flooring = laid.

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Christian and I finally buckled down and spent a rare afternoon off together laying the wood laminate flooring that's been sitting in my garage just begging to beautify the Campbulance.

I promise I did a lot more work than this one photo portrays.

After some preliminary sanding of the seams created by the new sub flooring, we busted open the first box to gaze upon our new floor. Christian was impressed, but still not convinced that gravity alone would hold it down. (The flooring we used sticks together, but not to the subfloor itself.)

One of the many reasons I love him…

The beautiful "Rosewood Ebony" flooring.

The flooring we chose was the same flooring I'd used when redoing my 1979 Ford Econoline camper van three years ago. The simplicity and flexibility of the planks made it easy to install and no tools beyond a straight edge and box cutter were needed to cut the pieces to size.

I'd ordered two boxes. According to the square footage, it was just barely enough to completely cover the floor. Sadly, when we opened the second box, nearly half the planks were either cracked or completely broken. Discouraged, but backed into a corner by a half-finished floor, we knew we couldn't leave the job unfinished long enough to special order an entire new box. We decided to find a way to make it work and removed the sections that were broken and used a few of the cracked pieces with hopes that it wouldn't compromise the overall project.

Broken and cracked pieces of flooring greeted us from the second box.

When all was said and done, we used every last inch of usable flooring to cover the subfloor. Christian and I both have had a blast showing it off to the folks who have been around to see the project from the beginning. It's amazing what a difference flooring can make.

With the flooring project done and the hardware for building out the second half of the bed recently acquired, we're both itching to continue working on her. Rafting season is in full gear, however, so we'll have to be satisfied with having accomplished this one project for now.

a visit with the rents.

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The rafting season has officially taken off, so our time with the Campbulance has been limited to brainstorming ideas for future improvements that will have to happen when our days get a bit less crazy.

My parents and grandparents visited a few weeks ago, so they finally got to meet Campbulance in person. Christian and I were both excited to pick my grandpa's brain about the electrical system (he's a seasoned RVer).

I think everyone was excited to see it in person, especially given the fact that the last house on wheels they saw me purchase was a 1979 Ford Econoline conversion van that had seen much better days.

Tell us again why this is a good idea?

Tell us again why this is a good idea?

Describing our plans for the kitchen area.

Describing our plans for the kitchen area.

Grandpa dropping some serious electrical panel knowledge on Christian.

Grandpa dropping some serious electrical panel knowledge on Christian.

I'm going on working eight days in a row that doesn't look like it will end anytime soon (which is a welcome issue after having gone a month without work between the seasons). Christian has been busy qualifying as a Class IV river guide, so between the two of us, we're not too hopeful much work will be happening on Campbulance until the season starts winding down in August.

Until then, hopefully we'll be able to order some much needed parts so they're ready when we finally do find the time to work on it.

we got illustrated.

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Back before we actually had the Campbulance in possession, I commissioned an illustration by my college buddy Austin Light (PLEASE do yourself a favor and check out his work here). In fact, I asked him to sketch Christian and I with the Campbulance the day before I almost lost it (read about that story here).

Thankfully, it was not lost and we now own it. Austin has a newborn baby in his house, so it took him a little longer than he expected to illustrate it for us. This bought him enough time to see the development of our story through our blog and when he sent the final illustration, this is what he had to say about it:

 

After reading your blog, it was apparent to me that the Campbulance is not the star of your adventure, you and Christian are. So I tried to capture that. 

Christian and I couldn't be more tickled with the outcome and how he has interpreted our adventure so far.

- Chelsea

Austin nailed different details of Campbulance. The wooden pullout drawer to the looker's left of Chelsea, the tow hooks on the bumper, the sliding cabinet faces, the cross hatch padding of the rear doors; these are the little details that make the truck our truck. We love it. I love it. I just wished he had paid better attention to my workout regime... I'm way bigger in real life.

- Christian

Christian literally placed the computer back on my lap and then made me feel his muscles (while he growled) to prove his point…Austin must've somehow missed just how massive his biceps are.

Honestly though, the essence of Christian and I is perfectly captured in this illustration and I can't wait to [hopefully] commission a second one later on when we've finished her up.

- Chelsea

subflooring in.

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As our summer jobs finally start to pick up (Christian guides rafts and I photograph them), we're finding ourselves with less and less time to dedicate to Campbulance. We knew this would happen, but it's made progress slow.

We were finally able to finish cutting and installing the new subflooring during our last afternoon off together.

Laying glue down.

Pounding the new flooring into place.

Custom glue-job. We spared no expense.

We decided we'd lay down glue AND screws into the new flooring as to give ourselves ample reason to never again remove the flooring. If some poor schmucks decide that 22 years from now, it needs removal, well, good luck, because we didn't make it easy on them.

Given the less than regular cuts we had to make to remove the old flooring, we had some gaps and cracks to fill before calling it good. We'll probably do a once-over with a hand sander before laying down the laminate flooring, but for now, we're calling it good.

cutting the subflooring.

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After we tore the flooring out, and got to the steel box at the end of the rainbow (so to speak), it was time to lay some new plywood. A Home Depot run supplied us with two sheets of 3/4 inch CDX plywood. We prepped the floor by grinding away broken screws, mopping and bleaching the steel box, and filling holes left from hardware with simple silicone caulk.

OSHA can suck it.

Roughly 4 continuous feet of measurements that varied by a 1/2 inch.

The sub-flooring under the bench seat and the counters had to stay, but getting a close cut to the structure was very difficult and producing a straight cut ended up being impossible for us, given the tools and skills at our disposal. Measurements through this area were many, but we ended up needing to cut multiple times anyways. 

Measurements written on floor.

Two geniuses, hard at work.

Chelsea, Shawn, and I tried really hard to get all our cuts right, but in the end it didn't make much of a difference. Right angles and straight edges didn't play nice with the hacked up remnants of sub-flooring.

Right angles, drawn with the best intentions. 

Getting the pieces to fit tight and right was laborious, and accomplished through trial and error. Eventually, our carpentry resembled sculpting as we traded measuring tapes for sharpies and made blade-width cuts to fit around weird ridges.

Taking it back for cut number 19...