September 20th 2003
Today was a solo day. Becky and the kids stayed home while I visited
the bus to get some additional work done.
First thing was a major cleaning. It's getting tight in the bus with
all the appliances and things in there. it's neat to see them all near
there future home, but at times there is not enough room to work.
I spent a bit of time putting the plumbing on the sinks and measuring for the
toilet and shower. We knew that the toilet was going to be right at the
back wall of the bathroom, but after measuring everything a bit more precisely
today, it was obvious that the bathroom needed to be lengthened a
bit.
We had noticed earlier that the kitchen needed more counter space and the
wall next to the kitchen sink needed to go away. In addition, the space
between the shower and outside wall was a bit tight for all of the plumbing and
toilet, so I decided that I would go ahead and make the hallway a bit narrower
(down to 28" at the floor level - 30" at about shoulder height) which
would give me about 6 inches more room in the bathroom, a longer counter next to
the sink in the kitchen and allow me to move the fresh water storage tank to the
bathroom side of the wall so I could free up more cabinet space in the
kitchen.
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I started out by removing all of the screws that were holding the
existing wall in place and cut about 8" off the end where the
kitchen wall and hallway wall meet.
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Because of the difference in ceiling height I had to remove the bottom
of the wall and cut an inch from each wall stud.
I cut them all to the correct height, reattached the
bottom of the wall and set it back upright and into place.
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Once I had the wall back up I reattached it to the floor and ceiling as
well as the dividing wall.
The hallway feels quite a bit narrower, but I can still walk straight
down it with a few inches to spare on either side at shoulder height.
We definitely will not be putting up any pictures along the hallway
though...
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I put the wall back up and all of the appliances and fixtures
back where I think they will be located.
Everything fit much nicer, the sink was a bit close to the stove top
before I widened the wall. Now it looks much better and I gain
about 6 inches on the hallway side of the sink that would not have been
possible before.
The fresh water tank will now easily fir under the bathroom counter
and storage area with room on the side for the water pump. I can
drill through the floor in the bathroom for the drain.
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I took a picture of the kitchen area so I could show Becky the space
that we gained between the stove and sink. It looks much less
cramped and will allow me to access the stove top even if someone is
using the sink.
Much better spacing. The "dead space" in the corner
(between the sink and stove) will be where the hot water heater goes.
That keeps the gas lines all in the same area (water heater, stove,
fridge and heater) will all be within a space of 8 feet.
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We gained quite a bit of space on either side of the toilet too.
The wall on the right hand side will have a 6" deep cabinet that
will house the plumbing and electrical and also serve as small storage.
To the left of the toilet is the shower wall that will most likely be
the home of a small magazine rack and toilet paper holder near the
bottom and towel bar above.
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All in all I think I got quite a bit done today. Tomorrow I will be
helping my friend Tedd rebuild the RV gate in his fence. It's in really
horrible shape and if we can get it level and put some longer fence boards on
it, he will have the option of letting his dog play in the yard unsupervised (a
big bonus).
I don't know if I'll have time to work on the bus or not... |
