Enhancing Toto

Creating leverage at the kitchen sink

June 15, 2017 By drpaddle 5 Comments

There was nothing wrong with Toto’s kitchen faucet. It was chrome, and that didn’t match the stainless steel sink, but it was close enough. It worked okay. You could twist the Hot knob and after a while hot water would spew forth. You could twist the Cold knob and cooler water emerged. You could tinker with both knobs — with regard to the extent each was twisted — and get a blend anywhere between Ouch and Brrrr.

But there were issues — oh, yes. Each knob had a little cap that fit over the screw one could use to remove or adjust the knob. The cap also served as the Hot and Cold labels, which, at this point in our lives, are actually helpful. (“Hey, is the cold on the right or on the left.” Yes that question was actually voiced recently in our family.)

But the Hot button, as it were, kept coming loose. Eventually it became a dangerous chew toy on Toto’s floor. Also, the knobs made an annoying squeak when actuated, alarming terriers and fraying nerves. So it was time do Do Something about the faucet. Off to Home Depot we traipsed.

Here is what we found. Not the most flattering picture, but illuminating all the same. Note that the new faucet requires three (3) holes in the counter-top — two for mounting with big plastic nuts, and one in the middle for all the pipes to go through.

That photo also shows the faucet connection hoses I purchased, because I thought it would be a good idea to install shut-off valves under there, like one does in a residential faucet install. I also picked up some shut-off valves that would fit between the existing PEX supply pipes and the connection hoses.

Having run all over town, and also to the next town over, to get all this stuff, I got started. First I had to measure and drill a center hole in the counter-top — a way for the pipes to get from the faucet to the cabinet space underneath. There is no picture of the new hole, here, but believe me, it’s a beauty. So much winning.

Here are the PEX pipes running to the original faucet. Note that they run vertically to the two connection points on either side of the faucet. For the new faucet, the lines would need to run at an angle up to the center of the faucet where its connections are located.

Pay no attention to the water droplets scattered round this kitchen cabinet. They don’t indicate a problem, other than that it’s hard to capture the little bit of extra water still in the pipes when you disconnect the old faucet. I lapped the water up later and so far I’m fine.

Now you can see that what I planned to do is (a) cut off the PEX pipes just a bit above the cabinet floor, (b) attach valves to the pipes, and then (c) run the new faucet connector hoses from the valves to the faucet.

But.

When I removed the old faucet, just for laughs, I decided to check for any play in the PEX pipes. Would they bend a tad? Would they be the right length, as they were, to connect to the faucet? Because their existing connections to the old faucet were just the type needed, not surprisingly, to connect to the new faucet.

And, sure enough, those PEX pipes were compliant. Also, the copper connecting pipes descending from the new faucet are a little bit flexible, too, so I was able to align the new connections quite easily.

I know what you’re thinking: What about your nifty idea of adding stop valves to the pipes? Well, yes, I know I said that, but when I saw how easy this was going to be, and realized that shutting off the water would be as easy with the new faucet as with the old (run to the outside water hookup, turn clockwise), I decided to save myself the time, effort and expense.

I ended up returning the stop valves and connector hoses a few days later. Et voila:

Here’s our new faucet. Not one of those fancy affairs with a pull-down sprayer, because we didn’t want that; just wanted a nice, stainless single-lever faucet.

We took Toto out to Taidnapam Park (post coming soon, honest) and tested the new faucet thoroughly. No leaks! And just look at the beauty of the thing. I know!

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Toto gets a new drawer

February 5, 2016 By drpaddle 8 Comments

I am making a drawer.

A drawer temporarily placed in an under-bed space in Toto the trailer.

In the space under the bed, a drawer materializes. It has taken a preposterously long time to do this project.

It is a storage-and-convenience thing.

