Back to the kitchen

Well, enough on that oddity. We need to continue with the kitchen. This trailer had and will still have Turquoise coloured paint on the inside. A good friend gave us that badly needed stove/oven but it was PINK!!! Another web friend actually wanted pink but he had a cook top that was terquoise. So, a trade was set up and we now have the proper colour top. But the door is still pink and will need to be, either traded or redone. Fortunately there are companies that will reporcelainize the door. It will eventually be sent out.

The above photo is the pink top. It was in perfect condition. Would the trade item that we receive be as nice? Well, it was every bit as nice as seen in the below photo.

As luck would have it the free stove was the nastiest item that I have EVER had to clean. But it was free and we are, in no way, complaining. It was decided to completely disassemble it and replace all the insolation.

Now, I cannot express just how important it is to have a peek at the insolation on any old stove that will be installed into one of the dry stick and aluminum cover trailers. Our insolation have settled down to the bottom of each cavity that it was placed in "way back when".

Do yourself a favour and have a look at yours. There will be tremendous heat developed when you use the oven.

I'll post photos of the rebuild once I get that done. For now it is just sitting in place to hide the hole.

Okay, now that the stove has been introduced let's move on the thr fit and finish work in that kitchen. Margie wanted a copper finish on the back splash so a web search was launched. After some time consuming hunting we found a company in Texas that had 3 pieces of the perfect panels. Only 4 and we need 4 so no room for mistakes. (One of my most visited past times!!) Could we do this and NOT screw it up? If we did we'd be in real trouble. (Actually, a second design was worked out before we started.) Now, I am an auto mechanic and use to work in dealeships in the New Car department. I installed many add on items from little trinkets to complete air conditioning systems so you would think that it would be a breeze putting this in and cutting it sorrectly. Well, for some reason, when I cut holes n a roof or dash in a motor vehicle I ALWAYS get it dead on. But, give me a piece of wood and tell me to cut it 11 inches long I will, somehow, fins a way to cut is 10 1/2!! Go figure. So when I error these days I try to error on the long side. So... this was my approach here. In the end that was best as butt joints just did not look as clean as an overlap. It was designed for overlapping so that is exactly what we did. Best of all it turned out great. 

Everything was cleaned within an inch of its life and then recleaned. I did not want to have to do this a second time!!

The one problem that did pop up was the Liquid Nails that I sed must have been old or something because when it hardened it let go and the panels were loose. I was going to have to do just what I had wanted to avoid!! I removed them, recleaned everything one more time. Now on my jusb I have used silicone to lock items in place. This is something i understand and have quite a stock of. So silicone it will be. Once I reinstalled the panels with this stuff it all stayed in place. Best of all, the clear silicoe works well as a seal at the joints. Anything splashed on the panels will NOT work its way behind making it dirty and smelly. 

As you see in the photos the overhead storage was also installed at this time. The doors and bottom of the original were in terrible shape so we cut new doors. Painted them and placed the original pull bottons in the new doors. The bottom was removed and a new one was glued and stapled in place.

Here you see it trial fitted in place. We removed it and painted that area whte that can be seen to the right. The back splash was installed and the storage cupboard installed for good. Margie has already started stocking the cupboard as you can see. Oh yes, that stove hood was aso a gift from the friend that gave us the stove. It also was pink and we peinted it terquoise. (Thanks Chris!)

Now for the trim work. All the original polished aluminum trim was saved, cleaned and buffed up and reused. On the backsplash the builder originall used wood??? What in the world were they thinking?? We found aluminum trim and the local big box store and cut it to fit. What a difference!!

Nezt was the cooler door. It was disassembled and repained to match. Reassembled and the cooler installed in its original location. Some 12 volt wiring was added to accomodate the electric fan that was to be installed in a few minutes. Who would have figured that such a little thing like a small fan would make life more tollerable in the confines of the little trailer? It really did help a lot. (An A/C unit will be installed later but that will be in another post.

Margie made curtins

And here ya go!! The completed kitchen. (Except for the PINK stove door)