Flooring
The original plan was to use the LVT tile to do a custom inlay in the floor. The new plan consisted of scratching that for a simple tiled layout in the Rosewood finish. One of the biggest challenges for me with this project has been taking all of the individual ideas and editing them down to what works; once I laid it all down it felt busy and honestly a bit gimmicky, so while I was excited to play with this it was too much for such a small space.
Upholstery
Much time has been dedicated to running around fabric stores, perusing Pinterest and accumulating more pillows than I probably need. I've studied so many spaces filled with beautiful color and yet I leave the store with ten swatches of grey. I continuously gravitate to texture and a neutral palette; I embrace the grey and I move on.
Who'd have thought this was the hard part - whether it's my constant battle with color commitment, how to hang the curtains (should they stay pulled to the side? Do I want to tie them up above? Have I really spent three weeks deliberating this...?), or realizing that nothing you pick first is over in-stock at THAT store.
Brakes & Other Shop Work
My wonderful camper guy came and picked up the Shasta to bring it over to his shop. The propane system had to be hooked up still, the solar panels hooked up, and most importantly the wheels/axle/brakes had to be inspected. Per my technician the grease seals were worn and had allowed years of moisture and debris to get into the bearings while the curbside break spring and adjusters were broken just laying in the bottom of the drum. So all of this was replaced and the electric breaks were reconnected. The trailer now tows like a dream and should be home in the next couple of days.
I also purchased an inverter that will convert the 12V DC battery power into 120V power. This is required for the household outlets to work when I'm running on solar and not hooked up to a typical power source. There were two things I needed to consider when I selected the model:
1) Modified versus Pure Sine Wave Inverters: I only scratched the surface on this but it was clear that it was worth the cost investment to purchase a pure sine wave inverter over the lesser-priced modified inverters. The main difference here appears to be the quality of power output (modified power is irregular and is not recommended for any systems running modern electronics. Link here to a site that helped me get the gist.)
2) Maximum Voltage Draw: this is all based on what appliances you want to run. 2,000 watts seemed to be an average size so I decided to invest in a model that supported 4,000 watt peak/2,000 watt continuous.
Welding
While poking around where the propane tanks will be mounted to the frame, Peter Flanders (camper guy extraordinaire) pointed out some deterioration along the frame at the underside of the tongue. It was completely rotted through in areas and had been overlooked up to that point. At his recommendation I called White's Welding over in North Hampton and someone was at my house within the week. The verdict was that it appeared someone had incorrectly leveled the trailer which caused water to migrate to that area. The water also pooled in a way that compromised the coupler connection, so it was recommended that I replace that entire front portion of the frame. Once the trailer was at the shop Peter was gracious enough to bring it back and forth from the welder; the work was done ridiculously fast (in the same afternoon) and it was done well. Thanks Mark!