One of the convenient things about Toto is that he has a Permanent Bed. It has a Real Mattress that sits on a lovely plywood box (trimmed with oak in all the visible spots, of course). What’s inside that plywood box? Storage. The fine folks at Escape Trailer Industries provided a pair of handsome oak doors that offer access to that storage.

But those doors are way down there by the floor — as you would expect of a space under a bed.

And that is fine. You squat a bit, open a door, and stuff something in there. There’s a lot of room (think about how much room under an entire standard-size bed). YES! But you can only reach so far into the space, of course, arm length and general flexibility being two limiting factors.

There is other access to this space. You can lift the mattress (with one hand) and open a hatch in the plywood platform (with the other hand) to access this space. If you had another hand available, you could even deposit or retrieve items. The picture above hints at how much space is there, but it also shows what we, Team Toto, are doing with the space.

We are making a drawer. Well — not from scratch. It turns out you can order the box — the main part of a drawer –from any number of online entities that probably are people doing stuff in their garages. Doesn’t matter. Because if you want a good drawer — constructed with durable, dovetail joints — you have a couple of options. Option 1 involves acquiring specialized “jigs” which help you do the joints. They cost a number of dollars — the jigs, I mean. There are other tools involved, but I have ’em already.

Option 2 is buying the drawer from somebody else who makes it. If you do this, you still have to assemble it — it comes as 4 sides and a bottom, and you have to glue and “tap” (this means “pound”) it together — and it costs, depending on drawer size, wood species and a few other variables, about the same as Option 1.

In life, one must consider how many drawers one wants to build.

For me, I decided “just the one” and so, instead of getting the jig, and learning how to make high-quality dovetail joints, I went online, entered the drawer dimensions, selected a wood species (“affordable birch-veneer plywood”) and clicked “take my money.”

They took my money, and a few days later the drawer box components arrived.

Assembly was easy. I learned that the shapes for dovetail joints are deliberately cut to make a tight fit. You just add a dab of wood glue here and there, then tap the joints together with a rubber mallet. Tapping, however, did not do the job; pounding was required. Even after all the pounding was finished, the outside edges of the joints didn’t feel perfectly smooth. Maybe they never do, I dunno. I used a random-orbit sander to smooth everything out, and it seems fine.

I considered not finishing the drawer at all; it’s just a drawer under a bed, right? But what if something got spilled on the drawer, or something leaked into the drawer, etc.? So I used a rub-on Minwax product to put on three coats of finish, which is very dull, and hardly looks like anything, but will protect the wood.

A long, tall drawer box sitting on a portable workbench in a tidy garage.

Wow this is some compelling photography. The drawer box, assembled, before sanding and finishing. This cost all of $22 — plus $25 shipping. Well, and maybe $.25 worth of wood glue. I want to replace the smartphone that captured this image and added its own unique purple tint without my permission — it is a frequent defect in this particular phone model — but I spent all my money on Toto accessories.

After finishing I installed a handle that matches Toto’s cabinet hardware, and got the full-extension slides attached to the drawer. Had to take it all out to Toto and do a lot of measuring and head-scratching before I was comfortable doing that, but now it’s ready for the final install.

Getting things measured and placed just so was a bear of a job. I think'll work though.

Getting things measured and placed properly under Toto’s bed, just so, was a bear of a job. I think it’ll work though. That’s Toto’s water heater — the white thing back there beyond the drawer. Nice, huh? Water heater. Yeah. Nice.

drawer assembled and waiting patiently in the garage

The drawer assembly is complete! Slides are attached to heavy-duty L-brackets, which are screwed into 2x4s, which are screwed into a single, laminated hemlock board. I am sorry about the blurry picture. I’m taking a photography class and trying to use all the advanced features on a camera I got for Christmas. ‘Trying’ is the operative word here.

One downside to this design: it weighs a bit. It’s the slides — they’re quite heavy-duty, but together they weigh over 20 pounds. Toto will have to shed some weight elsewhere just to keep things balanced. We’ll think of something.

