Restoring our 2010 Landmark

[DruidZ]

So after buying a Columbus and living in it for a few weeks while trying to sell the Landmark we have decided that we are really Landmark people and we are going to move back. Since we have the Columbus we will stay in it while we restore the Landmark. Even though it is 12 years old we think we can almost turn it into a new one with some minimal work. It is solid with no leaks.

Here is what we have done so far over the last few years:

• Replaced the roof
• Replaced the awning
• Added a sunscreen to the awning
• Re-welded the frame where it was cracked
• Repaired some side damages
• Installed fold out stairs
• Upgraded the axles from 6K to 7K
• Installed a combo laundry
• Fixed the bedroom slide cable that was broken
• Adjustments to the hydraulic slides
• Added an external WiFi antenna
• Upgraded to a larger, smart TV

Probably a few more fixes over the years. I thought that I would start this thread to document our restoration. At this point it is pretty much cosmetic. Here is what we plan on doing.

Replace the flooring with vinyl laminate. The floors aren't horrible but after 12 years they do show their age. We would like to replace the carpet in the slides with laminate as well. We are getting conflicting opinions about doing that but if we can't we will at least replace the carpet.

Replace all the window blinds. Those crossover string blinds are the worst. We will put in day/night roller shades. We will keep the top valence but get rid of the side panels.

Touch up the wood cupboards and doors. Some of the wood is a slightly different colour than others so it might be a bit of work but mostly the wood is in good shape.

Fix the windows. Some of them are starting to fog up even though we got them all fixed in Arizona a few years ago. Also, when they were put back they were too tight and some of them are difficult to open.

For the outside we are still trying to decide what to do. Our options are to have someone replace any vinyl that is in rough shape, Get a decal package and replace all of the vinyl, remove the vinyl and paint it with designs or wrap the whole thing.

We have a very rough budget for this. So far it looks like another $15K to $25K (depending on cost of painting/wrapping/whatever) will do it but we expect that there will be a few surprises along the way. We also don't have solid quotes for everything yet. This is in CDN$. It's about $12K to $20K in US$.

That's it. The adventure continues.

 

[wdk450]

At the age of the rig, and the cost and hassle of doing this repair unplanned, I would think about changing out the RV ammonia refrigerator cooling system out to a new, Freon compressor, low power drain model that is NOT sensitive to the RV being off level, and Freon is much less of a fire hazard than propane flame/ ammonia-hydrogen flammable coolant. ALSO FREON COMPRESSOR REFRIGERATORS COOL MUCH BETTER AND ARE MORE RELIABLE. The cooling units are available in 120 VAC and 12 VDC models. This allows you to keep your existing refrigerator box.
https://rvcoolingunit.com/Compressor-HVAC-Conversions-Kits-C381269.aspx?sid=298 (Dometic)
https://rvcoolingunit.com/Norcold-HVAC-Units-C381271.aspx?sid=298 (Norcold)

 

[DruidZ]

At the age of the rig, and the cost and hassle of doing this repair unplanned, I would think about changing out the RV ammonia refrigerator cooling system...

Would that mean that we could no longer run it on propane while traveling? Otherwise it sounds like a good idea.

 

[wdk450]

You would run off your 12 volt DC battery system (being charged by the tow vehicle) while travelling. You might want to add another battery to your battery bank, but the refrig only pulls 7.5 amps 12 volts DC when the compressor is running (intermittently). That is the power equivalent of only 0.75 amps on 110 VAC!!! My truck tow vehicle charging circuit is fused at 25 amps.

Here is a link on the Dometic units from JC Refrigeration, the manufacturer of these cooling units: https://jc-refrigeration.com/product-category/dometic-12v-hvac-cooling-unit/

 

[DruidZ]

We have two marine batteries already. No place for a third. I assume that two is enough.

 

[DruidZ]

We have been getting quotes and are almost ready to start. It is turning out to be a bit more than we originally thought but I think still worth it.

For the floor we are thinking of sheet vinyl now fully glued. About the same price for the materials but half the cost for installation. Waiting for final quote but probably $2,000 to $2,500.

