like the progress will be more palpable to outsiders. ;)

WOW! Axles!

 Reeeeeally exciting weekend! Despite getting on the road a little later than hoped for, we were able to get over to the shipping depot before it closed to pick up our axles! (For posterity, axles are #3500 axle with 12" brakes, powder coated tubes, 32 degrees torsion arms down angle, EZ lube spindles, with shock brackets welded in place.) I felt like I was in the movie Cars, watching the forklifts zip around the warehouse--it was so COOL! 

The next morning Peter got to disassembling while I was on rust-bust duty. Thankfully the wheel covers popped off pretty easily and once Peter was able to break through the first revolution, the lug nuts spun off easily. (For posterity, #21.) Then he detached the mysterious water tank and, ew, it still had water in it. He had been spraying the bolts on the old axles with WD-40 for weeks in preparation for this, and it paid off because he was able to drop the old axles with minimal finagling. We took a wire brush bit and a sander to the frame, but I was again so pleased to see what good condition it was in. 

Ostensibly, getting the new axles in place could be a two-person job, but only if the second person is a lot stronger than me. We put one end on a sheet of plywood, and Peter lifted the other end while I pulled the plywood under it was in place under the Airstream. I am not sure at all all how we lifted the first axle into place: it was some combo of Peter benching the axle while wiggling blocks underneath until it was up off the ground enough to lift it the rest of the way with a bottle jack. Peter had watched enough install videos on Youtube to learn that the axle slots in the frame would need to be widened half an inch to the back, so he used a jigsaw to make those cuts. He also made the slot a bit deeper so there would be more contact between the frame and the axle. 

We called in the calvary for the second axle. Amanda and Prudence lifted one end end while Peter lifted the other, and I stacked blocks, but it slipped and nearly crushed the four of us, so instead Peter and Amanda did the lifting while Prudence and I slipped temporary bolts into place to hold it against the frame, which worked a lot better.

Instead of balancing the jack in the middle, Peter put it under the bracket where the bolt was so that we could then use a sledgehammer to adjust the alignment. What was amazing was the brackets were tight against the frame, so you really had to get it lined up just right for both sides to go up into their slots, but strangely this wasn't too challenging, and the extra tension from that tightness also helped hold the axles up while we adjusted for the bolts. What was also amazing was that once the axle was fitted into its slot, Peter could finish the installation all by himself.

Peter tried to install the shocks, too, but they didn't quite fit, so he is going to do a bit more research. For a second I thought maybe we installed the axles upside down. His theory is that since we changed the torsion angle from the standard, it is making the shocks just a little too short. While Peter finished bolting the axles on, I used the wire brush & drill on the wheels to get the rust off. Once the axles were bolted on, we put the wheels back on and voila! Kind of crazy to think that we are just 4 tires away from being able to safely tow this thing! Like the subfloor, axles were a huge project I was super intimidated by, but my baby just got in there and got it done! 

In preparation for reinstalling the fresh water tank, we added plywood reinforcement to the subfloor seams in that compartment before we called it quits for the day. Lots of crawling around under the Airstream today, but thankfully no snake encounters.

Before we got out of Dodge on Sunday, we insulated the last back corner and put the last piece of original skin into place. Now all the walls are up except for the back end cap. The back end cap will take some finessing because it is "deeper" and covers more area without rib support than the front end cap. But Peter is also working with the benefit of experience now. 

Will is coming to run the propane lines and wrap up loose ends with the electric. I expect the back end cap will take a chunk of time, but since the tank venting is already mostly dry-fitted, we could be working on plumbing really soon!