How to Restore an Old Travel Trailer

A cabin or travel trailer can be restored and redeveloped to ready it for living in, or as a touring vehicle for the holidays. The different types of restorative work you carry out on the trailer depend on whether or not you wish to actively travel, or instead use the trailer as a fixed home or caravan. Fixed trailers offer the added opportunity to create a garden around the vehicle and to link it more permanently to surrounding facilities like water, drainage and electricity. It's worth noting, though that many of these amenities are now available in trailer parks and caravan sites throughout America and Europe.

Instructions

1

Consider your options before you start the renovation. Decide if you want a private space for yourself, perhaps an art studio or single-person holiday home or a family style trailer with cooking facilities, bedrooms, high quality sanitation and socializing areas. Aim for plenty of utility space, enough equipment for what you need, such as cooking implements, a television, a bed or two and a toilet, but also make sure you avoid making the trailer too cramped.

2

Wear a mask and gloves. Remove debris and rotting wood first, if present, using your hands and a crow bar. Take out old, worn furniture and tired curtains and discard. Save anything that still works and looks reasonably sound. According to Timeless Travel Trailers, old trailers often suffer from aluminum and fiberglass damage. Clean the inside of the trailer using a vacuum cleaner, sponge and warm, soapy water. Leave it to air and dry with the windows and door open. Close the door and windows tightly. Hose down the outside of the trailer.

3

Measure your trailer's dimensions when empty using an extendable measuring tape, including height, width and depth, and choose which facilities you can realistically fit inside. Create a plan, with your new measurements, detailing where each "room" will be. Consider the basics: sitting area, sleeping area, cooking area, washing area.

4

Purchase thinly cut insulation board for the walls if you can afford the space, which is especially useful for colder climates and essential for people who live in their trailer. Replace faulty or broken windows and doors. A standard trailer window should cost only around 30 Dollars. Repaint or paper the internal walls. Carpet the floor or lay fresh linoleum, taking care to purchase the correct amounts depending on the size of your setup.

5

Purchase a sofa bed that fits through the largest entrance to the trailer and fits inside the sitting area when fully-extended. Construct a dividing wall from plywood to section the bedroom/sitting area off. Create extra, communal seating if the trailer will house a family or guests. Fix the extra seating to the wall or floor to ensure it remains still and safe during transit, if the trailer is intended for traveling.

6

Install cooking equipment, sink and toilet, or ask a professional to help with plumbing and choosing a trailer stove. Ordinary appliances are too large and heavy for trailers, so choose items which fit well and are designed to be fixed into place. Add electrical devices last, such as a television, radio or microwave. Save space wherever possible.

7

Paint the exterior of the trailer if necessary using a coat of exterior surface primer. Leave to dry for two hours. Apply two coats of your chosen color, leaving each coat to dry for several hours. Apply a weather-resistant top coat to seal the paint and protect it for years to come.

8

Create outdoor space if the trailer remains in place most of the time. Outdoor, energy-efficient lighting and a simple garden or vegetable patch are all useful additions. Use your woodworking skills to create a set of sturdy steps to make the entrance area safer and easier to access.