Our TT Redo~ 1974 21' Terry TT

I am excited to be embarking on this journey.  I have been wanting to redo a trailer for quite some time!  We have had a couple newer travel trailers in the past we sold our last trailer about 7 years ago to get debt-free and we became a wall tent camping family.  While we enjoyed the wall tent, and we have a great customized set up, we noticed we didn't go camping near as much because of the effort to pack/unpack/set everything!

We purposefully went with an older trailer so we could learn about redoing them in a small project first, and I didn't want the performance pressure of a true "vintage era" unit that I would feel bad if I didn't keep it true to it's age or style.  We purchased this unit for $500 cash.  It is a 1974 Terry 21' travel trailer.

We are a pretty handy family.  We have completely/extensively remodeled 2 homes.  We love woodworking and DIY projects.  I think we are going to love his project!  We mostly camp with no hook-ups in the mountains rather than RV parks etc.  Once in a while, we take a vacation to the Oregon Coast and we have a Yellowstone trip planned for late summer as well that will include established camp grounds.

That was a lengthy intro (sorry)....now for the things about our trailer we like.....

Things we like:

*  It has a pressurized water tank, however I am not sure how long pressure lasts and the compressor needs work....we have a portable air compressor, but we may have to abandon this and go with a 12v pump (like a more modern trailer).  I like the "idea" of it not drawing battery every time we need to use the water.  The tank holds air pressure great so far, we can run the shower full open for 6 mins before the pressure diminishes.  I imagine if we were careful and shut off the nozzle during part of our shower we could stretch that to a 10 min shower easily.

*  It has a radiant style heater rather than a forced air furnace.  In our past trailers, we always ran out of battery at 2 a.m. and FROZE the rest of the night because of the furnace fan took so much battery power to operate.  I like that it only runs on gas and doesn't draw down the battery.  I am not sure how warm it will keep us when the temps drop in fall hunting seasons though.  It does fire up and heat comes out well on the test lighting.

*  It is 21' so we can pull it with our 1/2 ton suburban.  We will need to be careful about how much weight we add to it in the remodeling process.  It will be a tight fit for all 6 of us, but we wanted something smaller on purpose and two people can sleep comfortably in the back of our suburban or the boys like tent camping if the nights are warm enough (we also have a large wall tent with wood stove we use as a mess hall for longer camping trips or when we have a crowd for hunting seasons etc).

*  It has a bathroom!  It is even big enough to move around in a little!  I also LOVE that the toilet is brand new!  Us girls are just excited to have running water at all!  It has been a loooong 7 years with the wall tent camping scenario with only a very basic outhouse set up.  I kinda like the yellow sink and shower too.

*  It has a LOT of storage space for such a small unit.  Although, I think we will have to do a back bumper extension to carry our generator (if we need one), water jugs, extra cooler (no way a family of 6 can eat out of a tiny RV frig for very long lol), fuel jugs, a bike or two etc.

*  Almost everything we have tested works so far!  Frig works (on gas at least), oven and stove burners work, heater works, plumbing is good (we fixed one split 90 fitting real quick and if we have any more issues DH wants to redo it all in PEX because we are huge fans of it and we have some parts and pieces already.), water tank is good, it has a new black tank and new toilet, the fixtures are all nice and functional, things seem to be well built.  The only things I am not 100% sure on are the range hood (haven't hooked up a battery yet), we were told that the compressor to pressurize the tank doesn't work very well, and I am really not sure about the water heater. It doesn't have a plug in it right now, so I am wondering if that is missing or I just need to find it in the trailer etc).  I have confidence it will be a simple fix.  It is a gas only water heater.  If it is not an easy fix we have a great RV service place in town and I would be happy to pay someone to fix it for us or to replace it if it came to that.

* The foam cushions are all in good condition, not smelly, and very comfortable!  Yay!  I was worried about that!

*  I actually like the exterior quite a bit, but if after resealing the leaks and after we finish redoing the inside we feel like the outside needs a once over, we will repaint it as well.  For sure we will sand the visible frame and entry step and repaint those.

