Week 9, Going on 6?
Well all, this build is really starting to wear me out. I have been up, down and all around and I feel that it is still going that way. I went for my now mandatory weekly visit last Friday to see where we are. My SMB Sales/PM guy was out so I met with the shop foreman, whom I really like. But this is where I think I start hearing the clank, clank, clank of the roller coaster being pulled to the top of the first hill somewhere in the background of my imagination. I guess I am flummoxed. I just want the build to be finished and finished well.
I wanted to talk to my Sales/PM guy before posting another report but also wanted this to be an honest diary of what is going on during my build. Since I will be mired down for a couple of intense days of review of a controversial land use and annexation application I will post this now and hope things work out and I have another update in a couple days. At least this is an honest report in real time.
As usual I get there and everyone is nice and Alan Feld is manning the front desk when I arrive. I have to say that everyone is really nice and that is a part of the appeal here. I go back with the foreman and things start out nice and we review the build in detail which is the new norm. One thing to note is that if you visit it is nicest in the morning during the summer. Fresno easily hits +100 and there is no air-conditioning in the work area, unless you are near a van with operating ac in which case it will be running full blast.
This is what I saw when I walked up:
At this point I’ll just try to tell what happened in an objective manner, I’ll save my subjective analytical narrative for later.
The foreman and I discuss the following:
Microwave installation – the shelf for the microwave has been reduced to a little over the 18 1/4” of the microwave itself. I ask about venting and am told it needs none so they don’t do it. I said that my Sales/PM guy told me that it was necessary and that is why the original microwave shelf ended short of the front storage cabinet and left that unusual gap. Foreman says no and I again tell him that it is just what I was told and what my research has told me. I am just repeating what I was told in response to a question why the microwave shelf was installed as it was the first time. I have a picture of my first installation and one installed without the venting like he says.
I happened to have looked up the unit to see if it might be cheap to get a spare and found something on the Q&A section (look for “Reviews” and you will see “Q&A”) and it clearly states that the unit requires 3" on either side for venting but SMB says that it is okay and does not need it. I buy that it might only need it on the exhaust side but...(
http://products.geappliances.com/ApplPr ... ES0736SPSS ) I’ll let you decide. The reason the shelf is an issue is that the whole project layout has collapsed due to the mistake with the bed. I went from something like 21” to 18 ½”wide. Maybe some of you can comment on this. Am I just being too critical? Also, with the shelf now being so tight and custom build for the microwave should I spring the $100 and get a spare now just in case?
The shower stall looks nice but is very different from before. Last build the entire enclosure had FRP panels (white plastic like panels) on all walls. They were to have cut in the window opening later and I did not know what size it would be. This time it was built with the window opening already established by just installing a panel above and below the window opening so nothing has to get cut out later.
How it is now:
Before (see stall with FRP covering window in background):
Apparently they plan on installing a piece of FRP shaped like a window frame and will install it so that water won’t get back behind the wall. This will allow for installation of the standard day/night shade and then install a hanging plastic curtain to cover it all, it also allows full control of the window vent cranks. This appears to be what is shown on the SMB website on the RB examples (the RB110S modified) which was my inspiration. This appears acceptable but they are doing it completely differently than the first time. What do you think?
The shower stall is now 35” wide. Last week I thought that I made it abundantly clear that I wanted a 36” shower stall. Also - I want to add that I confirmed that the shower dimension is an inside “clear” dimension and posted it in last week’s report (that means that the inside should have been 36" from surface of wal to surface of wall. As I reported the first dimensional issue was a loss of 3” but then another 2 ½” was discovered so maybe they had to take it and did not tell me? So now the shower stall is 35” and my wife, the nice one who has made no demands except this one, was the one who wanted 36”. Should I be upset? It’s only an inch.
We talk about the cabinet between the shower stall and the driver's seat. This had been +/- 19"-20" wide and is now about 17 1/2" - 18". This cabinet also had the heater in the base. The holes were already in the body from the old location that was centered in the cabinet so I ask the foreman about how this will be handled. He had not thought about this so I told him to just set it off to one side and put the electrical outlet where it looks lke it was all planned that way.