Close up of drawer slide and support structure

I am not taking this photo into class next week for a critique.

So there it is in the garage, ready to install in Toto. BUT. I tweaked my back — one of the many things in life that come easily to me — and I’ve waited a few days for it to stop yelling at me. It has recovered, and tonight or tomorrow I’m going to hit the Depot for some 1-1/4 inch wood screws, scoot the drawer assembly into the trailer and complete the project.

And then, finally, we will be able to walk around in there again.

Mattress stowed in middle of trailer floor, obstructing everything

Toto’s normally spacious galley is full of mattress. We are all looking forward to reclaiming our floor space.

Blog note: someone, somewhere, who makes WordPress software, or WordPress themes, has done something that has slightly changed the look of these humble pages. I am going to get them for this. Also, I will fix it, if I can. Until I do, please don’t let this get to you. We are going to win this. This shall not abide. Etc.

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I warned you this would happen

October 2, 2015 By drpaddle Leave a Comment

Remember that new table we built? I surely do.

To complete the re-thought TotoLounge project, we needed a custom-size cushion that matches all the other upholstery. So we measured, ordered from CushionSource, and waited. And waited. I think they had a bit of a queue. A few days ago, however, our new cushion arrived.

Here’s our new cushion, atop the table we built. It’s just a tich boxier than all the other cushions, and so therefore it’s not perfect — DAMN — but it’s pretty close.

Now we are testing the setup — at Fort Stevens State Park, at the northwest corner of Oregon.

This is the oddest place. Usually when you go to a State Park campground with your Escape 21, you feel like a Lilliputian in a world of Gullivers. Gosh those fifth-wheel and coach rigs are huge. But at this place, in this time, most of the RVs around us are smaller than we are.

We’re at a NOG. A Northern Oregon Gathering of fiberglass RVs — also called a Non-Organized Gathering. There are scores of ’em! Casitas. Bolers. Scamps. Escapes. Bigfoots (Bigfeet?). And some other brands and models that I can’t remember right now. Also, a restored, vintage Airstream motorhome has sneaked in. They, at least, are larger than we are.

This is the third “rally” we have attended, and it’s a hoot to rendezvous with characters we met at previous gatherings. Since we all have similar rigs — but with an endless assortment of owner modifications — there’s always plenty to talk about. That, and dogs.

On this trip, for whatever reason, there’s a higher concentration of dogs. We like meeting them, and Tyler and Wally are ecstatic, within the constraints of their personalities. Wally warbles intermittently, and Tyler is twitching his eyebrows from time to time, between naps.

I gotta go. We’ve been out scouting beach scenes, and then there was Chicken Thigh Salad, and then this. Now there is a shower in the spotless park bath facilities. More on this wonderful park and campground, in short order.

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Why we replaced our dinette table

September 7, 2015 By drpaddle 20 Comments

“Why, oh why, did you replace your dinette table with a smaller one?” Many alert readers have asked. So… observe:

This table came with our trailer — this is the standard size Escape Trailer Industries makes when you order the U-shaped dinette (with seating across the back of the table).

This perfectly nice table slides left and right, making it easier for people to move into and out of the seats. The angled corners at the front of the table serve the same purpose.

There is hardly space for an adult to slide back behind the table and sit there. Some adults don’t fit; others do. It’s tight.

To convert the dinette into a standard (double) size bed, one must pull the top, and wiggle it, and pull some more (keep wiggling!) wait don’t BREAK something is this thing ever going to come off gosh am I doing this right WOAH that came off fast I’m falling backward and I think something in my back popped.

Maybe the pedestals come out of the floor with the table top. Maybe they stay on the floor and the tabletop comes off by itself. Maybe one of each — there are two (2) pedestals. Maybe a pedestal (or two) comes out of the floor and the tabletop at the same time and lands on your foot, or perhaps a terrier.

Obviously, if you’re careful and patient, this all goes smoothly enough. And hundreds (thousands?) of RVs have dinette tables with this very same design.