The things I want to do to it in the remodel (or things we don't like):

*  The first thing we are going to do is install Carbon Monoxide and Smoke alarms.  It doesn't have any!  So that is #1 because the kids are dying to sleep out there, and I don't want them dying.

*  Seal it up!  The roof is aluminum and the crimped seams leak about 2 hours after it stops raining, it comes out right by the skylight vent, but it isn't actually the vent leaking I don't think.  It is traveling from both sides on the underside of the roofing and finally dripping by the vent and out.  We need to seal the seams on the roof with Eternabond tape after we remove the old sealing material and coating they put on the ceiling and decide if we just want to seal the seams and reseal under the trim pieces on exterior etc or if we want to recoat the entire roof with a coating to help keep it cool etc.  Something I plan to ask all of you in future posts.  We will probably remove windows and reseal those with the putty tape just to be sure we are water tight.  There is also a leak either near the entry door or the rear storage compartment (or both) because the floor is soft in that section.

* The ceiling panels have some rippling effects where the white wallpaper type facing has wrinkled from the moisture, but we don't detect any mold or mildew yet.  We predict there will be some bleaching involved to kill the possible mildew or mold issues, and Kilz oil base paint on the framing if we do find some as we look deeper.  We fully expect to find more issues as we go along.  I took one ceiling panel section down to see where it was leaking when it was actively dripping after a thunderstorm recently.  The wood is solid, but there is a few water marks (we live in a fairly dry area so that helps). 

*  After the leaks are sealed...we will need to replace the coating on the ceiling boards at the very least (textured paintable wallpaper maybe?) and or replace the ceiling completely.  I also want to add rigid foam insulation to the ceiling, probably the walls too if we have to tear into those for any reason.  I am considering adding a couple more roof joists directly underneath those seams in the roofing that have a very slight arch shape for better run off and support of the seams as well.  All the seems seem to have sagged lower on the roof and water pools in all the wrong places!

*  New subfloor section by entry door (at least a 1/2 of a 4x8 sheet area will be needed) the softness is right by the door where you step into the trailer...in fact you can't use the step to get in because the subfloor is rotted and the bolts for the step aren't holding into anything).  This means I will need to take out the closet area to be able to replace a section to make sure it is solid. We will probably also need to replace the door frame all around in case there was a leak around the door causing the issue in the first place, then reinstall the door with new sealant.

* New flooring (because we have to replace some subfloor and because I don't the 1970's yellow pattern going on right now). haha  Will probably go with some sort of peel n stick tile or wood look plank.  If we have to gut the trailer for some reason we might do a sheet laminate but I would rather not deal with intricate cuts around all the furniture....no thanks!  I would rather do that one piece at a time with peel n stick type flooring.

*  Paint the interior....there is a lot of wood paneling on the interior that screams 1970 and it just has a dingy hue to it.  So we plan to freshen up and brighten up the look inside.  I would love to go with a patriotic color scheme (walls off white, and maybe the kitchen base cabinet section blue) or a fun cabin theme depending on what materials I find when the time comes.

* Add some character to the interior! We want to paint the frig with chalkboard paint, repaint the bright avocado green countertops with a granite stone looking spray paint and seal with 2 part epoxy.  Make new curtains and reupholster the cushions (I love to sew, and enjoy a challenge).  I am particularly looking forward to redoing that 3 fold goucho sofa cushion (I can't find tutorials on how to do it so I am going to try to make one).  I also thought it might be fun to make a rustic door to look like an outhouse with a moon shape accent etc.  Repaint the light fixture bases that are brassy looking with flat black, replace the knobs for the cabinets (flat black simple knobs), possibly a fun blacksplash wallpaper or peel n stick tile look.  Add baskets and decors on the walls for creative storage etc.

* My hubby will repack the bearings, check the springs, inspect the frame, and we will likely replace the tires as well.  We will replace the RV battery as well.  We are also expecting the propane tanks to be the older style that they will no longer refill....hope not, but at least we are aware this might be an issue we will have to address.

Can you tell this really has been a long time dream to take on a project like this?  Haha.  I love to take photos and share them as we go along and tell the story of what we are doing etc.  So hopefully this will be a place I can do this. 

