MOTORHOME MODIFICATION - Removing Mirror and Installing Vinyl Flooring (on a wall?)

Steve found himself with an unexpected day off today. His transport person cancelled and we had a whole day ahead of us to do something  ---  anything ---  nothing ???

Well, you know us; we decided we were going to do a motorhome modification project!!

A while back, we had removed the large mirror that spanned the entire back wall of our motorhome bedroom. We really didn't like that mirror at all.  Our days of mirrored bedrooms are long gone. Heh heh. We had to pull the tall memory foam mattress forward to be able to work on the mirror.

We easily got the mirror off the wall in all one piece. This is it laying face down on the bed.  We didn't want 7 years of bad luck, we were very careful.

Steve and I carefully laid it out onto a piece of plywood cut to the same size. We strapped it tight to the plywood and tipped it on end to carry it out. We gave it to a woman who wanted to put it in her exercise/dance studio. Good riddance.

What was left behind were these big circles of dried adhesive. It was actually so old and hardened that it hadn't been holding the mirror into place at all. Only the little plastic clips on the bottom and sides were actually holding up the mirror.

In hoping to preserve the beautiful woodwork behind the mirror, I wanted to remove the adhesive without damaging the wood finish. I tried a variety of things, and nothing much worked at all.

The best results was with the heat gun but even then some sections would peel off well after being heated, but other parts would take the actual finish off the wood.

We had to suck it up and realize that we were not going to be able to preserve that beautiful hunk of wood behind the bed headboard. So instead we decided we would have to find a different finish to cover that wall.

Paint? Nah, even if we got off all of that glue junk, that wood seems to be kind of a porous type finish that maybe wouldn't hold paint very well.

Wallpaper? Nah, that might pull loose when subjected to the extreme cold, heat or humidity of places where we camp around the country or when parked all winter in the frozen temps of our backyard in Wisconsin.

Tile? Nah, that again would be subject to cracking and shifting as a motorhome moves and twists along down the highway.

Plastic Kitchen Backsplash Panels? Nah, they were so busy and expensive, not to mention not to my liking or style of the motorhome.

Fake wood wall planking? Nah, cuz it would be really tough to find an exact match to the other woodwork in the motorhome. And I really do not like mixing woodwork species, finishes and colors. Yes, I am a "matchy matchy" type of girl.

We walked around in a couple home improvement stores looking for ideas of what to use to cover that back wall. Being bargain minded like we are, (that means "cheap"), Steve came up with a bright idea!!

Doesn't he always come up with a bright idea? And this idea didn't cost us anything because we already had it rolled up in the storage area in the garage.

What is it? A leftover hunk of vinyl flooring from what we had put in our bathroom of our house. The piece was just big enough after trimming to fit across the entire span of the back of the motorhome.  It is almost the same color as the printed wallpaper on the side walls and harmonizes nicely with the wood.

This morning, after finding out Steve would have the entire day to play around, we started gathering our tools.  I like having all of the tools on hand before we start a project. That way we are not running back and forth into the house or the garage to get the things we need.  Steve asked for my rolling pin in the motorhome. I told him exactly which drawer.  He looked, nope, he said, not there.  Then he proceeded to check every other drawer, cabinet, and compartment.  I KNOW I have a rolling pin in my motorhome.  Who doesn't?   I went right to the original first drawer I said, and yes, there it was. ARGGHHH!!!   Yes, we needed a rolling pin to put vinyl flooring up on a wall.

Steve went to the hardware store for the special vinyl adhesive made for this particular flooring. It kind of has a soft foam back and is not the rigid stiff vinyl flooring most stores sell.  It's soft and thick and flexible and would hide the imperfections on the wall.  I removed most of the hardened on glue and sanded the rest smooth while he was at the store. 

It is a gorgeous day in Wisconsin today, reaching almost 80 degrees!!! Compare that to two weeks ago with our blizzard and a foot of snow and ice and horrible winds!   Wheeee we had all of the windows open for a nice breeze, and the dogs came along inside the motorhome too.  They snuggled up on their little bed to keep an eye on us and our project.

First we dry-fitted the piece of vinyl to the wall and marked any areas that needed to be trimmed to fit perfectly.  It is easily cut with a scissors and we got it marked with centering guide hash marks to meet up on the wall and under the cabinet.

With the open windows, the fumes of this adhesive were hardly noticeable. I slathered it on the wall in gobs with a putty knife. Steve followed along behind me with a notched trowel and smoothed it out on the wall.

We only needed to glue down 36 inches from the top. That is the width of the remnant of vinyl.  The pillows come up high enough after the tall memory foam mattress is pushed back into place.  We won't need a headboard. And we have a plan for what we are going to put over the bed.

Steve got the adhesive spread evenly across the wall, and we had to let it dry for about half an hour to 45 minutes. Time for lunch!   The mattress is pulled forward, but it looks like it is close to the wall, It is about a foot or more away. 

As the adhesive dries, it gets more clear and very tacky. Similar to using a contact cement, but this only needs to go on one surface, the wall. 

We carefully folded the vinyl flooring hunk, similar to when you hang wallpaper, but horizontally instead of vertically.  We lined up the corners and the top edge. It stuck tight SO FAST!  We had to pull up one little area that was crooked a bit and we were able to straighten it out. Whew!   Then it was time to use my rolling pin!   SEE?

It went on perfectly!!!  The very top edge has a small bead of quarter round trim we put back into place to finish it off. The sides were clean straight cuts and look well all on their own.  We smoothed it all out.  I like how it covered up the rough rugged circle marks.

Then we made the bed and shoved the mattress back into place. It is much easier with two to make the bed, especially with the heavy memory foam mattress we added this past year.  We have one in the house and love it so much, we got another one for in the motorhome. 

Next up ---  whatever are we going to do with the big expanse of creamy white wall over the head of the bed????

Yes, we are going to hang a print we had gotten from a Wisconsin Photographer. 

We bought this framed print at an auction. It has been hanging in our bedroom for a few years and I stared at it for hours on end while I was so sick a few years back. It has a peaceful calming effect on me. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year, and this print was so reminiscent of autumn camping days on a lake somewhere in the U. P. of Michigan.

I always wondered what lake it was from?

Wondered if I had been standing in the same spot?

It is by a Wisconsin Photographer by the name of Nick Bristol.  

His web site is at: http://www.nickbristolphotography.com/home.html

I found out that this particular image IS from a lake in the U.P. of Michigan called Council Lake near Munising. I love his work and a lot of his images on his website are from places I am familiar with. I got in contact with him and he sent me some other images I was interested in. He gave me permission to post this information and his print on my blog.

It was the inspiration of the colors I used to make the quilt and window valances and lambrequins to match. Here is my post about doing that:  blog of recovering valances and lambrequins

There... DONE! 

Now it's all ready to go camping next weekend.

We are going to sneak away for a whole week to go camping

for my Mother's Day Treat.

We took all of our tools back into the house, 

another Motorhome Modification in the books!