The Flooring in the RV is Installed!

The flooring is in. I love the way it turned out. Quarter round still needs to be added, but I think it looks great. This flooring is very easy to install and I could have installed it by myself, but I had help. (Mostly I just sat and watched, but I have installed this before.)

In case you’re interested, the flooring is: SuperFast® RidgePlex Lite Mist Floating Vinyl Plank 7 x 36 (19.48 sq.ft/pkg). I bought it from Menard’s for $44.59 a package. I ended up needing 5 boxes. I figured approximately 70 sq. ft. was needed if you figure 10 % waste.

This flooring did not need any power tools for installation (it can be scored and snapped or if you have a snap cutter, which we did, you can cut it easily) and it’s a floating floor, so it did not have to be glued down.

I love this flooring and how everything is coming together. I also received the new outside step in the mail today and it’s supposed to be installed tomorrow, so that will be great too. The current step feels like it is going to break underneath you!

May 31, 2018 0

Getting the Countertop Done

I was excited when I realized I had everything I needed to do my resin countertop about three days ago. Because of the design I finally decided on, it cost me about $50 more than I had originally planned for. The entire thing was about $200. I suppose I could have just gone to a Menard’s or Home Depot and ordered a laminate countertop or I could have installed the charcoal roll of laminate the previous owner bought for the dash and counter, but it wouldn’t have been all that customized and it wouldn’t have looked like stone.

In the end, I got to choose my colors and I customized the design to look exactly like I wanted it to. Not to mention that it is 100% unique and I can say I did this myself!

The entire process didn’t take long. I think I spent more time taping everything off than I did on the coating. The coating itself only took about 15 or 20 minutes. The rest of the time is waiting for it to dry. It does need to dry for 24 hours before you can put a final clear coat of the resin and hardener mix on (I plan on doing that tomorrow).

I first had to paint the wood countertop with a paint/primer mix from Home Depot called Sued Grey. I don’t have a Home Depot close to me (there is one about an hour from where I live), so I ordered some product online. This was before I realized I was going to be near that Home Depot a couple days later and could have just gone into buy everything! As it turns out, I could not find what I ordered in the store, shipping was cheap and so it turned out well anyway. On the website, you can order a sample paint, so I think it cost about $4 for a sample of Sued Grey. The smallest containers of that color in the store were around $14 to $17. I had a very small amount of counter to do (approximately 3 to 4 sq. ft.), so the sample worked. I even had paint leftover.

I started by taping everything off, including taping on plastic drop cloth I bought from Dollar Tree down the front and side of the cabinet, because this stuff does drip over the edge when you use it. I also used Dollar Tree tape (hope that doesn’t prove to be a mistake later).

I painted 2 coats of the paint/primer on the wood, sanding with 220 sandpaper in between.

I then “fogged” some of the black spray paint over the grey. Fogging pretty much means that you lightly mist areas of the surface (randomly).

After the black spray paint dried, it was time to to apply the resin/hardener mix that I got from Stone Coat Countertops. This was easy. You mix equal parts of the Resin and the Hardener. Because I had such a small amount of countertop to do, I was able to order their sample kit, which costs $50 plus shipping. I believe it does 10 square feet. I’ll have some leftover if I want to do the same treatment to the very small outdated countertop for the bathroom sink. At some point, I probably will, so they match.

Now comes the fun part. I got to play around with the spray paint and the metallic sprays. At first I followed the instructions in the video I’d watched for this particular design (LIQUID EPOXY with a paint stick), but in the end I just did what I wanted until it looked the way I wanted. The color recipe for this particular design is called Lace Blue.

I bought three spray paints for this color recipe: Gloss Black, Gloss White and Gloss Dark Blue (on the video they say to get Cobalt blue, but I couldn’t find that, so I just pulled up Cobalt Blue on my phone and held it up to the paint can caps until I found one that was pretty close).

