It’s been a few weeks since my last update on Big Red. Life has been busy. Adam has been busy at work- we’ve had a small hurricane and a lot of rain, which always means busy times for his job. School is starting, albeit in a much different form than normal, and the usual back to school stress is amplified because of all the changes.
But we’ve still managed to get quite a bit of work done on Big Red. The roof has proven to be a formidable opponent- the flat sheet of aluminum is just not as strong or water tight as we were hoping. Adam first caulked and sealed all the edges of the roof, but to no avail. Water droplets were sprinkled all over the walls after the first heavy rain. When he got back on the roof to check it out, he saw that water was pooling in the middle of the roof. So he reinforced the center with plywood, making it a little more sturdy and also giving it a bit of a slope so that the water could drain off the sides instead of pooling in the center. He then put down heavy duty roofing tape along the entire perimeter, sealing off all the edges. Even after all that, we still found drips of water down the walls in a few spots. So we bought some roof paint, which is supposed to help with cooling along with sealing any cracks that remained. That finally seemed to do the trick, and Big Red has been nice and dry since then.
Once we were sure that there were no more leaks, we started working on insulation. It was hotter than Hades inside that big metal box! We used these foam insulation boards from Home Depot and cut them to size to fit between all the metal supports that make up the skeleton of the trailer. My dad was gracious enough to come help us one day and we knocked that out pretty quickly. It was definitely worth the effort, because you could immediately tell the difference in the temperature inside the trailer. You can actually stand inside it now without melting into a puddle!
The next project was the electrical system, which Adam was super excited about, but I was pretty nervous. I know next to nothing about electricity, and basically it just scares me to death! Adam took some time to explain the basics of electricity to me and how most RV electrical systems work. Most RVs have two electrical systems- a 12 volt system that runs off a battery, and a 30 amp system that runs off shore power. Big Red already had overhead lights that ran off the 12 volt system, but they were too dim to really light up the trailer. So we put these new, brighter lights from Amazon where the old ones were and added a few more. This required drilling holes into the ceiling panels and running wires to the new lights. After only one scary moment of burning up a fuse, I think we actually got everything wired correctly. It was quite an educational experience, and I felt pretty accomplished when we were done!
Adam also ran wire and added electrical outlets for the 30 amp system, which will run the refrigerator, television, and other appliances we’ll need. We bought a small fridge on a great back to school sale, and Adam built a stand for it and installed it in the trailer. The little fridge and the nice bright ceiling lights are the first things that really make Big Red seem like something we can actually live in. It’s very exciting!
This huge project that we have undertaken has been a great experience so far. Adam and I have been planning and working together, breaking things down into smaller projects that we can get done in a weekend and feel like we have accomplished something. The kids have been running around, playing and sometimes helping, always providing a distraction from the hard work and a reason to keep pressing forward. They cannot wait to take Big Red camping, and for that matter, neither can I!