_edited.jpg)
We actually plan to live in a toyhauler, buy property, and build our ideal home someday...
In our pilot post we had a lot of information on a bathroom renovation that we did at our Home Base, the pilot post was just to see if I even liked cataloging our projects and experiences, and super yes, I did. So the bulk of the projects that we have and will have are from our toyhauler, this post is to catalog those and use it as kind of template for projects I'll cover in individual posts down the road.
We are fortunate enough to have a Home Base in Corvallis, where we live primarily, and pop over to the other Bounce Off property that has the toyhauler every few days to stay a night or two, or a weekend, or take the toyhauler out. We also have a Chevy that we have done a lot of truck bed camping trips and extended stays in. We are big fans of #rvlife and #truckbedliving, but life isn't simple enough for us yet to do this full time, so we have our Home Base.
This post isn't about specifics, I just want to run through the hauler, how we chose it, briefly what we've done, and some plans for the future. In future posts I will go into the specific renovations and what we used, how we did it, and kind of why we decided to do it.
After checking out a lot of options for our lifestyle, first looking at vintage Shasta campers, and other small trailers, and through the process kept looking further at the goals ahead and what we already had available for us for our outdoors adventures. We are big into being outside, dodging out, and utilize truck bed camping as the ultimate
bug out with our 1985 Chevy Scottsdale, so we have the versatility to be semi-agile in how we move through the woods if we have the truck. Check, we didn't need a small camper or overland vehicle to live functionally in the woods the way that we enjoy, we do that with the Chevy -- but those campers are freaking cool.
Comparing the other options like vans, buses, and camp trailers, it became super clear that having a toyhauler was the correct route for us. Having the ability to have so much open space to customize, as well as being able to pop the back down where ever you are to bring that space together with your surroundings, it worked with us in
theory, and it's been a highlight of the decision for the last year. We don't even have toys to haul -- yet... But we really love and cannot stress the freedom and flexibility of space it offers to have a toyhauler vs. a trailer.
We bought the toyhauler on August 16th 2019, truck bed living is still definitely a thing we love and utilize, and there is nothing like the ultimate bug out; but we have bigger plans for the future with this vessel, and the last year with it has been an awesome test for those goals.
Our craft vessel is a 28ft long 2001 Starcraft Toyhauler, it has a dry weight of 3,700#, keep in mind that is not the dry weight when we pull, we have added tile, paint, a sleeper, storage, and so many other functional accessories. So the more accurate weight for us would be about 4,200# as the dry weight. Loaded up with water and everything full it could be about 7,000# but, we have never had it fully loaded.
We basically fell in love with this creature immediately, and created plans for what we would do to utilize the space before we even bought it. But the first thing I did naturally against Andrew's advice, was buy curtain rods... and then realize we needed to renovate damn near the whole thing. Putting the curtain rods and curtains up was the last thing we've actually done to renovate the interior recently, for reference; I bought the curtain rods August 2019, and placed them in May 2020, and bruh they look great.
After the curtain rod situation, we needed to deal with the small wares and walls. I took off all of the vents and small bits and either replaced or painted them with a bright white Kylon paint or matte black.
We ended up needing to replace some panels near the drop down, and around the back windows which is about six feet of wall on both sides, we resealed where the leaks were, insulated, rewired, and replaced the 1/8th board on both of the back halves of the walls, Andrew kills with a skil saw and contouring around windows perfectly.
Andrew and I took a catspaw to all of the moulding and joints, popped those off, and textured the walls as you would a normal house, it was a bitch to do and I felt true fear of failure and anger admist the air, it was one of those super not fun parts of the project that I am really glad happened. Andrew is a trooper.
We painted a bright white and charcoal gray over the texture, we should have used Killz first because of the nature of the beast + moisture when something lives outside, and now that is something we will need to go back through this summer and repaint the walls.
The winter happened, and Andrew soon realized that we needed to replace a portion of the roof which ended up including the structure, insulation, and panels inside and out. So that was awesome. Graciously, he did that while I used my stress towards paint and couches... necessary.
We wanted a off grid source of heat, then purchased a wood burning stove and planned to build a hearth and outfit an area of the trailer for this purpose. Lots of double walled stove piping, trips to coastal farm & ranch, cautious tests with a fire extinguisher in grip, we have a stove and a bad ass hearth area. Which is definitely a favorite feature.
We've bought few large features for the trailer, the sleeper couch, table/desk, chairs, and storage bins. Storage is essential, so anything that we can use for more than one purpose is a must.
For an RV that has water and sewer, must get hoses! Ensure that your hoses are way longer than you think you'll need them to be. We have golf cart batteries that we generally keep on a trickle charger when tied into the grid, they last us about four days of use for lights, charging, and some water pump use if you ant to use outlets inside too, you will need an inverter. Solar is a next step for power, definitely.
There are a lot of things that we have bridged so far with this project, I had never even used a paint roller until we got the toyhauler. This home of ours has given a certain level of confidence to myself for sure, and a reassurance that even if you do not know exactly what you're doing, there is certainly a way to do it and succeed.
We are semi-done for now with the interior renovation, we're at a good place to alter our energy and start on the exterior. This last weekend we cut seams, caulked and resealed, and started taking off stickers. Throughout the 2020 Quarantine Summer we plan to finish the exterior and paint.
A recap what we've done and what we will cover in future posts:
Decide on what RV you want.
Replace small wares, vents, paint.
Remove walls, reseal, new insulation, new walls.
Masking, texture, painting.
Replacing the roof, resealing the roof.
Wood stove, hearth, stove pipes (flues,) and exterior mounting.
Accessories, sleeper couch, table/office, dishes.
How we travel and tie everything down.
Exterior, cutting, caulking, painting.
A year in the toyhauler, experiences/reflections, plans for the future.
Before & After
Thanks for making it this far in the post! In the future we will share each project and what we did specifically, but for now, enjoy, live the life you want, and kick ass y'all!
Comments