Remodel of my 1996

Restoring a B190? Start a thread here so we can follow your progress!
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

Gutted bathroom pics. Some rot in the floor on the drivers side, so I'll be cutting out the plywood and laying down new. Painted, like it should have been from the factory. The passenger's side has the closet with the HW heater and furnace in it, I'm keeping the furnace and removing the HW heater to put in the recirculating shower. I'll box out the furnace and keep that area for storage, while taking out the panel near the HW heater so I can have more room for the shower.
Attachments
IMG_0434.jpg
IMG_0434.jpg (80.67 KiB) Viewed 2524 times
IMG_0433.jpg
IMG_0433.jpg (92.18 KiB) Viewed 2524 times
User avatar
skater
Site Admin
Posts: 2569
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
WBCCI: 13270
Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by skater »

You have a leak in or around the water heater - see the line on the cardboard? I have the same issue. It's likely either the water heater tank itself, one of the lines/connections for it, or the caulk outside.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

Yep, saw that. The heater is coming out, so it's really a non issue. I expect some damage to the flooring, but I'll be cutting the entire back area out of the van anyway and starting fresh.

Any idea how difficult is is to pull the heater out? Everything else has been fairly easy, so I'm guessing that will be also.
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

Thoughts on my new potential shower?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/FLEX-SEAL-F ... /301711550

Paint the entire bathroom with this stuff (or equivalent).

https://www.amazon.com/Collapsible-Thre ... =UTF8&th=1

Put this down to define the shower space. Toilet mounts on a slider that goes into the closet area on the passengers side, shower area has a 'cover' I can put over it when it's not in use.
User avatar
skater
Site Admin
Posts: 2569
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
WBCCI: 13270
Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by skater »

kstills wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 7:18 am
Yep, saw that. The heater is coming out, so it's really a non issue. I expect some damage to the flooring, but I'll be cutting the entire back area out of the van anyway and starting fresh.

Any idea how difficult is is to pull the heater out? Everything else has been fairly easy, so I'm guessing that will be also.
I think it's basically just: Disconnect the water lines and wires, remove the screws on the outside, cut the caulk, and pull.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
User avatar
skater
Site Admin
Posts: 2569
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
WBCCI: 13270
Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by skater »

kstills wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 1:31 pm
Thoughts on my new potential shower?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/FLEX-SEAL-F ... /301711550

Paint the entire bathroom with this stuff (or equivalent).

https://www.amazon.com/Collapsible-Thre ... =UTF8&th=1

Put this down to define the shower space. Toilet mounts on a slider that goes into the closet area on the passengers side, shower area has a 'cover' I can put over it when it's not in use.
So you're just going to seal the walls and floor, if I understood correctly. Interesting idea. What's the plan for the drain?

I'm not sure I understand the slider toilet idea, though.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

I'll run that dam around the entire floor in the back. It will be up against the walls on the drivers side, so it won't impact walking in the area. I'll have it off the wall on the passengers side, but I'll make a cover for that area so I can move things in and out without affecting the dam.

When I put the new subfloor down I'll slope it towards the drain for the grey tank. Since it's a recirculation shower, there will be two drains, that one will be plugged until I need to drain the system. That's my working theory atm. You can see the drain to the grey tank on the DS pic I posted.

For the toilet, once the HW heater is out of the van, I think I'll have enough room to put the toilet in that space on sliders so that when it's not in use it's in the wall, when you need to use it you just slide it out. That design will be tricky, and may not work, because I also intend to put the filtration system for the shower in that area. I think I can mount most of the plumbing for the shower up on the wall, so I'm hoping they both fit.
Attachments
IMG_0433.jpg
IMG_0433.jpg (92.18 KiB) Viewed 2495 times
IMG_0434.jpg
IMG_0434.jpg (80.67 KiB) Viewed 2495 times
User avatar
skater
Site Admin
Posts: 2569
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
WBCCI: 13270
Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by skater »

Interesting. I'm curious to see how this turns out.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

Another weekend, another few pieces of the B van pulled out. 8O

Pulled the tire carrier off the back of the van, which was a bit of a pita for one guy, but I eventually got it off. I need to repaint it as some of the powder coating had delaminated and it was starting to rust, but I was happy to see that my particular van had supports on the inside of the van to distribute the weight of the tire and carrier so they wouldn't pull out of the door. Good job, Airstream!

