Walk-Away Signs For Trailer Shoppers

When it comes to buying a vintage travel trailer, we all start out as greenhorns. Typically, it's the low-priced trailers that first attract us. "Older Shasta, everything works, just needs TLC, $600 OBO."Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

Whoa. This is the most dangerous period of your Girl Camping life, because trust us--a $600 trailer (you were going to offer $500, right?) is almost always a $600 trailer for a reason. And it's one you want to walk away from, because it adds up to way more than the new-paint-and-curtains kind of TLC you most likely have in mind.

We're talking about water damage. The kind that's gone on for years and years, until it's rotted out the wooden framing, where you can't see it,  behind the trailer's metal skin.

Water-damage evidence is sometimes subtle. But when it's as blatant as the examples here, WALK AWAY. What's on the outside is your canary-in-a-coalmine clue to what's trapped inside and rotting the frame. Your only way to correct it is with a complete teardown and rebuild--surely not what you had in mind, because that would cost your $600 multiplied many, many times over. (We've seen someone spend $12K to 'rescue' a $600 trailer.)

From the Shasta trailer above:

This is the curb-side front corner.  It's rotted out (remember, there's wood under there) until the motion of travel sprung the metal trim. An attempt was made at some point to caulk up the edges, but at this point there's nothing left of the wood inside for the trim to screw back into. Walk away!

Here we have the curb side's upper right corner (and the left side looks the same). The sealant tape beneath the metal trim has dried up, cracked, fallen out in places, and allowed enough moisture into the seam to set up perfect conditions for mossy-looking mold. It's not just on the exterior, it's also feeding on the wood behind the seam.

Here's more of the same mossy, moldy gunk affecting the front window frame. You can scrub off what you can see on the outside, but remember, that metal window is set into a frame made of wood. See that double row of caulk atop the frame? All that did was seal the moisture already trapped behind the window frame. You know the advice--walk away!

Here's a close-up of the trim on the street-side rear seam. The sealant tape is so old, dried up, and shot that water has gotten into it. Now it's supporting its own life form. Yes, you can have the trim removed, new sealant tape applied, and the trim put back on. But do you really want to go there, knowing what's likely to have happened to the plywood behind the skin? Walk away, this is not your trailer.

We recommend that you take some time to read 'FAQs for Trailer Buyers,' by Robert Hessellman. He offers more good advice that's intended to save you the grief of a bad first buy.

Techniques for Staging Your Trailer

If you're into this sort of thing (and there are not rules that say you must be--perfectly fine to skip all the fluff and just bring your trailer, camper, or tent as is), then the idea of adding outdoor decor to your site has most likely occurred to you.

And if so, you may be wondering: How the heck--where do I even start??

Some techniques from Girl Camping Girl, whose trailer appears above:

* Take a picture of the side of your trailer, and fill the frame with the trailer from bumper to tongue. When planning the staging decor, you'll concentrate on working within this frame.

* Think in terms of making an outdoor room within the frame. Give it a ceiling (the awning, or perhaps an umbrella), a floor (the rug), and a wall (the ironing board with flowers and flag at left). Every room needs furniture and a purpose, so at least one  table and at least one chair. Two of each are better because they give you more to work with.

* Next--and this is key--use eye-pleasing objects to fill in the blank ground spaces that show beneath your trailer and at the entrance to your outdoor room. This step visually anchors your vignette and guides the viewer's eye toward the entranceway to your abode. A flowing tablecloth, a vintage cooler, a painted washbucket, a bucket of flowers, a potted plant, basket of cowboy boots, neat old luggage, a small stack of firewood--anything of this nature will work.) For best eye appeal, stick to one or two main accent colors.

* Finally, after you've created the stage, finish dressing it by laying on the little pretties that say "this is me and what I love." On their own, they might look lost, but in the setting you've created for them, they'll shine. For nighttime, include some kind of lighting, for a romantic glow.

Helpful? Hope you'll let us know!

Two Useful Items for Your Camping Caboodle

See that little greenish device? It's a level, and you'll be glad to have one when it comes to getting your trailer situated for a good night's sleep. Keep it handy, where you know you can easily find it when it comes time to unhook and get situated.

The blackboard may seem a little less obvious in terms of usefulness.  But once you've been on a Girl Camping outing or two, you'll see where it comes in handy for leaving notes, recording numbers, creating signage, writing a needs-list, or putting up a few pithy words.

Just don't forget the chalk!

And While We're On the Subject of Camping Crafts...

This is just about the easiest one ever. All you need is an old metal serving tray and some magnetic letters (or numbers), and you have an instant sign.

If you'd like to hang the sign, you can use E6000 crafting glue to affix a picture hanger to the back. Or, use the glue to put magnets on the back, so that the tray itself will stick to metal.

Another Girl Camping tip: For a bit of extra counter space and some quick hidden storage as well, set the tray over the top of your trailer's sink.