Including the purchase price, we ended up putting a little over $10,000 and 500 hours of labor into our trailer over 3 summers (and that doesn’t include the new tools we also had to purchase or the number of hours spent driving to Home Depot and Menards!)

We’re really happy how it turned out, but went in a bit blind regarding the actual costs. Granted, if we had actually known what we were doing and had spent more time shopping for deals, we probably could’ve saved $1-2k. Thankfully, we now know how to fix almost anything on the trailer if things break while on the road!

We’ve included links to many of the parts we used. None of these are affiliate links – we’re just sharing what we found helpful! Links are from Amazon (amz), Vintage Trailer Supply (vts), Menards (m), Home Depot (hd) and etrailer (et). Let us know if you want details on anything that doesn’t have a link.

That said, here’s total breakdown of our expenses, hours of labor we put in, and what we did to update the trailer:

Aluminum Skin, Paint, and Framing

• Removed exterior skin and replaced rotten wood around skirt and rear/front windows – $138
• Removed all j-rail and cleaned & polished – $38
• Cleaned exterior, painted using HVLP sprayer and tractor paint (see our post about painting here) – $365
• Removed old butyl tape and replaced it with new butyl (used both amz and vts) around the windows, j-rail, and door- $164
• Replaced over 1,000! exterior screws with stainless steel screws (vts), used stainless steel staples (amz) where skin was stapled on – $136
• Replaced entire roof skin with single piece of .040 aluminum – $229
• Replaced damaged skin on front of trailer – $40

Total aluminum skin, paint, and framing cost – $1,110

Estimated labor – 125 hours

Windows

• Cleaned and polished all windows – $52
• Replaced old fridge vent with window cut to size – $106
• Replaced window pile with new pile (amz) on all windows – $16
• Replaced all of the rubber glass retainer discs (vts) – $13
• Replaced top and bottom jalousie rubber seal – $41
• One window had been replaced with plexiglass – replaced this with glass to match other windows – $90
• Removed worn rock guard plexiglass and replaced with transparent polycarbonate sheet (m) – $26
• Replaced all screens (m) and spline in windows and door – $62
• Added clear vinyl louver gaskets (amz) – $20

Total window cost – $426

Estimated labor – 60 hours

Exterior (Misc)

• Removed old deteriorating weatherstripping on trunk and door and replaced with new weatherstripping (m) – $28
• Took apart Bargman door lock and cleaned the inside. Had new keys (vts) cut by a locksmith. – $28
• Replaced trunk handle/lock (amz) – $6
• Added new license plate holder bracket (amz), chrome frame (amz), added LED light (amz) above – $30
• Replaced missing door plunger holder (amz) – $16
• Bought new awning, stakes, and ropes – $360

Total exterior (misc) cost – $468

Estimated labor – 15 hours

Underside and Tongue

• Cleaned underside and coated with sealer/waterproofer – $35
• Scraped and painted tongue and bumper with black tractor paint (amz) – $100
• Installed new tongue jack (amz) – $53
• Installed breakaway switch (amz) – $10
• Installed weight distribution/sway control system (amz) – $618
• Installed stabilizer jacks – $60
• Hired a welder to add hitch receiver and safety chain brackets – $450

Total underside and tongue cost – $1,326

Estimated labor – 27 hours

Brakes and Wheels

• Installed new electric self-adjusting brakes and hubs – $199
• Replacing the wiring (amz) running to the brakes – $37
• New wheels (et), tires (et), and baby moon wheel caps (et) (including spare) – $350
• Replaced 4-way vehicle connector with 7-way connector (et) – $25

Total brakes and wheels cost – $581

Estimated labor – 16 hours

12v Electrical

• Replaced all exterior lights oval (amz), round LED marker lights, and LED tail lights (et) – $133
• Added ground wire for all 12v devices and lights – $12
• New wiring throughout (with exception of 2 wires in good condition for exterior lights) – $57
• Added two 12v USB outlets (amz) – $45
• Installed battery box on the tongue and two 6-amp 225AH golf cart batteries – $402
• Added 12v fuse block (amz), switch (amz)/wiring to battery/lights/pump, temperature-sensitive (amz) cooling fan (amz), and power converter (amz) – $437
• Installed Trimetric battery monitor – $173
• Replaced interior lights (amz) with decorative medalions (m) and added 2 additional 12v lights (amz) – $60
• Installed smoke/CO2 detector (amz) (battery powered) – $27

Total 12v electrical cost – $1,346

Estimated labor – 39 hours

110v Electrical

• Installed new breaker box (m) and breakers – $34
• Upgraded to 30a service from 20a (new wiring, new plug) – $92
• Installed new interior outlets – $92
• Installed exterior outlet and new exterior covers (amz) – $50

Total 110v electrical cost – $268

Estimated labor – 13 hours

Propane

• Added new copper propane line going to the heater – $37
• Installed Camco Wave 3 propane heater (amz) – $230
• Installed new flexible hose from pipe to regulator – $21
• Replaced the regulator (amz)– $52
• Installed 12v propane detector (amz) – $59
• Installed new propane rack (amz) – $34

