Tag Archives: under-bed storage (H3-40)

2015/05/26 (T) Reflections

I decided to put off doing the laundry until later in the week.  Linda made a grocery shopping list while we had our morning coffee.  I called Pat Davidson at Apex Roofing to discuss the installation of a roof access hatch.  We did some online research for pest control companies in the Brighton-Hartland-Howell area and decided to call Best Pest Control LLC.  I talked to the owner, Ryan, about his perimeter defense package, and decided to give his company a try.  They will spray outside the house for ants, spiders, hornets, wasps, and yellow jackets.  I called Phil Jarrell from Precision Grading and left him a voice message regarding some additional driveway work, a French drain for the west end if the property, and a hole for a ham radio tower foundation.

I showed Linda the pullout pantry slide hardware I found last night on the Rockler website, a German made top-bottom pair specifically designed for this application and able to support up to 450 pounds.  It’s pricey, but it looks like the right stuff for the job.  We also found some assembled pullout pantries online, including some that were 5″ wide, but they were not deep enough and getting just the right height looked tricky.  We really want to maximize the use of our available cubic inches.

Keith showed up around 10 AM with his new Scag riding lawn mower.  He is still going to have the Hustler repaired as a backup, but the Scag is a nicer/better machine.  It is fuel injected, which should be more reliable, and it is faster, which makes more efficient use of Keith’s time.  It also has a seat that can be adjusted from soft to firm, making for a more comfortable operator experience over the course of a long day.

As much as I need to work at my computer and drafting table I need to work even more in the bus right now.  I started by reassembling the inside of the cabinet above the refrigerator, except for the liner carpet, and reinstalled the fluorescent light fixture on the ceiling.  I am keeping the carpet pieces for now, but mostly to use as templates for new material.  I would have preferred white Formica interior surfaces, as they are brighter and easier to keep clean, but the bus has a lot of curves and carpet is a very conformable and forgiving material.

The interior of the bus deconstructed in preparation for a new floor, seating, and custom desk.

The interior of the bus deconstructed in preparation for a new floor, seating, and custom desk.

My next task was cleaning out and securing the area under the bed platform.  I removed the half box covers, the flexible ducts, and the floor-mounted cleats.  I threw the ducts away and stored the other pieces in the garage.  I then reattached the strip light on the top edge of the forward side of the base, reinstalled the two circular HVAC registers (so the cats could not try to get under the bed through the holes), put the cover plates back on the two duplex AC outlets and reinstalled the outlet expanders which also have dual USB charging ports.  I need to put some sort of temporary netting over the port holes in the section of the HVAC chase under the bed, but I need to find a suitable material for that.  The long term plan is to seal those holes and install registers in the sections of chase outside the bed base.  I thought about disconnecting the lift struts for the bed platform so I could raise it higher and reinstall a drawer onto its glides, but decided to leave that for another day.

While I was working in the bus Ryan from Best Pest Control called me back and said he had a crew that could fit us in within the hour so I said “sure.”  I closed up the house as they would be spraying around all of the windows, doors, and doorwalls.  Two guys showed up a little while later and I walked them through the job, wrote a check, signed the work order, and they got busy.  They found two hornet nests by the east end of our deck and destroyed them.  I hate to kill even a hornet but they have been buzzing around our windows and doors, poking at voids in the mortar on the face brick, and occasionally getting into the house and we need to put a stop to their use of our residence as a place to build their homes.

The pest control guys were already gone and Keith was driving away as Linda returned from the supermarket.  I helped get the groceries into the kitchen.  After they were put away we had a light lunch around 1 PM of fresh baby carrots, mini bell peppers, sourdough pretzel nibblers, hummus, and red grapes.

The dinette seat used to fit in this corner The strip mirrors have been removed from the outside wall next to the window.

The dinette seat used to fit in this corner The strip mirrors have been removed from the outside wall next to the window.

I have been taking a lot of short breaks while working on the bus.  It was warm and humid again today and warmer still in the coach even with windows open and the roof vent fans exhausting air.  But the breaks are not just to rest, they are also to ponder the details of how the interior will get rebuilt and what additional deconstruction still needs to take place.