I will have a lot of questions and some dilemmas as we go along, and I am hoping this will be a great place to glean wisdom from those that have gone through this particular process before us.  We know there is a lot to learn, and we will have to be very careful not to overbuild this thing.  Trailer framing is soooo different than what we are used to. 

I will edit photos and try to upload some in my next post.

Hope everyone is having a great day and making some fun plans with your RVs for the summer!  I can't wait to get to know some of you on here and follow along on your adventures and projects as well.

Roof Repair Recommendations?

Roof material is aluminum with crimped/folded seams.  It has had dark grey sealant smeared over the length of the seams in the past, as well as a white coating applied t some point but this is all coming off (with age).  Pools do form on either side of the trailer in a few spots.  The seams are the lowest points it seems when inspecting after a rainstorm that went over.

I would like to go and add ceiling joists underneath each seam from the underside and lift those seams up so the water will not pool in those areas.  I would also like to use Eternabond tape over the seams but I have a few questions before I do that. 

I plan to remove all the old coatings on the roof, but I would like recommendations on products and tools to do so. I assumed a plastic putty knife for scrapping the old stuff off, mineral spirits, and elbow grease and lots of rags?

When using Eternabond tape...

* Should I remove the screwed in trim piece that holds the seam between roofing and siding and run the tape just under that trim where the roof seams are?
* Can I apply a coating like the EPDM coating or other roof coatings over the top of Eternabond tape?  Or do you even think we will need a coating?  I don't "think" there appear to be any holes in the roofing aside from the seams where water is slowly seeping in.
* Is there a preferred material to put over aluminum roofing like this for a coating, to keep cooler and quieter? 
* Is the bytle putty tape enough sealant under the screw on trim pieces and window edges? 
* I was planning to use the lap sealant around vents etc, but should I use Eternabond tape first and in combination with the lap sealant?

Hopefully we can get a few suggestions on this particular issue because it is the first one I need to tackle and I need to get ordering supplies to get started on it.  Like I said RV remodel is new for us, as are the products used in an RV application, but I have been putting in the hours on Youtube tutorials and trying to educate myself as best as I can.  Hoping to find some sources for more tutorials too so suggestions for that would be awesome too. 

Our BEFORE photos~

There is a collage of exterior and then interior photos.

This is our inspiration, this link takes you to the project that inspires us and we plan to use a lot of the same ideas because we have almost the same floorplan as this trailer project.  I love the colors and textures they used, we will tweak it to our own personal style, but this gives you an idea of what we are shooting for in a finished product.  http://www.countryliving.com/remodeling-renovation/home-makeovers/a5949/vintage-camper-makeover/

We have a lot of ideas on our Pinterest board of RV remodel ideas we like:  https://www.pinterest.com/julesthoughts/rv-remodel-ideas/  Not all of the ideas will be able to be used on our particular trailer though.

We seem to be drawn to a patriotic color scheme, I don't want to go overboard with the patriotic prints but some small accents might be neat.

Hi there! Welcome to the forum!! Let me preface by saying I am in no way an rv expert, but I myself have been redoing an older 5th wheel, and let me share some of what I've learned. Looking at your pictures, I'm almost convinced you have water damage on your ceiling and probably the floors as well. The bubbling that you have is the paper separating from the Luan board, and that is almost always from moisture. The roof looks as if it has a EPDM type coating. Usually painted on. That can be cleaned off, and then resealed. Eternabond, and dicor self leveling lap sealant are your friends!! I plan on redoing ALL the seams in my 5th wheel, once I complete fixing all the damage. What I thought was going to be a simple floor fix has turned into replacing almost half a wall and a large portion of my main support beams. I am by no means trying to discourage you, but I would hate to see you put all the time, effort (and money!) into making it look awesome just to have it not be structurally safe and sound. Good luck, and keep us posted!

I am enjoying your reports.  I wanted an older RV but ended up with a new 1989 5th wheel.  Keep posting your journey and enjoy the ride.