I also purchased three metallic powder colors from Stone Coat Countertops: Deep Silver, Bright Silver and White. These little guys were $15 a piece and from Walmart I bought three empty spray bottles and rubbing alcohol to mix them in. I eyeballed the alcohol and put approximately 6 to 8 ounces in each bottle, marked the bottles with a permanent marker and added each metallic color. You have to shake these really well before you use them. I put the spray on these at the finest mist I could.

I started by fogging in the black spray paint, followed by the blue spray paint and ending with the white. I did these one more time in random patterns. I then came back with the metallics, alternating between them.

After the colors had been added, I used a paint stick to kind of pat or chop certain areas in a random design. This created a very cool circular effect. We did this, playing with the colors, until it looked the way we wanted.

I was very pleased with the end result and left it alone to dry. This is what it looked like when it was done:

Everything has to dry for 24 hours, so tomorrow after work (I work until about 11), I will stop over and put the final coat on. The guys from Stone Coat Countertops recommend buffing the finished product after it has cured. I will probably do that. I’m not using the RV right now, so this was the perfect time to get this done. If I remember correctly, you can’t use the countertops for something like 7 days.

I absolutely loved this process. For the dramatic effect I got, it really was not all that much work. One tip about taping everything off is to make sure to tape off the backsplash. I only did a line of painters tape and unwisely did not tape plastic up over the wall, so when I sprayed my metallics it splattered. It’s okay, because I will either touch up with paint or I may cover it with a backsplash, but now I have to do something with it.

Also, make sure you wear gloves! I got a 12 pack from Walmart’s paint section for $3 or $4. It’s worth it.

Now my big fear is that with as fantastic as the countertop looks right now, something will be messed up when I pulled the tape and plastic away! I hope not, but I am dying to know. I won’t be able to do this until Sunday. *sigh*

I will post final photos once the tape is removed, so you can see how it looks with the sink and oven, etc.

Here is one final photo of my daughter, Graywyn, chopping areas with the paint stick:

May 26, 2018 0

Progress Costs $$!

I feel somewhat accomplished this week. I ordered the stone coating for the countertops yesterday, as well as some other supplies I need. Tonight I intend to go pickup the rest of the flooring and some plastic drop clothes and tape for taping off edges.

I wish I’d gotten my act together and ordered sooner, so that I’d have it. It would be nice to get the primer painted on the countertop tomorrow so that on Sunday I could do the coating. Instead I’ll plan on spending one or two days over there next week.

I will also have to buy what’s necessary for re-coating the roof, because I noted a leak over the mattress when I was there last. Luckily, I am replacing the mattress, but now I can’t do that until the leak is fixed. It’s a real bummer.

The biggest issue I’m having right now is with trying to be patient for repairs. I can’t move forward with certain things until they are done. Once it’s safe to drive it again, I’ll need to take it to have the propane tank re-filled (also waiting on the sanding and painting of that tank) and then once that is done, I can determine if everything works. I am sure I will have to have the AC recharged. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t have to replace any appliances or other water-related parts. I can find things for a reasonable price, but it all adds up.

I have made no progress in emptying my house. I made progress last weekend with my garage and I got rid of a ton of garage garbage in a bulk pickup that they do around here just once a year. They weren’t even supposed to take everything I put out, but were nice enough to do so. I still have a ton of garbage to pull out of the basement, because it floods and a lot of things got ruined.

Meanwhile, there are tons of boxes and bins to go through in the garage–or that’s how it feels. I’d like to empty the dining room and office this weekend, but I know I cannot do it all.

Other things on my list include getting my Great Dane current on his vaccinations and begin going through the food in the kitchen.

Once again, I’ll say it: my dream/goal is so close, but still so far! It’s a lot of work to try to carry out on your own when you only get one day a week off!!

I will post pictures after I re-do the countertop and install the floor. I’m very excited!

May 18, 2018 2

Things Are Progressing!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a moment to write, but I really wanted to update those of you who are following.

