Now this is quite a story. I hadn't named my trailer
yet, but I think she's just become "Mrs. Robinson."
Hope you don't mind me stealing that. Anyway - I
think, in my experience, many of the costs that I've
incurred are related to tools purchased to do the
things I need to do. If one looks at this
holistically, one will see that these tools can be
used for many things other than trailer restoration.
One of the lessons I learned was to think about what I
could use the tools for other than my Airstream, then
buy the appropriate quality of tool for my future
needs. This has led me to use my Cyclo polisher to
polish not only my trailer, but my car, and my
countertops (as well as the shower pan and the fridge
door) in those lonely winter nights without "Mrs.
Robinson." It also led me to decide on a complete set
of cordless tools to rebuild Airstream cabinets, prune
trees, and build guard rails around the deck etc...
an accountant (which I don't claim to be) might figure
actual cost of restoring an Airstream by depreciating
these costs over the valuable life of the trailer (or
the restoration), which, done right, could be another
40 or 50 years!
Toby