In the front of the coach there was a 120 VAC electrical cable coming out of an access hole in the passenger side HVAC chase, passing through a 4″ flexible duct adapter, and disappearing through a hole in the floor.  I originally thought the cable came from the duplex outlet on the wall just above the access hole but I discovered that it did not.  It was routed through the chase from somewhere farther back in the bus.  I determined that that the hole in the floor appeared to go into the OTR HVAC bay and sure enough, when I opened the bay there was the cable coming through the ceiling.  It turned towards the center of the bus and then went through the wall into the bay to the front.  It was then easy to determine that it was the power feed for the electric heater mounted on the rear wall of the front bay.

The storage area under the end platform with the 4" flexible ducts and cover boxes removed.

The storage area under the end platform with the 4″ flexible ducts and cover boxes removed.

At that point I knew which circuit breaker to turn off and was able to cut the cable in the living room without risking an electrical shock.  I slipped the 4″ duct adapter off and set it aside.  We don’t generally use the electric heater in the front bay, and certainly do not need it this time of year, so I wire-nutted the ends of the hot and neutral wires, coiled them up, and stowed them in the HVAC chase for the time being.  I coiled the end of the wire coming out of the floor around one of the Aqua-Hot coolant hoses so it would not drop into the bay below.

The area of the bus that was the outside rear corner of the dinette kept drawing my attention.  That corner was decorated with vertical strip mirrors with beveled edges.  There are also strip mirrors used as wainscoting on the lower portion of the outside wall of the hallway and at the end of the hallway opposite the bathroom door.  The strip mirrors are the one thing in this bus we have never liked but they did not bother us enough to not buy the coach.  Now that we are involved in a major interior remodeling, however, we are looking for ways to remove them or cover them up.  We really do not like them.

In the case of the former dinette mirrors, I had previously determined that the ones against the wall of the coach were mounted (glued) onto a sheet of plywood that appeared to be mounted to a pair of cleats along the two vertical edges.  I tried prying under the bottom of the first strip but it cracked and chipped.  It quickly became apparent that removing these strip mirrors from whatever they are glued to was probably not a viable option.

The beveled strip mirrors in the hallway of our bus.  We really do not like these things.

The beveled strip mirrors in the hallway of our bus. We really do not like these things.

[p4 R]  After removing a 1-1/4″ wide piece of thin trim wood I was able to loosen the left (forward) edge at the bottom.  The walnut trim around the fixed window just forward of the mirrors, however, prevented me from pulling it out any farther.  I had a reasonably good idea how the window trim was attached but first I had to remove another piece of 1-1/4″ thin trim that covered the gap between the window trim I needed to remove and the trim for the next window forward.  With Linda’s help I removed eight screws and the 3-sided window trim came right off.  We set it carefully aside and returned to the mirrors.

With the window trim removed we were able to pull the left (forward) edge of the plywood mirror backing out enough to see behind it.  Our lucky “break” (no pun intended but, whoops, there it is) was that the screws holding the plywood to the left cleat pulled out of the cleat.  I say lucky because the screw heads were under the glass mirror strips and none of the mirror strips broke.  We kept working it out until the upper edge bumped into the return air grill trim on the underside of the upper cabinet.  We removed the grill and set it aside.  We were then finally able to pull the left edge out far enough that I could remove a couple of screws that were holding the right cleat to the panel that forms one of the back walks of the pantry.  Something was still holding it and when I changed position I saw that there was another screw near the top.  I removed that screw and the whole panel came out with the right cleat still attached.  Three more screws and the left cleat was also out.  We reattached the return air grill to the underside of the upper cabinet and then reattached the window trim.

The wallpaper behind this panel was in very good shape except for the screw holes where the cleats were attached.  We plan to put shelves in this corner to utilize the space and they may get used for some ham radio equipment.  Regardless of what ends up there having the mirrors out gives us more room for the shelves and will just plain look better.

A view from the kitchen of the dinette corner and hallway.  A custom desk will go where the dinette seating used to be and double as work surface for the kitchen.