Moving into the van, I pulled out the uprights for the fridge enclosure plus the base and the front trim. Pretty straight forward, although someone was using dicor as construction adhesive on the damn inside for some reason. I guess when they got the leak, the decided to just put dicor everywhere. Moving to the back of the van, I pulled part of the decorative cloth covered panel off the side of the fiberglass shell, turns out it's just luan (unpainted :evil: ) covered with fabric. Taking it off and putting it back will be easy peasy. I cut the closet door panel off the passengers side in order to start to get an idea how the toilet and shower will fit into that space.

I've been back and forth on how best to make a shower pan/bathroom area, my latest idea is to use epoxy paint. I've read bad things about the Flexseal, don't like the FPR I can buy, and want to use something waterproof that I can color. With the epoxy, I may be able to paint the interior in order to make it look like one of the more modern Airstreams, which may or may not be a good thing. Plus, it will definitely provide a waterproof shower pan option.

I started cutting out the 3/4" plywood out of the bathroom area, that will be an ongoing project.

Once again, very little insulation. I assume there will be a substantial reduction in road noise once I get this buttoned up again.

Oh, I pulled the DS window thinking that would be a fairly easy fix. Turns out I have a huuuge freaking gap, I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to seal that. Thinking I'll double up the butyl tape around the frame, then caulk it real well. I have to have the interior panel installed before I can finish that job (doh) so it will be a bit before I get back to it.

Plumbing question for you folks who've made it this far. The sink drain ties into the grey and black tank stacks. I'm getting rid of the black tank, so that's not an issue, and I'm going to re-route the grey tank to the DS up into the fridge vent. Code for houses is that you need an air admittance valve under the sink now, I would assume that would provide the same benefit as tying the drain into the stack? Opinions on that appreciated.
Attachments
68157593703__6F0232F2-1916-429A-BC63-CC28E78971A7.jpg
68157593703__6F0232F2-1916-429A-BC63-CC28E78971A7.jpg (105.21 KiB) Viewed 2479 times
68157604746__7E2C0E65-7666-4127-8B78-2A9901E740CD.jpg
68157604746__7E2C0E65-7666-4127-8B78-2A9901E740CD.jpg (97.35 KiB) Viewed 2479 times
IMG_0442.jpg
IMG_0442.jpg (67.4 KiB) Viewed 2479 times
IMG_0441.jpg
IMG_0441.jpg (85.92 KiB) Viewed 2479 times
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

I've been kicking around a lot of ideas lately, now that parts of the B are demoed.

The bathroom will be epoxied. However, it's possible to put wallpaper on the luan and epoxy over that, which will give me both the wood look and the resistance I'm looking for.

Alternately, I can wrap the luan with foam backed vinyl ala the current ceiling. The advantage there would be to provide water resistance and sound mitigation.

I'm reposting the pic of the DS window above the sofa, because I think I can build a header above that and install shades instead of using curtains. The luan will be off the wall a bit further than a standard B, however the extra space behind it can be filled with insulation. My guess is I can do that to the kitchen window also, and probably to the upper windows. I'm going to sacrifice a little bit of space for a more modern interior.
Attachments
Sofa Wall (1).jpg
Sofa Wall (1).jpg (94.82 KiB) Viewed 2465 times
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

So this weekend I was going to do my mockup of the way the storage in the back end would look, including a way to make my vertical panels to cover the inside of the fiberglass cap. Turns out, Airstream chose some odd ways to wire this van, so I spent most of my time pulling out the wiring so that I can make it a little more sensible.

They pulled 120v power, two lines no less, from the generator/converter on the DS all the way around the back to the control panel over the stove on the PS. Then the ran wires back around to the microwave and fridge on the DS. What would have made a lot more sense would have been to mount a control panel in the cupboard over the microwave, and only send the one 120v line you need for the oven hood up over the ceiling (the AC is right in front of that cupboard). Doing that eliminates a lot of wiring, and leaves just the 12v line to run to the other side of the van. For some reason, the put the heater controls on the other side of the kitchen instead of on the same wall as the gennie switch, but oh well, I'm not tearing out the kitchen just yet so that will have to stay as it is.