Anyway after you get the pedestals out of the way (stowed somewhere you’d rather have available for extra wine bottles), you can put the tabletop down at seat level, move some cushions around and wa la, you have a bed. Or a Giant Lounge — one that’s hard to crawl into and out of, because it’s too deep. Okay if you plan to sleep all night, but not practical for daytime use.

And when the table’s up? Try as you might to jam the pedestals into the floor and the tabletop securely, the table is going to wobble some. It’s just part of the design.

I’m okay with wobbly, but… wait, I’m not. I’m anti-wobble. Anyway.

You will recall (having memorized the entire blog) that we began experimenting with a lounge configuration.

We’re experimenting with the Toto lounge. Table out, extra lounging area in.

You can see the pedestal brackets down there on the floor. See how close the back one is to the back seat? No room for feet if you’re using the table. Yeah, I know, we could have just bought a 60-foot coach with slides and three living rooms and possibly a spa, and space wouldn’t be an issue. But, well.

We found we prefer the lounge configuration. We didn’t miss the table (mostly). We found ourselves rarely installing it. If we did want the table, there was the hassle of finding the pedestals, getting them pounded in, and on and on. That’s a lot of hassle. We’re not just anti-wobble; we’re also anti-hassle.

So…. what do you do when clients go on vacation and you have too much time on your hands? You build stuff. We built the new table, which is always available, hassle-free, and big enough for our needs, and allows us to be enjoy the lounge configuration we prefer the rest of the time.

Many people wouldn’t make the same choice. But we did. So far we’re really pleased with how it all works for us.

It swivels. It slides left and right. It goes up and down. It’s the most fantastic item in the universe.

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All the light we could not see, now visible

September 1, 2015 By drpaddle Leave a Comment

Last week I finished my work early, and it wasn’t the weekend yet, so I did a small project from my endless list. We needed some light in one of the few places Escape Trailer Industries hadn’t included one… and I had ordered the fixture a few weeks earlier. It’s an LED “pancake” fixture that looks like others in the trailer — almost.

It’s a slightly thicker pancake. Apparently the Escape-provided fixtures are “slimline” models. The one I had ordered is not a slimline. It’s a regular line. It’s okay. And it’s like all the others in all essential respects: same color temperature, same design, same low power consumption. Here it is in its new location:

Nightstand in our Escape 21 trailer, with newly installed LED light fixture above.

We use this terrier-protected area — known as ‘the nightstand’ to Escape 21 owners — to make coffee when we’re plugged into a current bush. Our daughter gave us a small, penguin-shaped Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffeemaker that fits perfectly here. So it needed light, see.

I had to find some 12-volt power from which to steal. The nearest I could find that was reasonably accessible — though still a bit of a pain — was up forward of the new fixture location, supplying a small reading light right above Sooz’s favored sleeping location.

On the left, the new light fixture. Way down at the right, the little “captain’s light” fixture where I tapped into 12-volt power.

I had to run wire all along the inside of that upper cabinet. Lucky for me, there was another (120 volt) wire already neatly run through the cabinet, so it was easy to thread the new 12-volt wire through the larger cable’s hold-down loops.

Now, there’s a pair of not-visible-unless-you-crawl-into-the-cabinet holes (one near the reading light and one near the new fixture) behind Toto’s port-side cabinet doors. The drilling was easy; contorting myself into (and holding) position to do the drilling was less easy. How can a simple wiring job cause perspiration and muscle aches? It does, though, uh huh.

Now, we can make coffee in the morning and see how much non-dairy creamer we’re tossing in. And (bonus!) we get this designer light pattern on Toto’s side wall.

Look! The new light fixture makes a purty pattern.

So, yeah. Light fixture. Makes me want… a cup of coffee.