I have to admit I am HOPING that I will only need to repair the roof and ceiling board and the one corner of subfloor and then be able to focus on the more cosmetic things.  However, I am expecting to have to go much deeper.  I fully expect the possibility of having all framing exposed at some point and rebuilding.  I hope it doesn't come to that but, it doesn't terrify me.  If we survived two major house remodels where we took everything to the studs and redid tons (rewired, insulated, everything)!!!  We can do it to one small travel trailer.  I will just need advice along the way and materials suggestions as I learn about the particulars of rv construction.

I got a roll of 4" wide by 50' long Eternabond tape already. I need to purchase a few tubes of lap sealant too. 

What is the best way to remove the old roof coating?  I want a nice bond with the original roof material and the Eternabond tape.

If it is just a rubber painted on coating, you can use a plastic scraper to get any of the loose stuff off. Then give it a good old fashion scrub with soap and water. Let dry. Then, clean with mineral spirits and let dry before resealing/coating. That is what I plan on doing to mine once I'm at that stage.

Well, we have gotten a lot done!  We pushed hard for 2 weeks straight in order to be ready for our local county fair.  My kids were showing their animals at the fair and we needed a place to stay all week. I am happy to report that the trailer worked fantastic for us!  I LOVE IT!  Here are some pictures of the interior.  The exterior paint is our next project. We have a few more things to do on the inside, like trim work and some touch up painting.  I plan to get that done this week now that we are home from fair.

Looks great! It's amazing what paint can do!! Did you ever find and repair all the leaks? What about the roof? Did you get that resealed? How did you do the countertops?

The roof....we used 4" wide Eternabond tape on each seam, plus when we were working on the inside of the trailer ceiling we went along and drilled tons of holes in the ceiling paneling and we used expanding foam to sort of "lift the roof" in the areas where it was a little saggy, plus it added some R value.  It worked nicely but it was a messy ordeal.  Once we had added the foam insulation we put on a new ceiling paneling skin for a nice look (we had to replace some of it anyway due to old water damage.  We still need to use the Dicor Self Leveling sealant around the vents and skylights.  (It was on back order)

The countertops were my VERY favorite part.  So many people thing we redid them new!  They are the original counters (but we did remove one side board piece by the stove that was awkward looking).  We washed the counters down really well with TSP, then we sanded them to roughen up the surface.  We used a Gripper Primer paint.  Then I used American Accents Stone Paint (spray paint that looks like stone) it is VERY textured.  Moreso than I really wanted initially BUT it is the most realistic looking product I could find without going with much more expensive price point.  So I just did thin coats until I built up the right color consistency.  It was VERY rough, but I used a straight edge and knocked down some of the roughest texture and it was much better. Once I did that, I used about 5 coats of clear sealer.  The texture was very much smoothed by the 5 coats of sealer.  It turned out REALLY nice and I love the looks of it.  I can't say much for long term durability yet, but I do hope it lasts well.

One issue though....I used a water based clear sealer on the counters.  I hindsight I think I should have used either an epoxy type sealer or a tougher oil based type...but here is why I didn't.  #1 the epoxy application intimidated me some.  It seems messy and gloppy at first and the idea of needing to use a torch to pop little bubbles seems scary to me. haha.  #2 I HATE the smell of oil base varnish and I didn't want my sweet little trailer to give me annoying chemical headaches from outgasing of the varnish.  No thank you!  I still may end up using the epoxy option in the future if I get daring enough if I find the water based coating isn't tough enough. I am hoping that no more wear and tear than a trailer gets a few camping trips per year it will last ok.

I built the custom flip up counter from another chunk of countertop that we took out of it.  We removed a cabinet that had a larger flip up table on it so I cut the counter piece from that and added a hung and flip out support.  The cabinet was deep and awkward to get into and I wanted a more open feel to the layout.  I also wanted flexible storage in the form of space to stack totes of things, so I could stack them under the edge of the trailer once we arrived at our destination....rather than a bulky built in that I'd have to strain to reach things in the back of the cabinet etc.