I'm planning on running speaker wire so that I can mount speakers in the ceiling just in front of the bathroom. The ones in the back door are going to come out, as they are essentially useless.

I'm pretty close to pulling the DS cabinets, that will allow me to replace the entire ceiling. I've got it all off the back of the rig, so I probably should get it out of the way now. That will also allow me to pull the ozite panels off the wall and replace them with some vinyl.
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

Here's the 120V power lines for the rig. I'll have to make a panel to hold the outlets on the DS over the fridge. I'll add the switch for the AC and a coffee maker which will be on the DS also (no microwave) and when I finish pulling the ceiling I'll connect the power to the range hood and the end of counter and outside outlets via a GFCI outlet. I'll be adding solar and batteries later, so this will be the go to location for my electronics.
Attachments
IMG_0478.jpg
IMG_0478.jpg (64.05 KiB) Viewed 2442 times
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

Back when I started, I was going to pull the sofa wall to repair the water damage and then go camping. Good times..... Welp, in order to replace the ceiling, one has to be able to get the old one out, which means my DS cabinets are now out of the rig. [attachment=0]IMG_0409.jpg
Here's the view to the back of the rig,DS:
IMG_0510.jpg
IMG_0510.jpg (31.81 KiB) Viewed 2317 times



PS:
IMG_0509.jpg
IMG_0509.jpg (29.21 KiB) Viewed 2317 times
I have to cut that vertical next to the stove out, but I need to re-route the gennie electric and I haven't worked up the nerve to do that yet. It will be done this week.

You can see the ribs in the ceiling, here's the supports I've made for the new ceiling:
IMG_0508.jpg
IMG_0508.jpg (27.62 KiB) Viewed 2317 times
The 2x2s are coated with tung oil, the luan is painted and secured with glue and nails tot he 2x2, and everything gets 2 coats of poylyurethane clear to provide extra waterproofing. I'm going to epoxy glue the supports to the ribs and screw them in (to help the glue set), then suspend the slats from the supports. The slats will be painted and polyurethaned also.

I'm going to build L shaped supports and glue them around the sides and back of the fiberglass cap. My decorative vertical pieces will attach to the front of the bottom leg of the L, while the ceiling will sit on the top of the L. The original ceiling floats in the rig, I'm not sure why AS made it that way, if anyone has any rationale for that design I would appreciate your input before I start screwing these panels into the supports.

Finally, two pics of interest, the first being the insulation under the cloth panels that cover the side of the rig:
IMG_0506.jpg
IMG_0506.jpg (31.55 KiB) Viewed 2317 times
I mean, why bother?

This last one is 1960s era 3/4" ply vs modern 3/4" ply:
IMG_0507.jpg
IMG_0507.jpg (20.22 KiB) Viewed 2317 times
OOf.
Attachments
IMG_0409.jpg
IMG_0409.jpg (58.62 KiB) Viewed 2317 times
User avatar
skater
Site Admin
Posts: 2569
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
WBCCI: 13270
Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by skater »

Your rig looks a lot like mine right now. :)
The original ceiling floats in the rig, I'm not sure why AS made it that way, if anyone has any rationale for that design I would appreciate your input before I start screwing these panels into the supports.
Because it's faster and easier and therefore cheaper, I assume. But I don't really see a problem with it - I had no idea they were floating until I went to remove them.
I mean, why bother?
I don't understand this comment - are you wondering why they didn't completely fill the space? That I would agree with. But any insulation is going to help.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Remodel of my 1996

Post by kstills »

Fixed the PS seat so that it will swivel again. The cable is attached to the chair with a threaded rod and the nut worked itself out to the end of the rod making it impossible to put enough tension on the cable to activate the slide mechanism.....that also had been tightened to tight I had to hit it with a wrench to get it to move initially.

Anyway, took it apart, tightened the nut, moved the the cable to a slightly longer hole in the lever, and put it back together and now it works like a champ.
Post Reply