Laying Pipe…
Since the last update I've managed to get all of the tanks fixed up and reinstalled! The dump valves and plumbing were all created from scratch to mimic the original, but one of the dump valves is slightly off from the original. Both valves need handle extensions, so I'll take care of the trim piece when I get the handle extensions. I also installed tank heaters on all three tanks - just in case. The good news is all three tanks passed the leak test, and the level sensors work just fine with the aftermarket display I bought!
I don't have any photos, but I plumbed the PEX from the street side fill and pump area under the floor to the curb side where all the water works are. I came up under the shower and went aft toward the water heater. Figure I'll go water heater->bathroom sink->shower->kitchen sink->washer/dryer. Yes, I am putting a washer/dryer combo in.
Speaking of the shower, the original shower pan is made of MDPE and is in pretty bad shape. Small 1/8" holes in the inside corners, smears of silicone in areas hiding damage, 8" long crack in the middle of the floor, etc. If it was fiberglass, I would have filled the holes, fixed the cracks, and laid a layer of gelcoat on - but MDPE? No dice. No way to fix it without welding it up. Combine that with the fact I removed the heating duct that goes from the front door area along the wall to the rear bedroom, there would be a 2-3" gap between the shower pan seat and the wall I'd have to fill.
After searching high and low how others have built RV/Van systems from scratch, I decided to go with the shower pan and wall system from Schluter called KERDI. They have polystyrene walls and pre-sloped shower pan with a waterproof felt-ish coating on it. Once the shower pan and walls are in place and seam sealed, it completely protects the structure from water or vapor damage. You can lay tile directly on top of it without doing a bed of mortar, barrier, mortar, then tile. I know tile is a no-no in RVs due to weight and mortar cracking, but I'm out of workable options. The KERDI is super lightweight, and I'll only be using actual tiles on the floor, up the wheel well, and the sitting area of the shower itself. For the walls I found some large click together LVT that is extremely light at Lowes.
The shower drain has been a PITA to sort out. Not being a plumber, I thought a proper P trap was required for all drains - in code or out of code. The problem is, all of the off the shelf p-traps connect directly to a drain going through the wall. I needed the P-trap to be lower than the drain by a significant amount. I went to the hardware store three times today trying to make something work. The orange place kept trying to cobble something together that would pass code. If I said "what about taking this and...", he would shoot it down and say you can't do that. The blue place saw my dilemma grabbed a few parts and said, "Will this work?" By gosh, it sure will!
It's not in the photo, but the KERDI drain has pretty good depth to it. I think it's around 7" from the tile bed to the end of the drain. This was compounded by the fact I have a few adapters to make all of this work.
So, from the KERDI drain - which is a 2" PVC pipe size, I have: 2" to 1.5" bushing -> 1" of 1.5" pipe -> 1.5" trap adapter -> 90* trap adapter ->1.5" J-Pipe short side... long side of the J pipe-> 1.5" flexible trap pipe -> 1.5" trap adaptor -> original AS 1.5" ABS pipe. WHEW!
For those of you recoiling in horror at the sight of 2x4s, they are actually used sparingly! I'm only using them where vents are in the walls and needing a cavity, the shower floor support, or wall corners/doorways that someone may lean into heavily. Everywhere else is getting 2x2 or 1x* boards.
While I was at the blue hardware store getting plywood to start building out the base for the bed platform, an associate asked if I needed any help and inquired about what I was building. Once I told him, he said, will sheathing grade ply work? Of course, it would, and he escorted me into the back where I was greeted by a cart loaded with plywood. Slightly thicker than 1/2", which is 19/32" I think. Most of the sheets were 5' long, with a few shorter cuts in there. There are six more layers hidden under the stack in the photo. They gave it to me for FREE. To them it was trash. There were a couple of pieces with terrible layers in there that aren't good for much, but the rest are perfectly usable. Lesson learned - when you need random small amounts of lumber, ask if they have any they are going to throw out!
Once I had my materials for the bed platform, I needed to find out where the bathroom and closet walls ended so I could re-create them. This was easier than I thought, as the bathroom vent goes inside this wall. Once I got the two walls framed up I glued and pinned tongue and groove 1/4" thick cedar to the studs. Man, every single board had to be custom scribed, cut, and sanded to fit! I didn't mind it too much. It smelled wonderful as the wall went up. I was initially concerned with the weight of the cedar, but this stuff is lighter than 1/4" plywood of the same dimensions! As long as it keeps it's shape after bouncing down the road, that's all I care about.
During an especially rainy day I decided to ask Google's AI Image generator to help me out visualizing some interior design and colors. Here are the top three that I liked. I'm leaning heavily toward the first one...