Before:
We go to the back of the van and look at the layout in tape on the rear doors. I wanted to add some pockets or a shelf somewhere back there so I could place my glasses and iPod/iPad (yeah, I play solitaire to get drowsy) somewhere nearby so I don’t have to get up. The pockets on the doors are just too small with the speakers and storage doors in place. The foreman said that maybe he could put a couple of pockets on the bottom of the overhead. Perfect, I’ll just send dimensions for magazines and the electronics and we’re set.
The foreman also offered to make one wall basically all vinyl by expanding the window trim to continue to the next corner. On this he would add some pockets for storage. I initially said yes but I will now be telling the Sales/PM no because I want to keep it more simple.
I looked over the window film installation (tinting) closely for the first time and just did not like the quality. I am asking for it to be redone since it was not trimmed near the edge of the body opening and the cut edge wanders a bit. I will call my usual tint guy on Monday to get some quality standards info but in the meantime here are a couple of pictures. If it looks good to you please tell me so. I may just be overreacting at this point and may be losing my perspective.
I go up a ladder to see the roof. I see how the XM radio antenna is installed and it does worry me. I will cover it with a piece of “U” channel made of aluminum and set it in adhesive I guess. Easy fix for my concerns. Anyway this is what it looks like now.
This is what the roof fan looks like installed. I guess I should check it often since I have no confidence in clear sealants like this that are exposed to the sun all day, every day. I would like some pigmented UV block or paint on it myself. Maybe I will do that when I get it home.
I have a picture of the new dash switches and they look good. I'll laugh if they are momentary switches because that would be about my luck right now.
I am not sure where I am in the confidence department. Maybe some of you can tell me what you are thinking. Am I just pushing too hard or what?
I am told the van will likely be done at the end of the month. A few weeks ago I was believing that I would have picked it up last Friday or this Friday worst case. As usual this has multiple impacts and this qualifies as whining so it could be skipped if you don't want to hear a grown man whine a bit. We are selling our minivan and it looks like we may have a deal but now we’re stuck without it for the rest of the month. The minivan is our "beater rig" so we take it on shopping trips, drive the elders around, and use it for transporting the slobbering and door scratching dogs. Also, the SMB deal has to happen now since the minivan will be gone and we have to buy another minivan or what - if this craps out? My wife was going to get a new car after we pick up the SMB van but will now likely get pushed out until mid-November after the van deal closes since she goes on work trips and we go on vacation (sure, maybe not a big deal but when you were looking forward to a new car is waiting 2 more months fun?). We're selling her car first and it's a convertable so selling it in nice weather is our preference. We want the best rate on our SMB van RV loan and we don’t want a ding for a new car loan showing up before the deal closes. Basically nothing happens until we pick up the SMB van so our credit history is as good as possible. This all also happens right when the wife goes on a couple of business trips so that may effect when we can pick up the van now, we had planned a 2 day pickup approach. We will go late in the afternnon of the first day to sign the paperwork and do a pre-delivery inspection, stay in a hotel, and come back the next morning to pick up the van and go through training while they wait in the hotel and then follow me home. All for the dogs so they don't get left alone too long (remember they were the main reson this build happened sooner than later). The wife will push out her (our) vacation for the second time just to be on the safe side because we don’t want to leave for 2 weeks without knowing the rig. All of this is seemingly petty stuff but it just means that everything is just a little more inconvenient and I am not sure how this is all going to turn out yet. Yeah, I guess this is what you call whining. I am not starving and we have our health so I guess I have to remember that this is a good problem in life to have. I am just getting a little tired of the ride and just want calm waters to sail on for the rest of the build.
Thanks for tuning in and please provide feedback.
Chumley
Ahhh, just be careful. Whew, close one. And the bed length thing, good question. I am getting a bed 5" longer than I am (who knows, maybe by the time the build is done it will be 6" longer). I will ask my sales/PM for the normal calc but I just figured that laying on my face (likely passed out) my feet extend my toes out about 4" more than when standing. It was also about as far as I could push everything without losing more functionality (therefore the complete tear down when I lost +/- 4 1/2").
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