Total propane cost – $433

Estimated labor – 12 hours

Plumbing

• Installed new 21 gallon holding tank (amz) on the underside of the trailer (built steel frame (m) mounted to the trailer frame behind axle) – $356
• Ran new ABS waste pipe from sink to holding tank – $17
• Replaced missing freshwater tank with new 15-gallon tank (vts), hose (vts), and fittings – $159
• Added new Thetford porta-potti (amz) – $167
• Replaced entire freshwater system – $367
  • New PEX lines
  • New water pump (amz) and strainer (amz)
  • New pressurized faucet and pump faucet (amz)
  • New water inlet (amz)
  • New exterior water hose spigot

Total plumbing cost – $1,066

Estimated labor – 25 hours

Interior (Walls)

• Cleaned interior, removed peeling veneer, repaired damaged areas, sanded all surfaces to be painted – $169
• Painted interior with Killz2 Primer (hd) and Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint (hd) – $332
• Added wallpaper around dinette and in bathroom – $105

Total interior (walls) cost – $606

Estimated labor – 53 hours

Interior (Kitchen)

• Rebuilt dinette table with new laminate (hd) and aluminum trim – $163
• Replaced laminate (hd) on kitchen counter – $81
• Added Smart Tiles to backsplash – $90
• New aluminum trim between counter and backsplash – $35
• Cleaned oven – $5

Total interior (kitchen) cost – $374

Estimated labor – 30 hours

Interior (Cabinets, Curtains, Cushions)

• Rebuilt two new cabinet doors to replace missing doors under the kitchen counter – $62
• Rebuilt cabinet where fridge used to be (water damage from the roof above) – $80
• Expanded closet/fridge space to create small bathroom. Built new door – $107
• Installed new handles. Cleaned and painted old hinges. New hinges on seats – $134
• Bought new high density foam and sewed new cushion covers for dinette and couch – $672
• Sewed new curtains for windows, new curtain rods – $285

Total interior (cabinets, curtains, cushions) cost – $1,340

Estimated labor – 88 hours

Interior (Floor)

• Removed old vinyl flooring. Replaced with new vinyl wood interlocking planks – $194
• Removed and cleaned old aluminum edging, added new aluminum edging and quarter round – $57

Total interior (floor) cost – $251

Estimated labor – 29 hours

 

Totals

Purchase Price – $600

Total cost put into trailer – $10,195

Total estimated labor – 532 hours

Up to this point, we had already:

• Cleaned and repaired the aluminum skin (siding) – including replacing a piece on the front of the trailer that was in bad shape. Also replaced a lot of the underlying framing.
• Removed all of the windows, doors, and other parts of the trailer we didn’t want to paint.
• Cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more! The prep work took more time than the actual painting did. TSP, water, and sponges. Over and over.

After looking at various paint options (most of which cost a lot of money), we decided to use Valspar Tractor and Implement paint. It was relatively inexpensive, gets a lot of good reviews for its durability, and we could order it on Amazon – yes!

To begin, we put down two coats of primer and let it dry over several days.

The next step was to paint the entire trailer white. We chose to add an enamel hardener to make the paint job even more durable as well as adding mineral spirits to thin the paint for use in our paint sprayer. We probably only needed two coats, but decided to go with three coats of white.

Next, we needed to tape off the scallop shapes. I created a cardboard arc that I used as a stencil to draw each of the arcs on the side with a pencil. We then used very thin painter’s tape to mask the shape. Since the tape was only 1/8″ wide, it was able to curve more than typical painter’s tape. We filled in the space between the lines with wider tape. To avoid the blue color bleeding under the tape, we brushed on a thin layer of white on top of paint edges.

Now it was time for the blue paint! Because we wanted our own custom color, we mixed one gallon of the white paint and one gallon of the “Ford Blue.” We tried several ratios, and the 1:1 was not only a lighter blue color we liked, but it would also make it easier to remix if we needed more paint in the future. We did three coats of the blue as well.

Paint job complete! (We later also decided to paint the trailer tongue and bumper with black tractor paint as well)

It was tons of work, but well worth it! If doing it again, I would probably use a different paint sprayer – ours left a bit of the dreaded orange peel texture on the trailer – but it’s only noticeable if you get up close.

In total, we spent $365 on all of the cleaning and paint supplies (not including the tongue and bumper). We’re hopeful that it will hold up in the years to come!

Here’s some more photos of the trailer once we put everything back together:

Ugh, right?! We felt constrained by the long horizontal lines, and we wanted to do something a bit more out of the box. Here what we were starting with:

After hours creating mockups that we hated, we finally did what all great artists do and decided to take inspiration from others (aka steal). So off we went to Pinterest and saw several trailers using the scallop design. YES! That was it! Now we just had to pick a color:

I wish we could say we settled on the blue color because of some deep meaning – like reminding us of an adventure on the ocean waves, or floating on the clouds in our family sky-mobile. The decision came down to much more practical reason.

We didn’t want the paint job to break the bank, and had read good things about using tractor paint (very durable). Unfortunately, the paint we were looking at didn’t have very many color options and the last thing we wanted was the trailer to look like a farming implement or a hunting lodge. So we mixed a gallon of white paint with a gallon of “Ford Blue” and ended up with this:

Given the options we started with, we’re happy with how it turned out! Although those polka dots would’ve been rad 🙂

Next week we’ll share about the painting process and what we used to get the end result without breaking the bank.