The quote we have for the blinds is almost $6,300. We will probably order online and install ourselves. Hopefully less than half that.

Thanks to wdk450's suggestion we will probably do the cooler replacement on the fridge. Maybe $2,000 with installation.

Waiting on some options for the exterior. A full paint job would be about $20,000. Going to see if we can just clean up some of the damaged vinyl. The exterior isn't bad so just a gussy-up may be fine.

Bringing the unit in to see about fixing the windows.

Getting excited about moving into our new, old Landmark.

 

[Bobby A]

DruidZ,
Good timing on your thread, we are in the process of restoring our 2010 Bighorn, we just got back from having the flex armor done on the roof, what a great product. Check into it if you plan on keeping your rig. We are going to have full body paint done this fall/ winter. Then as you say, next would be the flooring inside, ours doesn't look bad, we just need a change. We may decide to paint the interior walls, will have to check into that. I have heard of others that have done it. We love our rig and there is nothing wrong with it. We started looking at new units and the reviews and the troubles they are having. All Manufactures by the way, we decided to keep ours and can spend much less my restoring. We need to keep in touch along the way to pass on info.
Thanks,
Bobby A

 

[DruidZ]

We are sort of working from in to out but we may just have multiple things done together.

What sort of price are you looking at for a full paint job? Ours is in pretty good shape so we may just replace any damaged vinyl and then do something to clean up the oxidization.

Are you going with vinyl laminate planks or sheet vinyl like us? A few people have suggested that it really is the best. I just hope that we can find something that looks like hardwood flooring and not a sheet.

The one thing that I haven't looked into is adding auto leveling. Not sure how hard/expensive that would be.

What kind of blinds do you have. Hopefully not that stupid crossover string ones. That has to be the worst design ever.

 

[Bobby A]

DruidZ,
I found a great little place to do full body paint for around 15K, it's a good thing I got on the schedule last year for a drop off this year, I got a call that the business has sold, and they will no longer do private coaches. On the flooring, I have been getting conflicting story's as well. So, I'm not sure what we are gonna do. I been told that our slide outs are so heavy it could damage new flooring, also was told if I remove the carpet, it will be very loud in the coach, so I'm still gonna work on that one over the winter. We do have the old night/days shades and don't have an issue with them currently, that is something we can do anytime. I had level up installed at one of the Heartland Rallys several years ago and it was money well worth spending, however I do have some leaks but I think I found a mobile company to repair the leaks but that won't be cheap.

 

[carl.swoyer]

I removed the factory battery box a made a new box to contain 4 Deka group 31 AGM batteries

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[DruidZ]

I removed the factory battery box a made a new box to contain 4 Deka group 31 AGM batteries

Got a photo? I can't see how I could do that in mine.

 

[carl.swoyer]

Custom Battery box with a Magnum ms2812 and a Morning star duo solar charge controller

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[DruidZ]

Starting to look more expensive than originally guessed but still seems in budget. One problem is finding someone to do the floors. Has anyone replaced their floors with vinyl sheeting before? We are wondering if we can do it ourselves.

Working around the L shaped island is probably the trickiest part. I'm not sure how hard it would be to remove it or if it is even possible. It would certainly give us the best result.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Remember the OEM was placed down prior to anything being installed including inside walls, island, cabinets, etc.. Laying vinyl down is not as easy as people think. The OEM vinyl my not even be glued down except on the edges to prevent cracking with floor movement while traveling. You should contact Heartland and ask. A lot of RV owners have replaced with laminated wood flooring.

 

[Bobby A]

Not sure what the manufactures are putting down now, all the new coaches I have seen there is no carpet anywhere. My concern is that my slide outs are very heavy, they must be putting down something real durable to accomadate these heavy slide out, unless they have come up with a new/ different or better rollers under the slide outs to keep from damaging the flooring. Would love to hear what others think or know in regards to this.