At first things were at a standstill due to the winter. As the weather got cold last fall, I really couldn’t paint or do much in it and then in February I moved the RV to a repair shop where it sat until recently. Unfortunately, there was no progress made. The mechanic I had working on it made a lot of promises about the RV, my Firebird and a Mitsubishi Montero I bought. It’s a long story about how ALL of my vehicles ended up in one place (I’ll save it for another blog entry) and why no progress was made. The good news is that I have people helping me who actually are making progress!

The countertop, oven and sink have been installed. The last owner actually build a new lower cabinet frame for the small kitchen area and built a wooden countertop. He was going to cover it in dark laminate and gave me the roll. I thought that was too much effort and decided to do a Stone Coat Countertop. I can only hope that my version turns out as good as the video I’m trying to copy, but this is the look I plan to go for: LIQUID EPOXY with a paint stick. I plan to order what I need this week and I’m very excited. I’m also going to be picking up the flooring, which will be a vinyl plank in a light grey.

If you’ve been following my blog, you may have read where I make small investments each week out of my paycheck. I decided to sell the stocks I had, which wasn’t much. I’d been giving $5 here and there once a week for about a year and 3 of the 4 I was giving to were doing well. I cashed about somewhere around $950. It just so happens that I figured I need about $1,000 in things for the RV to leave, so that was very helpful and once I get moved, I will start re-investing again. In case you’re interested, I do have a referral link. You can do it for just $5 and you can control when it comes out. I had mine set up to automatically come out weekly, because I get paid weekly. I started with two and when they were doing well, I added one or two more. Here is the link: Stash Invest.

The countertop will cost about $70 for what I need to order from the site. I can get away with a sampler kit because I have such little space to cover. I believe I will have enough leftover to do the small countertop for the bathroom area too.

I have a case and a half left of the flooring already. I put the same flooring in my bathroom earlier this year and that’s what I had left. I believe I only need to purchase 2 more cases, but I will purchase 3, because it is not available locally and I have to drive about an hour to get it. I’d rather have one too many that I can either return later or keep for repairs then be one less and have all the stores be out. It will cost me about $150 to finish purchasing the flooring and since I’m buying it from Menard’s right now, I’ll get a 11% rebate.

Other things I need to purchase include a new step for the entrance, a new mattress, and curtains (I’m purchasing some curtains from Walmart and cutting them down to the right size and sewing them. I believe I can get 3 curtains out of a panel and each window needs 4 short panels. I already have one set I use in my bedroom currently, so I’ll recycle that and since there are three big windows to cover, I’ll need to buy just two more panels at about $13 each. I’ll work on something for the front windshield later on and am focusing on just the side windows. The back windows by the mattress already have shades I like and so does the doorway and the small kitchen window. I also have a divider between the bedroom and bathroom area and the rest of the RV, so for now, changing can be done behind it.)

I am keeping my fingers crossed that all of my appliances and things work. Things like the refrigerator, oven/stove, microwave, water pump, water heater and the air conditioner.

Mice chewed through the built-in power cord, so that has to be replaced, but the current mechanic was able to find a 40 foot replacement for FREE (my favorite word). Also, one of the vent covers on the roof has cracked and is broken since moving the RV and the other guy working on it was able to bring me an extra one he had for FREE also.

I have decided not to move my TVs. First of all, my 55 or 60″ TV is about 3 or 4 years old and was a cheap brand when I bought it. I think I paid $350 for it from Walmart’s website. The sound is terrible on it and last year I finally purchased a soundbar so I could hear it!! I have to move my stuff (eventually) 2200 miles. Chances are, the TVs might not make it. Smaller TVs I have in other rooms are older and heavier. I’m looking for a thin, lightweight TV that is good quality. I can buy something reasonable at Walmart and figure if I sell what I have, I can repurpose the money for a new small TV and then when I move into a house again some day, I’ll just have to buy a TV.

I rented a 10 x 20 storage building last weekend and began putting things in it. The process for emptying my house is very difficult with my 6 day a week work schedule and being the only adult working on it! My 10-year-old daughter is a huge help, but there is only so much she can do. A second adult helping would be great!

