I am going to try my best to keep a running update on the progress we’ve made with our new (old) 1956 Century, vintage trailer! The big debate right now is… what to name her!! :)
My goal for day one, was to assess the damages. I knew there was some water damage, but needed to really peel back some layers to see what we were dealing with. I started picking away at soft spots… and well, you can see where it lead me.
The previous owners had done a lot of patching jobs. They definitely put a lot of band aids over some major problems.. and then another band aid over top of that one. Several layers of flooring later, some weird fabric on the wall, one dead mouse, 2 hornets nests, an empty shot gun shell, and several bullet hols later… and the conclusion was: we’ve got a lot of work to do.
I was still not discouraged in the least! If anything, I was energized. Every time someone looked at my mess and said “What were you thinking??” I just felt the excitement all the more, to show them how amazing the end result is going to be.
So, after assessing the extent of the water damage, I have waved good bye to any hope of actually restoring her to an “original glory.” I don’t have the funds or desire to retain the natural birch wood throughout. Too much of it is water damaged. I will probably replace it with a cheaper paneling and slap a heavy oil based paint over the rest of it.
Sad, I know.
Some people may not like this.
But I’m a wild woman. I am the queen of paint.
And, as a bonus, I really do feel like paint seals out (or in) the nightmares. No, for real, there was some seriously horrifying stuff under those wall panels.
I’ve tried very hard to block most of it out, but it was definitely the stuff of nightmares.
I really do feel that paint seals things up nicely and keeps it safely out of sight, out of mind.
End of day one! It was horribly cold… but it was the first day of November in Michigan so what did I expect? My traditional putting up of the Christmas tree was side tracked. Instead of kicking up my feet and enjoying the tree, I enjoyed a red cup of peppermint mocha, some candy cane Joe Joe’s and Home Alone. Good night everyone!
Read the beginning of the story here:
Our Vintage Trailer Renovation: Before
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