My Camper: A New Paint Job

June 2012

That's right!  This summer we painted the exterior of my camper.  My dad and I were super egar to paint it.  I'm so lucky that he's into fixing this up with me.  He did all the hard work!  We had our annual family trip coming up and we wanted to have it done beforehand. 

Remember the before?  This is how we found it and bought it.

It was a very hot summer day.  Kevin was out of town for work so me and the kids spent the night at my parents so we could get up early and get going.  Thanks to my mom for watching the kids all day!

 Here we are prepping. Sanding, cleaning and spraying primer to parts of raw aluminum so paint would adhere to it.

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Theres a little somethin' on your face Dad.

Workn' hard.

My dad did a little investigating around town to see what the best way to paint the trailer was.  We read a bunch of different way people did it online.  We decided to go with auto body paint for durability.

While at the paint shop asking questions, he found a guy that owns an auto body shop and paint booth and said that we could rent it for a day for $100!  

There's no way we could have done it ourselves without this booth!  The paint was around $350.  

So total with supplies, paint and booth rental, it cost $500 to paint.  

The cheapest I got quoted by a professional was $1800!

Also, there was a guy who works at the auto body shop named James that held our hand every step of the way.  We've never done this type of thing and having his help was so valuable!  

It was a LONG 12 hour day.  We could have even spent more time in fixing dents and body work on the trailer but we didn't have any more time or money.  

With the help of James and my Dad, we wiped off the dust (outside) and taped it up in the booth.

First coat of paint.

A little sneak peak of the color.  

Wow!  That's bright!  I wanted a vintage blue and matched it to a kitchen bowl I had.  I'm happy with it but wonder if I could have spent more time finding a color.

Testing out the spray gun.  Auto body paint is much different than regular house paint.  It's thinner and watery but very concentrated with color.

James helped my dad set the gun up and showed him the ways of painting with auto body paint.

I had to wait outside during the painting process because they only and two masks.  One for my Dad and James wore the other.  Seriously, James was there every step of the way! All 12 hours and didn't get paid.  Remember, he was a worker not the owner who received the $100!  

I got to peak in between coats and be the food runner to feed everybody.  I screamed with excitement between each new coat of paint.  I think I scared James with all my excitement. 

My poor dad never stopped!  I kept trying to feed him to keep him fueled.  

I later sent back yummy Brownies to James at the shop because we really got a professional paint job for only $100.  Yes, my Dad did all the hard work but we learned so much that day thanks to James!

Now for the reveal:

Remember the before?

Yuck.

After. Ahh!  Much better!  And so cheery with my new awning!

All set up on our trip at Fish Lake.

We got those aluminum hubs for the tires.  

I love, love, love it!

Remember the interior? 

Before...

After.  

Complete with new floors and a new foam pad up top for little sleepers.

Before...

After.

A new coat of paint on the fridge and a cover for the stove.

Treats for visitors.

All that's left is new counter tops and back splash.

But that will have to wait til next year. 

The sentimental value of this camper keeps adding up.  With all that my Dad and I have put in it together,  and the fun memories my family has had in it,  I don't know how I could ever part with it!

An addition to the family.