 

[ac7nj]

DruidZ,
I found a great little place to do full body paint for around 15K, it's a good thing I got on the schedule last year for a drop off this year, I got a call that the business has sold, and they will no longer do private coaches. On the flooring, I have been getting conflicting story's as well. So, I'm not sure what we are gonna do. I been told that our slide outs are so heavy it could damage new flooring, also was told if I remove the carpet, it will be very loud in the coach, so I'm still gonna work on that one over the winter. We do have the old night/days shades and don't have an issue with them currently, that is something we can do anytime. I had level up installed at one of the Heartland Rallys several years ago and it was money well worth spending, however I do have some leaks but I think I found a mobile company to repair the leaks but that won't be cheap.

Flooring issues. I’ve done this myself the slide lifts as I moves back out, no contact with the floor. A floating floor wouldn’t work out for me, not enough clearance. IMHO
A lot of people are intimidated by sheet vinyl, IMHO it’s the most forgiving. Peal and stick tiles don’t move once laid down. The trick to vinyl is having rented the right tools. Edge trimmer a absolute must. Seams avoid as much as you can, but a metal straight edge and cut through both sides at the same time for a perfect match.

 

[DruidZ]

Oddly enough some say not to put vinyl down in the slides themselves but I don't understand that. Nothing scrapes across the slide floor and it gets less wear than the rest.

As for sliding across the floor, I am being assured that the vinyl we are getting is strong enough to resist scratches. The won't give us a complete warranty because it is in a trailer. They are afraid of movement in the floor causing the vinyl to crack but the Landmark frame is pretty rigid. I am not too worried about that. The place I am going to use will cover normal scratches and such.

We finally got the inspection report. It took way too long but now we know that there are a few minor things that need to be fixed and brakes need to be replaced but nothing major so we are going ahead with the restoration.

We have decided to not touch up the cabinetry but instead will paint the whole thing. That will make the look consistent and we can pick our own colour. We are thinking of a dark chocolate or dark cherry with very light coloured wood floors. We will do the painting ourselves.

The blinds are already ordered and will be coming in a couple of weeks. We are getting cellular day/night shades. We are keeping the existing valences and sides.

The outside is in pretty good condition so rather than painting the whole thing we are going to have someone replace all the damaged vinyl decals. We found someone who an reproduce the existing patterns including the Landmark logos on the side. The front is fine which surprises me as that gets the brunt of wear when traveling.

We are going to have the windows fixed when we are in Arizona. They tell us a few hundred will do it. None of the windows are actually broken.

Since we have quotes for some and have already bought other stuff the total cost is going to be pretty close to the estimate which is $19,156,21 including tax. That's about $16,000 USD. Well within our budget.

The unit is in being fixed now and as soon as it is back we will start painting and replacing the blinds. The floors are scheduled for Aug 29 and 30. After that we move back in. We can't wait.

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[carl.swoyer]

Any before and after pictures

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[DruidZ]

Well, we are mostly finished the restoration. A few bumps in the road but it is looking good. We have a few more things to do in the US when we head south in November.

One problem, somehow the glass in the door over the desk came loose and fell out. Broken. Need to figure out how to replace that. Maybe Heartland still has some stock. We are passing by so will have to check that.

Too many pictures to post here. See them at https://carol.druid.net/showpics.py...dir/0010.Restoring our Heartland Landmark.dir

 

[DruidZ]

So our table is now unattached to the floor and I can't find the original screws to hold it down. We had removed them a few years ago so that we could re-orient the table. With the carpet we never found a need to screw it down. With the vinyl (we went with glued down plank vinyl) I worry that it could slide around so I want to screw it down.

My worry is the length of the screws. Even the original ones would go in further because of no carpet. If I go too far I might interfere with the slide movement. I think I need a #10 2¼" screw but they only come in 2" and 2½". Would the 2½" screws be too long? I worry that 2" may not have enough purchase to hold the table.

Other than that we are mostly done and really happy with the result. We need to stop in Shipsewana, IN Nov 2 to get the fridge cooler replaced and then in Phoenix we will get the windows fixed.

Since we will be so close, we are also going to Heartland for the factory tour. Maybe I can show it off and ask for suggestions and comments.