The best plan I can come up with was to pull as much garbage/throw away stuff as I could out last weekend. This week is the “bulky” pickup for my city. They only do it once a year and claim that only certain things can be picked up; however, each year everyone throws out whatever they want and they seem to take it. Now watch, this will be the year I do that and they leave most of it! We will see. So I piled my curb pretty high with stuff and paid $25 for two old couches and a baby mattress to be hauled away. I took two loads over to the storage building on Sunday and I actually can see a difference in the garage.

I wanted to have a garage sale last weekend, because it was also the big garage sale weekend for my city, but I realized much too late that I was not prepared. I was up until 1 a.m. Friday night working and could not bring myself to be up at 6 to set up a garage sale. Also, the weather had turned cold (in the 40s) and was raining and so I decided to just put it off until I am ready.

In order to make all of this work, I have to sell two vehicles AND about $1500 worth of my stuff before I leave! Ha, doesn’t really sound like it’s going to work, does it? Especially when I’m shooting for being out of here the first two weeks of June.

Worse case scenario I will have to hang around WI in the RV in order to come up with the gas money and one month’s site rental in OR, but the important thing is getting out of this house and making sure it is empty and clean for my landlord.

My goal this week is to take down the dining room table set and baker’s rack in the dining room and to move those thing into storage. I also have random things I can take now (such as a fake knight and armor – short human sized – that I have in the living room. The goal is to get anything out of the house that I’m not currently using. I’d like to get the garage and basement cleared out first, as well as use the empty dining room (once it is empty) store a pile of boxes and items ready to go to storage. I figure if I work on it a little bit each evening, I’ll see some real progress.

One massively obnoxious thing that has to be done before I move is to have help literally pulling apart the staircase leading up to the second floor where my bedroom is. When moving in, all the steps but one had to be removed in order to fit the queen box spring up the stairs. I’m not about to leave my Sterns & Foster box spring and mattress behind, so the effort will have to be repeated.

So a lot of progress is happening, but I am still so far away from being ready! I just have to keep plugging away at it. The more I do over the next two or three weeks, the less of a burden it will be when it’s time to go.

One thing I’d like to do is have my RV outfitted with about 300 watts of solar panels before I go and have the help. I don’t want to get the kind that I have to set up each time, because I am worried about theft. It’s about $300 to buy the three panels online and $15 for the mounting brackets for each panel, plus there is a handful of stuff I have to buy to hook it into the system. I’d like to be able to boondock if needed. Between the solar panels and my holding tank, it should be possible.

One other issue I ran into is that because my RV is older, my propane tank is actually built-in. Many places will not refill them if they are built-in, because they don’t realize you can. If they are built-in, I discovered, they do not have to be re-certified and can be re-filled as long as they are in good condition, so we are going to sand the rust spots off and repaint mine. I bought three cans of a primer and paint mix from Walmart this morning.

I was lucky enough to find a gas station in the same town where the RV is being stored that is willing to refill the tank for me. In the future, I will have to find another place like that or will have to get an adapter that hooks my current system up to a refillable tank like you’d use on a grill. That’s not ideal for me, so I am hoping that since I am going to an area that has a high amount of long-term RV residents, I won’t have a problem getting it filled.

The current goal is Waldport, Oregon. After a lot of research, I decided this is the place I want to go to. It’s right on the ocean and seems to have a lot of the qualities we’re looking for. I was hesitant in choosing beach life over city life (worried I’d get bored), but my dream is to be by the water and this is how I can do that.

The ultimate plan is to buy a piece of land (in about a year) that I can move my RV too and then work on putting up a tiny house. Eventually I want to build my dream house, but this is how I want to start. I’m tired of renting and at the moment, cannot get a mortgage. A lot of that may change in the next year as I reduce my bills and live a simpler life. As long as I keep the mortgage payments up on a piece of property I use as a rental and continue to make repairs on that rental, in a year I should be able to finish repairs and sell the home. I actually have equity in the house, so that would be huge in helping me achieve my dream home.

This post has been long. I thank readers who are following along and hope to have more time to blog about this experience as we go

May 16, 2018 0