concretebox
Well-known member
I've uploaded photos here
So after three months living in Denver, I returned home (Illinois) for the holidays and to fix/upgrade the van. I had moments of absolute meltdown (talking to you PEX pipe), but I was also extremely happy to see my friends and family for Christmas and New Year's. I hated being here during the snow and cold, but I was happy to have a warm bed in my parent's house and a shop full of tools in their garage.
I feel much more confident that I can live in the van full time now. I fixed some obviously unacceptable things like the leaking black tank and the non-functional furnace. I also upgraded my fridge and added an inverter so I can power it on the road.
I also upgraded from a 1/3 gallon hot water dispenser to a 2.5 gallon water heater. I also swapped out the barely usable RV style faucet with a household style one-handle hot-cold mix with a removable wand. Washing hands and dishes just became a lot easier. I also hope to use it as a makeshift shower.
I feel like I've done so much, here's a list of my accomplishments:
[ ] New faucet, found at a ReStore for $5.
[ ] New hot water heater, $169. It's 110v only and the only space I had for it was in the closet. That meant...
[ ] ...New plumbing lines (PEX pipe, PEX fittings, etc), $60. PEX is more forgivable than metal, but the tools are super expensive and not getting the fittings right the first time means cutting them and hoping the pipe is still long enough.
[ ] Fixed furnace: Disassembled to removed wasp colony (apparently it hadn't been used in a while) and replaced the motor ($150).
[ ] New fridge, $130. Twice as big as the one-cubic-foot one I had. It's a one-door model with a small but useable freezer inside.
[ ] Painted rusty stove-top and stove-top cover (with high-temp paint obviously). The black finish matches the new black fridge nicely.
[ ] Painted drawer handles. It's very subtle, but it really gives the place a cleaner/newer look.
[ ] New bed platform for easier access to storage. The factory design was intended to switch between a "dinette" and a bed. I have no use for a dinette. Before the redesign I had to disassemble the bed to get something out. The new bed platform has hinges in the middle so I can just lift the mattress with one hand to access storage underneath.
[ ] Power inverter (a gift), it runs the fridge mostly. But also the TV, XBOX and rope light "mood-lighting." I also have enough juice to run the microwave for short periods. Haven't tested running the 110v water heater. Probably a no-go though. I have a generator for that and the AC if need be. The hardest part of this job building designing a switch to accommodate shore power, generator, converter, and inverter without frying anything.
[ ] New bedroom ceiling with more storage, $30 for an 4x8 sheet of oak plywood. I used about half of it. The old one was water damaged and falling down. Not to mention ugly. The new one looks so slick. I stained it and applied polyurethane. I also added trap doors to access the dead space the factory ceiling left unused. I also added a shelf to it for more food storage and a special spot custom designed for my XBOX 360 and some games.
[ ] Added rope light in bedroom (hello ladies:heart
.
[ ] Added phone/tablet caddy in bedroom to keep them off the bed, $3 find at Goodwill.
[ ] Added shelf to the closet for more organization and storage.
[ ] Added bungies to kitchen counter, desk and tv mount.
[ ] Added new drawers for a significant increase in storage. They are the plastic kind from Walmart. I added a wood countertop to the largest one so it doesn't look like cheap plastic crap. The others are under my desk.
[ ] Fixed leaking black tank, JB Weld and Fiberglass.
[ ] Fixed microwave mounting. It was hanging from the cabinet above. The spots the hanging brackets bolted to the microwave were busted. No chance at a repair holding. I built a shelf to support the microwave from below and secured with screws.
[ ] Added new bamboo cutting board/sink cover. It was an impulse $7 buy at Big Lots. It really upgrades the look of the kitchen from the 80's yellow-white laminate.
[ ] Raised up the toilet and fixed the cracked lid. The new "toilet platform" makes it much more stable than it was before. I also replaced the floor flange and gasket (which was cracked and worn). That should cut down on odors.
[ ] Back-up Camera. I wired it to be one when the headlights are on, giving me the option of seeing whos behind me even when going forward or in park.
[ ] Installed "Command Center" on dash. With help, I installed three new 12v outlets on the dash. They power the Garmin GPS, Back-up Camera Monitor, and my Cell Phone charger (which I indent to use as a dash-cam).
[ ] Used velcro to hang a shower curtain behind the driver's seat to keep the heat in when driving and out while parked.
[ ] The last thing I did was fix a bad exhaust leak. I tried QuickSteel before and it didn't hold. I used a muffler bandage this time, seems to be holding.
