I rebuilt my RV!! It's sorta woodworking...

[James Adinaro]

Hey all -

I have an RV that was approaching it's 10th birthday and looking a little tired. I had the tools, I had the shop, I got in way over my head!
It took weeks and weeks to pull it off, but I completely gutted and renovated my RV.
Complicating matters, it was built inside of a Sprinter Van, so NOTHING was straight, or level, or plumb.
It's part carpentry, part plumbing, part electrical, part woodworking, and all cherry.

Lots of pictures of the RV in the process, and when completed, at this link (the link is mine, it's safe) http://www.thefitrv.com/the-rv-remodel/.

Enjoy!

[ray hampton]

I think that you got a fine home on wheels

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

GREAT job!

[James Adinaro]

Thanks! It was one of those projects where, when I was halfway through, I wanted to give up. But it turned out well in the end. I appreciate the kind words!

[Gus Dundon]

I don't get it. The link is not working for me.

[Jeff Monson]

James, you did an excellent job on your RV. I did some interior work on a 5th wheel a couple years ago, its amazing what cheap materials go into such an expensive unit. Yours turned out great, you should be very happy with the outcome.

[Phil Thien]

That was an awesome read. Once I started I couldn't stop.

Great work on the RV, and documenting it!

[Biff Johnson]

Very nice work! I spent 20 years doing that kind of work on RV's. Compounding the frustration of the builders use of staples and silicone is the working in cramped quarters! Have you already started planning the next decade remodel? I'm sure that Sprinter will go the distance!

[Gordon Eyre]

Very impressive James. This should give you many years of comfortable travel. I'll bet your wife is loving it as well.

[James Adinaro]

You guys are great.
The wife does enjoy the new RV. She's even forgotten how much I spent on remodeling it!
But now, she is after me to get the outside looking as good as the inside. She wants to get a wrap to promote our RV/Fitness theme, but I kind of like just plain white.

It really was amazing to discover how slipshod RVs are built. Super thin ply. EVERYTHING is stapled. And rather than make things fit - any gap under a half inch is filled with silicone.
I know some of that is driven by weight considerations. But I did what I thought was "right", and when I took it to the CAT scale afterwards, I had only added about 250 pounds to it.
I suppose a lot of that is the difference between building an RV as your job, and building an RV for yourself.
In that, I suppose building up an RV is not too different from any of the furniture projects or anything else we build for ourselves.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Such an interesting project. Well done!

[Micheal Roth]

Living in a van, down by the river! Well done sir!