I think I need to vent......

Today was a pretty good day to vent.


I'll start with the vent under the bed that will allow the air out from the a/c.

Basically, as you can see there is a wooden channel under the bed.  This was a factory support under the bed, that just so happened to work out for us as a place to hide the a/c when it is retracted.  So, I made a few marks, figured out where I wanted the vent and started hacking.

So, with my trusty hole saw in hand, I made an entry point for the jigsaw.  See exhibit A.

Exhibit A

This was the grate I chose.  It is actually a return air vent, but it will work ok for what I have in mind.

I want to make sure that once I remove a large chunk of structure, the bed won't be weakened or flimsy,  so I added a small frame around the inside of the bed.  I just used some 1"x 2" lumber and shot it on with some finish nails.

So, I spayed a little satin brown spray paint on it and screwed it all down.  Scratch that off the list.

So, just to keep things interesting, I figured I would tackle something that I have been dreading.  The roof vents.

Now, one of the main reasons I have been dreading this is the fact that Sir Slopsalot has been up on the roof, with a mop and some Kool seal.

Here is the carnage he left behind.

This is ridiculous.

I used several different approaches to removing this stuff. The heat gun helped. The thing I found most interesting was this.  If you pour Enamel Reducer on the silver kool seal type stuff, look what happens instantly.

It turns a dark brown, almost black color.  It starts deteriorating and wipes up fairly easy with a rag.  If you can get a few rags soaked and let them sit, it might work pretty good.  This was the opening after several hours or scraping etc. to find the rivets, just so I could drill them out.

    I am curious if other products have the same effect.  I want to experiment with lacquer thinner, mainly because it's cheaper.

He painted the entire roof with it. There was no point.  You can see the only 2 seams in the picture.They are the darker stripes.

I finally got it cleaned up enough to install the vent.  I'll have to come back to the roof another time.

I put down a couple of rows of putty tape, riveted the vent on and then trimmed the excess.  

Then I taped off a small seam and sealed it up.  It doesn't require covering the whole roof in sealer, just a little around the edge and a few dome sealed rivets to ensure they don't leak.

One trick that might be helpful is spit.  Yep, spit.  Spit on your finger and use that to slick up your sealant.  Since 80% of my followers are women, I just heard a collective " OH... My... GAWD...i am not spitting on my finger.  Come on...you wipe your kid's face with it.

OK, here's another alternative, you can use Windex or some other type of window cleaner.  Just spray it on your finger and don't press too hard.  It works magic.

All finished.  I still have the front one to do, but that will have to wait for another day.  Christmas party tomorrow at the in-laws...so no work on the camper.