Comes In Handy Having a Handy Man

Based on our experience, one of the constants of living in an RV is that things are going to break. Of course, this happens in a house also, but for some reason it feels different. Maybe because being on the road means that when something doesn’t work, you either have to fix it yourself or find a repair place in the area. Not always easy. We are blessed that Harry is pretty capable of fixing things and can handle a lot on his own. This happened twice just in the past few weeks.

The first one was when Harry noticed some water dripping down in the basement. It wasn’t a ton of water, but as you know, any water leaking is too much. From the location, Harry could tell that it was coming from the bathroom, either the shower or the sink. First, he opened the access panel in the bedroom and checked the water connections there. No water, but he did find a couple loose connections so that paid off anyway. He then actually took the wall apart so he could check the water pipes lower in the wall. Nothing. There was also no water below the bathroom sink so another possibility checked off the list.

 

 

 

 

That only left the shower, so Harry decided he was going to caulk the *&^* out of any possible place that water could be leaking. Problem solved! We think the water was leaking out of the circled area in this photo. Although Harry does not know how it got from here down to the basement. But, all’s well that ends well.

 

 

The second problem was the fireplace. Harry noticed that the screws securing the fireplace in were either broken off or missing. There was only one screw in place, and the fireplace had shifted down so that the door with the controls would no longer open completely.

The first step was prying off the decorative piece in front of the fireplace.

 

 

Harry managed to get the broken pieces and the one full screw out and then removed the fireplace.

 

 

Once the fireplace was out, Harry discovered the problem which was that the little stand below the fireplace had not been secured in place. This had allowed it to shift out from under the fireplace, probably as we went over one of the many bumps on the roads! (On a side note, Harry remarks over and over how there are so many little things that rv manufacturers don’t do, like fastening a stand to the floor, which would only take a little more time and make the construction so much better.)

 

We went over to Home Depot, where Harry actually found his solution in the leftover lumber garbage bin of all places. The price was right!

 

 

 

 

A little higher, and secured in place! It’s not going anywhere now!

 

 

All put back together! We haven’t put the façade back on yet and haven’t decided if we’re going to. We actually like the look of it without the foam piece. What do you think?