I am praying we found all the leaks!  We ended up replacing a very large section of the subfloor!  Ripped out the entire closet and rebuilt it and up that corner wall quite a bit.  It was completely rotten...it kept going and going and we kept demoing etc.  We did it though and got back to solid wood and tied into that and rebuilt it like a tank.  We are thinking about repainting the outside fairly soon and when we do I think we will remove all the windows and reinstall with new butyle tape and screws.  We also plan to do a little bondo putty work on 2 cracks over the door (where I am sure it leaked) for now we sealed with caulk.  My dad offered to help us repaint it.  YAY!  He was so impressed with how the inside turned out he wants to help us with the outside.  He also offered to look into costs for a rubber roof for it if we wanted.  Although, I think the roof will be ok for a few more years.  What do you think?

My 15 year old son did a LOT of the work, he put all of his Dewalt cordless tools to good use.  He learned a lot and I really appreciated all the manual labor and demo help.  The paint turned out really nice thanks to a ton of caulking and removing rubber trim etc.  It really helped it turn out nicely.  Seems pretty durable so far.  The light grey is a challenge with dirty finger prints but a Magic Eraser is standard issue on board and it makes it quick and easy to clean up around switches (which are all new as well).  We painted all the metal pieces  like the light fixture bases, range hood, hardware, heater grate (we used high temp stove paint on that). I LOVE spray paint for all the metal stuff.  It was such an easy transformation!  I did all the sewing of the curtains etc, the fabric was a bit of a challenge in that I had to match a repeating pattern so that all the curtains lined up with each other.  Plus, I had to squeeze as closely as I could from the fabric because I ended up with only 3" extra fabric!

I will reupholster the goucho cushion this winter when I have more time, and once I find a great deal on a quality upholstery fabric.  Then I will make some slip covers for the dinnette cushions which are pretty clean, a nice color, and in good shape currently but they are just slightly is miss-matching.  I am thinking I will make those like fitted sheets so I can slip them off and wash them easily.

Looks awesome. I wish I had been able to get more work done on mine this summer, but life kinda got in the way. And, same situation..The more I tore into her, the more rot I found. And, as a 30 ft fifth wheel, it's a big task. I plan on building wood counters in mine and installing a new sink. The stove is coming out and we will use an electric burner. I also bought a bigger fridge for it. I will attempt my own curtains, but, I'm not the best seamstress! We shall see. lol

I am pleased to report that we had a very snowy winter and wet spring and we have had no leaks. I am really hoping that continues to be our experience!  We are loving our trailer and we are hoping to tackle the outside painting job this year.  I have a feeling we will need to do a little reinforcement in the very front of the trailer framing.  We want to add a rock guard panel (diamond plate maybe) so I want more to attach it to.  It also looks like the front window awning might need a little more to attach too because some of the screws are coming loose.  The exterior is going to be a VERY big task!  There is a lot of silicone to remove, and it is a big deal because if it isn't completely removed and well sanded in those areas, paint won't stick. UGH, why do people use silicone on RV's (it wasn't us, previous owners).  That will likely take me weeks to deal with!

Revisiting the roof, I feel like if we are going to repaint maybe we should go ahead and do a rubber roof overlayment and new seam trim along siding and roof.  I would be sick if all our hard work got ruined inside because of a leak in the near future.  I love that it has held up well so far but I don't know how long I can count on that.  How involved and expensive is a new rubber roof?

thoughtsfromjules said:

I am pleased to report that we had a very snowy winter and wet spring and we have had no leaks. I am really hoping that continues to be our experience!  We are loving our trailer and we are hoping to tackle the outside painting job this year.  I have a feeling we will need to do a little reinforcement in the very front of the trailer framing.  We want to add a rock guard panel (diamond plate maybe) so I want more to attach it to.  It also looks like the front window awning might need a little more to attach too because some of the screws are coming loose.  The exterior is going to be a VERY big task!  There is a lot of silicone to remove, and it is a big deal because if it isn't completely removed and well sanded in those areas, paint won't stick. UGH, why do people use silicone on RV's (it wasn't us, previous owners).  That will likely take me weeks to deal with!

Revisiting the roof, I feel like if we are going to repaint maybe we should go ahead and do a rubber roof overlayment and new seam trim along siding and roof.  I would be sick if all our hard work got ruined inside because of a leak in the near future.  I love that it has held up well so far but I don't know how long I can count on that.  How involved and expensive is a new rubber roof?