A view from the kitchen of the dinette corner and hallway. A custom desk will go where the dinette seating used to be and double as work surface for the kitchen.

The mirrors on the other wall of this corner are glued directly to the walnut panel that forms one of the backs of the pantry.  I tried loosening the bottom edge of the one in the corner and it cracked.  That area will be concealed by the desk, but we will cover all of the mirror strips with some sort of thin panel.  We have the same problem with the mirror strips across from the bathroom door and may just have to live with those as I have not come up with an attractive way to cover them.  I need to investigate the strip mirrors in the hallway.  There is a good chance that they are glued to plywood panels that are screwed to the wall at locations covered buy wood trim.  If we are lucky removing the trim will allow us to unscrew and remove the mirror panels.  If not, we will just put the trim back on.

I have had the idea for a while that we could make another low pantry or shallow storage area along the hallway wall above the HVAC chase where the strip mirrors are currently located.  Linda does not like the idea as she is concerned it will make the hallway to narrow.  The storage would not be any deeper than the HVAC chase is now, and would not be any higher than the wood trim along the top of the strip mirrors, which serve as a kind of wainscoting.

By this point it was 5:30 PM.  Linda headed inside to fix dinner while I got trash and materials out of the coach and carried them to the garage.  Linda let me know that a severe thunderstorm watch had been issued effective until 10 PM.  It rained lightly off and on until we sat down to eat and then the downpour came but we did not have anything severe, just heavy rain for a while.  She made a dish using garbanzo beans, garlic, kale, salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice.  It was delicious and the fresh lemon juice really made it sparkle.  She also served the last of the risotto she made for dinner when Steve and Karen were here on Saturday.  We had strawberries with Lotus brand Biscoff cookies for dessert.  I worked on this post on my iPad, took a shower, and went to bed.  I never did make it to my office today.

 

2015/05/16 (S) Trucks and Buses

To paraphrase, “If it’s Saturday we must be in South Lyon” and that was, indeed, the case.  Most of the regulars were missing from our weekly breakfast gathering of the South Lyon Area Amateur Radio Club (SLAARC), but six of us showed up and had a great conversation.  By the time we headed towards home it was starting to rain lightly.

We stopped at Brighton Honda to get some information on the Honda Ridgeline pickup truck.  The salesman was very nice, but unfortunately Honda has stopped making the Ridgeline.  They are reintroducing it in the fall of 2016, but we will likely make a decision about a new car/truck sooner than that.  There are still a few in stock around the country but we already have an orphaned Honda Element.  We like the car, but would be happier if they were still being made.  In this case, however, it was a moot point as the Ridgeline is not towable four wheels down.

We drove next door to Brighton Ford to look at F-150 pickup trucks.  We were assisted by Frank Stapleton and he was easy to work with.  He insisted that we meet his new car sales manager, Eric Wilkinson, before we left.  We felt that was unnecessary at this stage in the process, but he also seemed like a nice enough guy.  The entry level XL 2-door may be reasonably priced (not really, but what car is?), but the slightly nicer XLT 4-door short bed with 4-wheel drive, towing package, and off-road package looks like it would price out at $45,000 give or take three grand.  Without X -Plan pricing that is simply not going to happen, and even with X-Plan pricing it is not a sure thing.  Frank really wanted us to test drive one but given the rainy weather we were not in the humor to do that today.

The F-150 is a nice truck, nicer in fact than many cars, and perhaps nicer than a pickup truck needs to be or should be.  On the plus side it certainly has ground clearance, but on the negative side (for us) it is also BIG.  The back seat room in the four door body style is cavernous, made larger by fold up seats, and that would be very useful for us when traveling in the bus.  Between the back seat and the bed we could store a LOT of stuff.  It has well-placed handles by all four doors, and it is a god thing as we both needed them, along with the running boards, to get in and out.  There are several engine options including the 2.7 L and 3.5 L Eco-Boost models, both of which feature twin turbochargers.  These are high-tech engines, with incredible power and torque and decent fuel economy. I liked the sound of that, but unfortunately that technology comes at a significant price premium.  Interestingly, Ford is using an aluminum body and the truck weighs in at about 4,700 pounds.  Our Honda Element weighs over 4,000 pounds and it is not nearly as big as the F-150.  How well the aluminum will hold up is unknown.

