Deciding, cleaning, moving

We visited the airstream a few times before deciding to take the project on. While the shell appeared to be in good condition, the interior was in pretty rough condition. We were initially sceptical of taking on a major project as we had only barely finished the tiny cabin. It didn’t take much time to figure out that there would be a LOT of work to do on the airstream. When we first walked in, the sunlight was streaming in, which initially seemed great until we realized that it was literally streaming in from a giant hole in the roof- a roof vent had disappeared who-knows how long ago, and it had obviously been raining for potentially a few months directly into the trailer…. 

It became clear that it would be a full gut job. The subfloor was rotted in a few areas (if not all areas to a smaller extent). It was pretty gross from having sat for a few years with little maintenance or cleaning- there was junk everywhere, a window was smashed, it had been broken into and had tools stolen, rodents had been in, and it was very, very dirty. However, even in that condition, it was pretty clear that airstreams have a certain “cool factor” and with the shape and amount of windows it felt HUGE for a small space. From building and spending time in the tiny cabin, I think our perspective on livable space has changed big time, and in comparison this seemed like it could have serious potential for either increased living space on the property or even to live in. Also, despite it being a nearly 50 year old trailer, the outside appeared to be in good condition, and as they’re aluminum, they’re built to last.

Once we got our heads around the scope of the project, we decided we wanted to take it on- we shifted from “what ifs” to tangible actions- finding a temporary home for it, clearing stuff out, and inspecting it to make sure it was in moveable condition.

Luckily, the trailer park it was at initially was right next to a dump, so we loaded the car up, including on our roof racks, and drove around the block to get rid of anything unnecessary- which turned out to be quite a few trips. We did a visual inspection of the exterior and it looked good, so we then set about to find a spot to move it, and arranged a tow truck to move it for us. We were REALLY lucky to have a family friend in Cobble Hill agree to let us park it on his property, which has turned out to be a great home base to get work done on the airstream.

Moving day was slightly nerve-wracking as it hadn’t been moved in a few years, however there were no issues and we got it all tucked in to its new temporary home.