To date I have sanded the sub-floor, made a few minor repairs to the sub-floor and entry steps, and painted the sub-floor 2 coats of oil based odor-killer primer. The basic floor is ready to start installation.

But before installation of the main floor a few auxiliary items have to be addressed. One of these is area around the foot treadles and steering column. The installation was too uneven for laminate, and the tricky cutting would have been a chore. I solved this issue by buying a large outdoor foot ‘rug’ made of very heavy rubber. Using the radial arm saw cutouts were made to go around the controls. This actually looks very attractive and provides a ‘carpet’ area for the driver’s feet. The laminate will be trimmed around the pad. The pad will be tacked down along the rear edge only to be sure it will not move, but it really cannot move anyways. This will allow it to be ‘rolled back’ to allow removal of any dirt that may accumulate beneath it.

The next ‘auxiliary’ item that will be tackled is the platform that covers the entry steps when there is an occupant in the passenger chair. Getting this item ‘floored’, the step well supports ‘floored’ and installed in the correct position will probably take at least one day.

I decided to replace the carpet in Barth with laminate ‘wood-like’ flooring. I found it at Home Depot on sale, and no pay, no charge for 12 months, 10% discount including installation. But as we were writing up the order, and they found out it was a motorhome, the balked. They said that they do not install in anything that moves! They gave me the 10% off anyways for misleading me. So I have the materials.

I can find no one to install it, so I tackled the job myself. So far I have the carpet pulled. What a mess! 10 years of tracked-in dirt under it. Dirty and smelly. I do not regret my decision. But is that a lot of work! Now I have to remove carpet staples, tack strips, etc to prepare for the laminate. I have removed two small cabinets because the carpet was beneath them, as well as the captain’s chairs. The sofa was already removed and delivered to the upholstery shop. I will clean the subfloor with bleach to get rid of odors and mold.

I have sinusitis from the dirt, dust and mold in the carpet and pad. I should have used a mask.

I bit the bullet today.

Yesterday I removed my sofa from Barth. It took me about 4 hours to do a job the should have been 30 minutes. The factory used some type of screw driver machine, driving 3 inch screws through both the piece to be mounted and the piece mounted to at once. No screw clearance holes, no pilot holes. Ever try to remove a 3 inch wood screw driven like this with a meager phillips screw driver? I had to drill the head from some screws, chisel out the head of some to get vise grips on them. Some were bent. Ever try to keep a screw driver aligned with a bent screw when removing it?

Anyways, I finally succeeded, and the sofa is at the upholstery shop. It will have a very nice suede-like fabric that is stain proof, soap clean-able. I will get it back in 2 weeks. The re-install will be much easier then the removal because I will drill clearance holes, and lubricate new screws with soap.

This week my friendly barn swallows returned to their nest. One family took up residence with a mud nest on my patio years ago. Then their progeny (I presume) added a second nest. I had about given up on their appearance as birds in my area have declined dramatically over the last 4 years due to drought conditions, I believe.

The bottom line is that, for the Southwest, spring is very close. And I have been trying to get my ‘nest’ ready to roll. Today I finally tackled the job of turning the original hole that housed a TV into a real cabinet. I divided it with a shelf and with great effort located a cabinet shop that could actually make cabinet doors to my specification. Most places only offer stock sizes. I ordered the exact size I wanted, replete with installed hidden hinges. The bad news is that delivery will take up to 3 weeks. So I guess that kind of sets the earliest date for my departure.

Ok, so if you read the previous post, then you know how to use the seldom-climbed ladder for other tasks (other than as a mount to haul another ladder).

Here is one other ladder project.

I have a wireless weather station that includes a wind gauge. A wind speed gauge needs to be mounted somewhat in the clear above the roof line.

Soo, if you have one of these, or anything else you want to extend above the roof line and also to be retractable, here is the trick.

Go to your favorite well-stocked hardware store. Find an adjustable handle, the kind that will extend then lock with a twist. These are available as handles only, without a brush, bulb replace-er, or other attachment. But you can buy one with the attachment if you must, as it easily screws off in most cases.

These are available in various lengths. I used the four foot model, which will then extend a total of four feet. They are available longer or shorter.

The trick is this: at the same hardware store, visit the electrical conduit area. There you should find conduit clamps that have a hole in the bottom, and a bolt at the top to close the clamp to conduit. Find the size to fit your extender handle, and acquire two.

Go to your ladder. Remove the step end-screw at the place that you want the top of the extender. This will usually be a rung at or near the top of the ladder. Reinsert the screw to the step through the bottom of a clamp. Two rungs below this one, do the same thing with the second clamp.

Now collapse the extender handle, position it appropriately within the clamps, and tighten the clamps. Be sure to use enough force to hold the extender securely without crushing it.

I also added a lock washer to each of the clamp bolts to be sure that the apparatus will not vibrate loose. I do not want to explain to the fellow behind me why there is a wind gauge embedded in his windshield. More importantly, I do not want to explain it to my insurance company!

Voila! Extend the wind gauge when parked, and retract it when you hit the road!

This could be used to extend a long-wire antenna, or other items.

The Clamp.

The Extension.