We were almost home when we decided to keep driving and visit LaFontaine Nissan.  While not as convenient as the Brighton dealerships, it is only 15 miles from our house, 13 of those headed east on M-59.  Linda checked their hours on her phone and they were open until 4 PM.  The purpose of our visit was to look at the Nissan Frontier pickup truck and the Nissan Xterra SUV, both of which Edmonds.com suggested were viable off-road alternatives to a Jeep Wrangler while Consumer Reports indicated they were more reliable and more practical than a Jeep Wrangler.  Bobby Lundwall, the Commercial Manager, assisted us and we met the General Sales Manager, Don Poley, before we left.  Bobby was very helpful and brought a Frontier and Xterra around front for us to see.  Again, we were not interested in test driving one at this stage, especially in the rain.

The Nissan Frontier pickup has an available 4-door, 4-wheel drive, short bed model.  It is considered a mid-size truck and is noticeably smaller than a Ford F-150 in every way.  The Pro-4X off-road version has 10.1 inches of ground clearance at the differential, which should be adequate for our needs.  It has a transfer case but is only towable four wheels down with the 6-speed manual transmission.  We looked at the Xterra but found it harder to get in and out of, especially the back seat.  It is taller than the Frontier and after due consideration we agreed that we were not really in the market for an SUV.

The Frontier does not have the bewildering array of options that the F-150 has and would be more suitable for the 95% of our driving that is on local paved and dirt roads.  It would be perfectly adequate for hauling materials from Lowe’s to the house and has an available tent option for camping.  We presume that aftermarket bed covers, canopies, and even small truck campers are available but we would check on that before buying one.  Ditto for Blue Ox base plates and the ability to install an SMI Air Force One auxiliary braking system.

We did not test drive one, but it was easy to get in and out of, and comfortable to sit in, at least in the front seats.  It weighs about 4,500 pounds, basically that same as the much larger F-150.  The only negatives at this point are the manual transmission and lack of choice on interior fabric; the Pro-4X only comes with a charcoal interior, either cloth or leather.  The bottom line was that it is probably a better fit for us than a Jeep Wrangler or a Ford F-150 and could be acquired for under $35,000 equipped the way we want it.  Nissan also has zero percent financing available at the monument, although that is often in place of other incentives.  The fact that it requires a manual transmission to be towed four wheels down, however, probably knocks it out of contention.

Storage compartment under the lift-up bed platform.  The two boxes concealed and protectd 4" flexible HVAC ducts.

Storage compartment under the lift-up bed platform. The two boxes concealed and protectd 4″ flexible HVAC ducts.

Once we got home we had a light lunch.  I then changed into my work clothes and got back to work deconstructing the inside of our motorcoach.  (I like the term deconstructing as I think it is more descriptive of what I am doing that demolishing or even disassembling.)  My goal for today was to finish removing all of the carpet and all of the carpet tack strips.  I accomplished all of that except for a piece of carpet on the wall behind the driver’s seat and a piece on the front wall of the entry stairwell.  My first task, however, was to cut a short slot in the 3/8″ plywood filler that was under the dinette in order to free an AC electrical cable that ran through it and then through the floor.

Getting the carpet off of the sides of the bed platform was interesting.  There was a piece of wood trim installed along the top edge of the side of the bed base facing the front of the bus and just under the plywood bed platform.  The trim strip is rabbited on the underside and conceals a 12VDC strip light that is tied in with toekick lights in the bathroom and the floor lights in the hallway.  The power for the lights comes from inside the bed base through a small hole in the plywood and carpet.  The trim strip also appeared to be installed over the carpet and needed to be removed to get the carpet loose along the top.

Under-bed storage compartment with bot HVAC ducts uncovered.

Under-bed storage compartment with bot HVAC ducts uncovered.