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with your camper length ?, your looking at around a little over 200 bucks give or take for new rubber. couple gallons of roof adhesive ( DO NOT USE CONTACT CEMENT ! ).

That seems doable, and worth the investment to keep the trailer from deteriorating.  I will keep this in mind.  I am thinking paint first, then apply new roof and trim along roofline.  What is the life on a rubber roof?  Do you think this is the best option for replacing/covering an aluminum ceiling?  There are still a few low spots we couldn't get out of the roof when we redid it, where water pools a little, is a rubber liner the best option in this case?

thoughtsfromjules said:

That seems doable, and worth the investment to keep the trailer from deteriorating.  I will keep this in mind.  I am thinking paint first, then apply new roof and trim along roofline.  What is the life on a rubber roof?  Do you think this is the best option for replacing/covering an aluminum ceiling?  There are still a few low spots we couldn't get out of the roof when we redid it, where water pools a little, is a rubber liner the best option in this case?

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they say rubber roofs last an average 25 years if taken care of ?. if you do decide to put a rubber roof down ?. you may have to build roof trusses for new decking ?. I don't know what is inside your roof ?. the best part of building roof trusses, is you can put a crown on them, like you mentioned earlier in one of your post ^^^. this would be a great way for water to drain off the sides, it would be a great idea too install drip rails on both sides, and put rain gutters/spouts on each end to keep water off the sides, they work great !. if your pretty handy with building things from wood ?, this is the way I would go.

Can we just attach new arched truss sections on top of what is already there, after we remove the tin roof?  Because our new ceiling would get ruined if we had to take out the old trusses and replace with new.  Or I could see adding new ones between where the old ones were?  I am handy with wood but I am not sure how on earth we'd be able to work up there, it is NOT a stand on roof situation.  We have a shop but it isn't big enough to close the doors around the trailer while inside.  Maybe I should be looking into a 5 or 10 year solution because I am not positive we will have this thing for life.  Right now the kids are young, finances are tight, and this trailer fits out needs well.  I'd like a larger trailer down the road with a slide out....totally want to redo another one for sure!  I LOVE this stuff.  Just not sure how much $ we can justify on one little trailer, the more we spend, the less we will get back out of it if we ever sell it. 

I wonder if the eternabond tape and fresh dicor sealant around vents each year etc will be a good enough solution for now?

thoughtsfromjules said:

Can we just attach new arched truss sections on top of what is already there, after we remove the tin roof?  Because our new ceiling would get ruined if we had to take out the old trusses and replace with new.  Or I could see adding new ones between where the old ones were?  I am handy with wood but I am not sure how on earth we'd be able to work up there, it is NOT a stand on roof situation.  We have a shop but it isn't big enough to close the doors around the trailer while inside.  Maybe I should be looking into a 5 or 10 year solution because I am not positive we will have this thing for life.  Right now the kids are young, finances are tight, and this trailer fits out needs well.  I'd like a larger trailer down the road with a slide out....totally want to redo another one for sure!  I LOVE this stuff.  Just not sure how much $ we can justify on one little trailer, the more we spend, the less we will get back out of it if we ever sell it. 

I wonder if the eternabond tape and fresh dicor sealant around vents each year etc will be a good enough solution for now?

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you could attach new trusses right next to the old ones, but you must think of the extra weight you will be adding when you do this ?. if you don't plan on keeping this camper any longer than what your saying ?, then I see no reason to go all out on the new roof. the question you really need to ask yourself ( and you already stated you don't want all your hard work ruined ), DO YOU REALLY WANT IT TO LAST ?. who knows..you may decided to keep the camper for the next 25 years ?, maybe not ?. are you going to tell the next buyer what all needs to be done to the roof to make it leak proof ?, or you going to tell them you just put a band aid on it ?. I can't speak for you ?, but when I do something ?, I do it right..or not at all. I guess it all depends on how well you get it leak proof for now ?. think of it this way, the better you make it now ?, the more cash, and better chance of selling it later down the road ?, this is how I look a head when I take something on .