Posted by Rosie Miller on June 28, 2003 at 11:01:46:
06-28-03
Hi Everyone, I'm so very happy to find this website. My husband and I are "remodeling"
our '61 Streamline, 24 foot (according to the title, but no name for our model?)...it is not
important to us to keep it stock, we want to use it and have fun! My husband is a
plumber, so we have designed a one-of-a-kind plumbing system and will have a total of
40 gallons of hot water when parked at an RV site (not when going down the
road)...many other "custom" ideas too, such as, we've removed the original cute little
yellow steel tub and one closet and we're putting in a tiny acrylic whirlpool tub instead
(with overhead shower too, hand held and temp valve too)...so, we made all these plans
and go so excited about this project we could hardly stand it...then we found out the 2
axles were shot, so we had both professionally replaced and bought all brand new
tires...then we discovered the previous owner drove it into a tree or something and the
roof had major dents (not seen from the inside) so we had a professional add more
aluminum and paint that grey sealer over all the seams in the top (that was a few years
back, so the grey sealer is pealing off now)...we didn't realize that the leaky roof had
made the floor rotten until we went to replace the linoleum...we have purchased $500
worth of 3/4" thick marine plywood, 3/4" thickness is the same as the original, and we
bought enough to do the entire floor, plus we have applied special waterproof sealant to
both sides of the plywood too, but we have not cut any of the plywood yet because we
were going to replace the entire floor in sections because we know the frame is sitting on
this floor and as I've read through many messages on this message board and the
Streamline manual specs also on this website, we've already discovered that the frame
does not move if you remove and replace a few feet of the exterior floor at a time...but
even though we have already purchased and sealed this very expensive marine plywood
(that was a few years ago) since that time, we purchased a furnace at an RV show and my
husband wants to install ductwork below the floor, plus our Streamline does not have an
air conditioner and we were going to install one on the roof in the center vent, but now
we're considering a small "basement" AC since we will have room for one inside because
we've completely eliminated both water tanks with our custom plumbing system and
since we did purchase a furnace and we'll have ducts (there were no original ducts), we
can also connect a "basement" type AC to these ducts then we won't have to have a roof
top unit to possibly get stolen, make noise and plug up one of our vents, etc...but before
we can do all this, we are worried sick about the roof continuing to leak through the
seams and we NEVER want to do this job ever again because we have completely
dismantled almost the entire interior, the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, closets, etc...SO
HERE'S MY TWO QUESTIONS/IDEAS FOR COMMENT: Is there any way to keep the
roof from leaking besides resealing it every year and if so, what is the best product to seal
the seams because when you drive down the road all the bumping and vibrating is always
going to cause the seams to expand and contract?...Has anyone ever covered the entire
top with a one solid sheet of aluminum or maybe 2 to 4 big sections? I notice on Tom's
August 2000 list of sources for vintage parts, there is a place in Kent, WA that sells
aluminum and we live in Spokane, WA so we could drive over there...my second
question is more like an idea we are considering at this point and I'd like to know what all
of you think about this...instead of using the marine plywood, we're thinking of using
some of the new products made for exterior decks, etc. that are not made of wood and are
completely waterproof, if we can find the correct 3/4" thickness and large enough planks
so we can attach them to the iron floor joists...we have bought some L iron and know a
couple welders if we have to weld in some additional perpendicular iron joists to the
original joists, but we are well aware that we can't weld in very many because of the
additional weight they will add...and we have had to remove some of the interior wall
skin doing this work, so we're thinking of removing almost all the wall skin so we can
remove all the original water damaged yucky insulation and then install some type of
styrofoam insulation or any type of insulation that is waterproof and then replacing the
original wall skin with the new Structoglass wall covering that is used today around tub
& shower enclosures and we think much better than the wall skin used back in 1961
because it is waterproof...then the floor will be waterproof (and we will install some type
of thin waterproof seal/cushion around the entire exterior edge of the floor for the walls
to sit on, as was originally done according to the manual specs), we will install some type
of waterproof insulation below the floor as we do this project and after all the
ductworking is finished, and then almost the entire interior skin will be waterproof
because it will be structoglass (and it will never have to be painted either because the
color goes all the way through...(the original skin in our Streamline was painted) and all
the insulation behind the new interior skin will be waterproof too, so we figure, if the
roof ever does leak again, who cares!!!, we're protected because everything is waterproof,
so we will never have to worry about another rot problem anywhere and we'll never have
to do this awful project ever again and boy, it will be so nice when it's finally done...we
do realize that all the walls, roof and floor will still have to remain "vented" so if water
does get in and runs down the walls and pools in the belly pan it will dry so we don't
trade a rot problem for a mold problem...WHAT DOES EVERYBODY THINK OF THIS
IDEA, WE WOULD VALUE YOUR OPINIONS SO VERY MUCH BECAUSE I'VE
READ DOZENS OF MESSAGES ON YOUR MESSAGE BOARD AND SO MANY OF
YOU ARE SO KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THESE OLD STREAMLINE TRAILERS
AND WE WANT TO FIX UP OUR STREAMLINE EVEN THOUGH MOST OF OUR
FRIENDS AND FAMILY THINK WE'RE NUTS, BOTH MY HUSBAND AND I ARE
DETERMINED TO DO THIS EVEN THOUGH WE MAY BE MAKING A SILK
PURSE OUT OF A SOW'S EAR...IF WE CAN MAKE OUR DREAM COME TRUE,
IT'S GOING TO BE AN AWESOME "SILK PURSE"...and many of you may have seen
this on TV too, but 2 or 3 years ago for Christmas, the famous Neiman Marcus (spelling)
Department store in Texas had for their annual "his & hers" Christmas gift, a vintage
trailer very similar to ours that was completely redone inside and they were selling it for
around $198,000...a really decent price for a "silk purse" I'd say...but we're not doing this
for the money value or anything like that, we're doing this because we love old vintage
things combined with new technology for a great combination of character and
comfort!...There's just one more problem I'd like some input on too: An elderly
gentleman owned our Streamline for years before we bought it from him and he had not
used it for a long time so it was just sitting out in a field in the country...and when we
removed parts of the original rotted wood floor, I hate to be so graphic, but we
discovered some dead mice skeletons and mice droppings (ICK!!!), and we think the
mice got in to the belly pan below the floor through the openings in the aluminum around
the tongue in the front and the belly pan is really deep in the front and shallow in the
back by the bathroom, graded for drainage...but some food particles may have fell down
through the floor or the mice liked the original insulation for nesting or
something...because there were tons of dead skeletons and droppings (ICK!!!)...my
question is: We realize these openings in the aluminum around the tongue are necessary
to allow movement while driving down the road, but they are large enough for mice to
get in, so my husband's idea is to have some sturdy, but flexible, stainless steel screening
made (there's a place that can do this here in Spokane) and attach the screening to the
outside in some kind of neat manner, just in case it ever would need to be replaced, even
though we have access to these openings from the inside since we have the floor torn up,
if the stainless screening every got damaged, it would be much easier to replace from the
outside...DO ANY OF YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER WAY TO PLUG UP THESE
OPENINGS SO MICE, BUGS AND SPIDERS CAN'T GET IN, BUT THE TONGUE
CAN STILL MOVE FREELY WITHIN THE ALUMINUM...we also considered some
type of a thick rubber gasket or seal, but we aren't quite sure how to make such a large
gasket or seal like we would need...THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!...Rosie Miller
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