There was also an adjustable HVAC louver on each side of the bed.  The louvers were installed from the outside and had flexible heater ducts slipped over them on the inside and secured with screws.  The flexible ducts were in the storage area under the bed and were covered by wood boxes to protect them.  The boxes, in turn, were carpeted to match the rest of the storage compartment.  To disconnect the wiring for the strip light and remove the boxes I had to first empty out all of the stuff stored under the bed so I could get in there to work.  The bed platform is hinged about one foot from the head end and the foot end lifts up, supported by two gas struts, so there was plenty of room to work once I emptied it out.

I have disassembled enough of the bus at this point to have some idea of how the conversion was built.  The cover “boxes” for the flexible ducts were actually half-boxes with a long side and top and one small end.  They were installed into a corner using a cleat screwed to the floor that the bottom edge of the long side was then screwed into.  There was a similar arrangement to catch the free edge of the top and it was screwed to the inside wall of the platform base.  All of these screws were put in through the carpet that covered the boxes and were essentially invisible so I had to find the screw heads by touch and back them out.

The area just forward of the bed base with the bed platform raised and facing the driver side of the bus.

The area just forward of the bed base with the bed platform raised and facing the driver side of the bus.

Once I got the protective boxes loose I discovered that the floor and wall were also carpeted.  There was a small bump out in each rear corner that served as wiring chases for AC electrical outlets on each side of the bed, and these bump outs were carpeted.  It seemed clear to me that the HVAC ducts, which are part of the OTR HVAC system, may have originally been installed directly into the HVAC chase outside the bed base and later repositioned to the sides of the bed thus requiring the louvers, flexible ducts, and cover boxes.  They also greatly reduced the available storage space under the bed.

The OTR HVAC chase runs along the floor-wall junctions on both sides of the bus for most of the length of the coach and a 12″ section of it is accessible on either side of the bed.  Removing the two flexible ducts, sealing up the openings, and installing the louvers outside the bed platform will free up additional storage space under the bed which is a good thing as we can always use for storage space.  That’s a nice bonus but adds some additional work to the remodeling project.  Such is the nature of remodeling; you never really know what you have until you have completed the deconstruction phase.

The aft side of the bed base.  There is not a lot of room to work in here so I will remove the bed platform when I install the new tile floor.  I plan to use the same tile on the sides of the bed base.

The aft side of the bed base. There is not a lot of room to work in here so I will remove the bed platform when I install the new tile floor. I plan to use the same tile on the sides of the bed base.

It was overcast all day with humidity near 100% and rained off and on into the evening.  It was also warm so I kept opening the roof vents and running the fans to make it more comfortable in the coach, but every time I did it started raining shortly thereafter.  When I was done working on the bus for the day I moved the ten concrete blocks that had been supporting the propane tank for the whole house generator and pulled up the utility marker flags for the underground gas line to our meter.  Keith will be here to cut the grass this coming week and I want him to be able mow these areas.

Linda spent the afternoon thoroughly cleaning the kitchen.  She also prepared a sugar-water solution, filled the hummingbird feeder we bought at Lowe’s the other day, and hung it off the railing of our rear deck.  A hummingbird found it almost immediately which was very cool.  For dinner Linda made pan-grilled tofu slices with caramelized onions and sweet BBQ sauce served on tortillas.  She also sautéed fresh broccoli and sliced up some fresh strawberries and pineapple.

After dinner Linda went to the Edmonds.com website to see if she could get a better feel for dealer cost and Fair Market Value for the Ford F-150 and Nissan Frontier.  While she was at it she looked up the Chevy Colorado (GMC Canyon), and Toyota Tacoma.  The Chevy Colorado was Motor Trend Magazine’s 2015 Truck of the Year.  Both the Colorad0/Canyon and Tacoma are mid-sized pickup trucks.  Toyota’s full-size pickup is the Tundra.

Brendan called while we out to see if Linda could sit with Madeline tomorrow night while he and Shawna had dinner with their friend Jorge.  Depending how the day goes tomorrow I may go to Ann Arbor with her.  We had two episodes of Sherlock left to watch and the DVDs have to go back to the library on Monday, so we watched both of them this evening.  It was a double feature so I made popcorn in-between episodes.