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Turning the tables in the TotoLounge

September 1, 2015 By drpaddle 31 Comments

It rained here over the weekend. There was even the most powerful August windstorm the region has seen since they started keeping records. Not ideal camping or kayaking conditions, but suitable(as long as we didn’t lose electrical power) for working on a Toto Enhancement Project.

Behold. The TotoLounge has a new, improved table.

It’s smaller than the old table — see this other post if you want to know why.

Also, two perfectly adequate, removable, but not-quite-right pedestals from the old table have been replaced by one permanently installed (as if anything in an RV could be considered permanent), pneumatic, telescoping one.

The new table can be set to any height (within limits). It can also swivel, and will slide left and right. This table can do anything you could imagine. Glorious.

Making the tabletop was the most time-consuming task. I had to lay out and cut plywood (with a jigsaw)… use a router to cut a groove all the way around the tabletop’s edge… cut Formica laminate to size using a utility knife… glue the Formica to the plywood (I used contact cement)… then use a different router bit to trim off excess Formica. Finally, I pressed the edge material (vinyl T-molding) into the edge, leaving the joint on the wrong side and therefore removing and re-attaching it.

It’s not perfect, but for a first effort I’m satisfied with the result.

Here is a thing I learned, the hard way: Formica sheets come in two grades — “horizontal” (for counter-tops and tabletops and such) and “vertical” (a thinner version that looks and wears the same but might not stand up as well to hard knocks). If you are me, when you go to Home Depot, you don’t know to ask for a specific grade, and the Home Depot associate does not know to ask you either. So you end up with the vertical grade, which will probably work fine, and is (likely) a little easier to work with since it’s more flexible. But if I had known I would surely have ordered the more heavy-duty stuff, for about $15 more. We are going to have to remember not to emphasize any discussion points with dramatically slammed-onto-the-table bricks, which might crack the laminate.

It’s easy to transform from table mode to lounge mode. No need to remove the pedestal; it shrinks on command.

We’ve ordered a cushion (matching all the others), the size of the tabletop, to make the TotoLounge decadently comfortable, in just the size we want for lounging. This is why we made the table smaller — to get to optimal lounge depth.

New table and pedestal plus filler board for use as a bed.

Here’s our old lounge board, cut down to become a filler board in the event we want to use the Toto Lounge as a guest bedroom (or in case I’m sent — unfairly, of course — to the doghouse). The seat-back cushions from the side of the dinette will fill up this entire area to make a full-size bed, for the sleepy, or for the falsely accused.

When we do use the table as, uh, a table, we have some new options.

New table rotated 90 degrees to accommodate larger parties. Not too large, though.

The possibilities are limitless. Here’s the Company Mode, which accommodates up to 5 well-acquainted adults for beverages and small plates. Or just beverages. Or maybe beverages go on the fold-up “bully” tables and we use the table for Mexican Train.

And then…

Our remodeled dinette in dine-and-watch mode

Imagine, if you will. A couple, harmless in appearance, settles down on either side of a corner in a simple U-shaped dinette. They flip the TV out, then slide, swivel and lock their perfectly-sized, ideally-shaped table into optimal dining position. Then they watch Twilight Zone reruns while consuming the equivalent of a TV dinner. We’ve entered a new dimension, one not only of sight, but of sound and possibly taste (yes, poor taste). We’ve entered… the Toto Zone.

One last bit to complete the project: I need to fill the one screw hole in the floor that’s still visible after installing the new pedestal. It’s not noticeable but I’ll Know It’s There.

I’m going to use this kit, which is possibly the most difficult-to-find item ever stocked at the Gig Harbor Home Depot.

Here is another thing I learned: if you look up an item on the Home Depot website and specify your “home store,” the site will tell you where in the store to find it (aisle number and “bay number”). My future shopping experiences will be transformed.

So that’s our new TurboTotoLounge. Warning: there’s no doubt I’ll post a picture when we receive the new cushion from CushionSource.com. So this isn’t over yet. Not by a long shot. Well, but, almost.

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