So after three months living in Denver, I returned home (Illinois) for the holidays and to fix/upgrade the van. I had moments of absolute meltdown (talking to you PEX pipe), but I was also extremely happy to see my friends and family for Christmas and New Year's. I hated being here during the snow and cold, but I was happy to have a warm bed in my parent's house and a shop full of tools in their garage.
I feel much more confident that I can live in the van full time now. I fixed some obviously unacceptable things like the leaking black tank and the non-functional furnace. I also upgraded my fridge and added an inverter so I can power it on the road.
I also upgraded from a 1/3 gallon hot water dispenser to a 2.5 gallon water heater. I also swapped out the barely usable RV style faucet with a household style one-handle hot-cold mix with a removable wand. Washing hands and dishes just became a lot easier. I also hope to use it as a makeshift shower.
I feel like I've done so much, here's a list of my accomplishments:
[ ] New faucet, found at a ReStore for $5.
[ ] New hot water heater, $169. It's 110v only and the only space I had for it was in the closet. That meant...
[ ] ...New plumbing lines (PEX pipe, PEX fittings, etc), $60. PEX is more forgivable than metal, but the tools are super expensive and not getting the fittings right the first time means cutting them and hoping the pipe is still long enough.
[ ] Fixed furnace: Disassembled to removed wasp colony (apparently it hadn't been used in a while) and replaced the motor ($150).
[ ] New fridge, $130. Twice as big as the one-cubic-foot one I had. It's a one-door model with a small but useable freezer inside.
[ ] Painted rusty stove-top and stove-top cover (with high-temp paint obviously). The black finish matches the new black fridge nicely.
[ ] Painted drawer handles. It's very subtle, but it really gives the place a cleaner/newer look.
[ ] New bed platform for easier access to storage. The factory design was intended to switch between a "dinette" and a bed. I have no use for a dinette. Before the redesign I had to disassemble the bed to get something out. The new bed platform has hinges in the middle so I can just lift the mattress with one hand to access storage underneath.
[ ] Power inverter (a gift), it runs the fridge mostly. But also the TV, XBOX and rope light "mood-lighting." I also have enough juice to run the microwave for short periods. Haven't tested running the 110v water heater. Probably a no-go though. I have a generator for that and the AC if need be. The hardest part of this job building designing a switch to accommodate shore power, generator, converter, and inverter without frying anything.
[ ] New bedroom ceiling with more storage, $30 for an 4x8 sheet of oak plywood. I used about half of it. The old one was water damaged and falling down. Not to mention ugly. The new one looks so slick. I stained it and applied polyurethane. I also added trap doors to access the dead space the factory ceiling left unused. I also added a shelf to it for more food storage and a special spot custom designed for my XBOX 360 and some games.
[ ] Added rope light in bedroom (hello ladies:heart
.[ ] Added phone/tablet caddy in bedroom to keep them off the bed, $3 find at Goodwill.
[ ] Added shelf to the closet for more organization and storage.
[ ] Added bungies to kitchen counter, desk and tv mount.
[ ] Added new drawers for a significant increase in storage. They are the plastic kind from Walmart. I added a wood countertop to the largest one so it doesn't look like cheap plastic crap. The others are under my desk.
[ ] Fixed leaking black tank, JB Weld and Fiberglass.
[ ] Fixed microwave mounting. It was hanging from the cabinet above. The spots the hanging brackets bolted to the microwave were busted. No chance at a repair holding. I built a shelf to support the microwave from below and secured with screws.
[ ] Added new bamboo cutting board/sink cover. It was an impulse $7 buy at Big Lots. It really upgrades the look of the kitchen from the 80's yellow-white laminate.
[ ] Raised up the toilet and fixed the cracked lid. The new "toilet platform" makes it much more stable than it was before. I also replaced the floor flange and gasket (which was cracked and worn). That should cut down on odors.
[ ] Back-up Camera. I wired it to be one when the headlights are on, giving me the option of seeing whos behind me even when going forward or in park.
[ ] Installed "Command Center" on dash. With help, I installed three new 12v outlets on the dash. They power the Garmin GPS, Back-up Camera Monitor, and my Cell Phone charger (which I indent to use as a dash-cam).
[ ] Used velcro to hang a shower curtain behind the driver's seat to keep the heat in when driving and out while parked.
[ ] The last thing I did was fix a bad exhaust leak. I tried QuickSteel before and it didn't hold. I used a muffler bandage this time, seems to be holding.
