1999 Chinook Premiere Reno In Process
Posted: September 11th, 2017, 8:22 am
We are fixing up a 1999 Chinook Premiere that my mother bought for some odd reason - she's 81! I have been reading some very complicated "how-to"s on the forum. If you all are interested, I can post our progress (with pics) as we go along, including estimated work hours. Before we moved it to our house in Virginia, she had new brakes and brake calipers installed, transmission checked and flushed, new air and fuel filters, 2 new tires installed, maybe some other work. I think the tires still need balanced. Just drove it over mountains from WV to VA and it handles very well and took mountains at 65 mph with no trouble (now these are eastern mountains, not the Rockies!).
We have not tested all of the house systems yet. I plan to take it to the local state park and test the water/sewer systems and the AC. Generator works, but is not powering 110, so I assume there is a transfer switch gone bad? 12V system works well; looks like there are two new house batteries on the unit. We have a new 5 cubic foot Dometic fridge ready to install - the previous owner really tore up this entire panel and installed, not one, but two small 110V dorm fridges! So, we will need to build a new wall section here to accommodate the fridge.
The interior needs work and we have already started. The window was leaking and we could see wall damage. So, we needed to rip everything out to see how bad the damage was. Once we started demo though, we just decided to remove everything on that wall, including the kitchen cabinet and sink. While we were at it, we removed the carpet too! I now see the bolts everyone has talked about here - but I have a plan for those too....the carpet was not difficult at all to remove. Of course my husband grew up helping his father in the family flooring business, so he has experience here. Our plan is to lay laminate/Pergo flooring. First, we will lay new luan. We plan to cut out holes for the bolts, but the new luan should make them nearly flush. We can chisel out the remaining from the backs of the laminate planks. Pergo is easy - we laid it in our basement - and stable. It now comes with the padding already installed on the planks. If you plan to do something similar, remember that a lot of the off-brands get bad reviews for being so difficult to click in place. Thus, Pergo for us.
After removing the couch and the very thin wallpapered luan paneling, we saw the damage was not as bad as we first thought. There were two rotten sections of wood on the window frame/support/stud. After reading the forum, I realize there is some interest in knowing how that wall is actually constructed at the factory. Well, IMO, not that well... (we've had 2 Airstreams and now own a 2002 all-fiberglass Alpenlite that is SOLID). I attach images. There are no real studs, only a strip of wood underneath and around the windows. We might put some wood in behind the sink area, but haven't played with it yet. Also the electrical just comes in under the sink and there is an open hole - it is not blocked off. Hello Mice! Welcome Aboard!
Next, together we removed the window, which was in good shape. This was EASY PEAZY! He unscrewed all of the screws and took out the inside framing. I held the window until he came out and we laid it on sawhorses. I then took rubbing alcohol and a 7 in 1 tool and gently scraped off all of the silicone on the fiberglass. Didn't take as long as I thought it would. Got it smooth as glass!
To remove and demo everything took my husband about a day's worth of work. Removing the window, cleaning the silicone off the fiberglass, fabricating and replacing the rotten pieces of window framing, putting in new luan, re-installing the window with new butyl tape, and adding a silicone bead just for fun took us from 8:30-4:30, with two 1/2 hour breaks - well probably more for me as I was the helper, fetcher, holder, and scraper! Next post....rebuilding the wall and window frame, and re-installing the window. Let me know if you're interested.....I can outline the work and attach images.
We have not tested all of the house systems yet. I plan to take it to the local state park and test the water/sewer systems and the AC. Generator works, but is not powering 110, so I assume there is a transfer switch gone bad? 12V system works well; looks like there are two new house batteries on the unit. We have a new 5 cubic foot Dometic fridge ready to install - the previous owner really tore up this entire panel and installed, not one, but two small 110V dorm fridges! So, we will need to build a new wall section here to accommodate the fridge.
The interior needs work and we have already started. The window was leaking and we could see wall damage. So, we needed to rip everything out to see how bad the damage was. Once we started demo though, we just decided to remove everything on that wall, including the kitchen cabinet and sink. While we were at it, we removed the carpet too! I now see the bolts everyone has talked about here - but I have a plan for those too....the carpet was not difficult at all to remove. Of course my husband grew up helping his father in the family flooring business, so he has experience here. Our plan is to lay laminate/Pergo flooring. First, we will lay new luan. We plan to cut out holes for the bolts, but the new luan should make them nearly flush. We can chisel out the remaining from the backs of the laminate planks. Pergo is easy - we laid it in our basement - and stable. It now comes with the padding already installed on the planks. If you plan to do something similar, remember that a lot of the off-brands get bad reviews for being so difficult to click in place. Thus, Pergo for us.
After removing the couch and the very thin wallpapered luan paneling, we saw the damage was not as bad as we first thought. There were two rotten sections of wood on the window frame/support/stud. After reading the forum, I realize there is some interest in knowing how that wall is actually constructed at the factory. Well, IMO, not that well... (we've had 2 Airstreams and now own a 2002 all-fiberglass Alpenlite that is SOLID). I attach images. There are no real studs, only a strip of wood underneath and around the windows. We might put some wood in behind the sink area, but haven't played with it yet. Also the electrical just comes in under the sink and there is an open hole - it is not blocked off. Hello Mice! Welcome Aboard!
Next, together we removed the window, which was in good shape. This was EASY PEAZY! He unscrewed all of the screws and took out the inside framing. I held the window until he came out and we laid it on sawhorses. I then took rubbing alcohol and a 7 in 1 tool and gently scraped off all of the silicone on the fiberglass. Didn't take as long as I thought it would. Got it smooth as glass!
To remove and demo everything took my husband about a day's worth of work. Removing the window, cleaning the silicone off the fiberglass, fabricating and replacing the rotten pieces of window framing, putting in new luan, re-installing the window with new butyl tape, and adding a silicone bead just for fun took us from 8:30-4:30, with two 1/2 hour breaks - well probably more for me as I was the helper, fetcher, holder, and scraper! Next post....rebuilding the wall and window frame, and re-installing the window. Let me know if you're interested.....I can outline the work and attach images.