If you’re looking to renovate a vintage Airstream motorhome, then you’ve got an exciting and complex project ahead of you. There’s a lot for you to consider before embarking on such a big project. What’s your budget? How long should the renovation take? What features do you consider essential, and what are you flexible about? Do you have the skills to do the whole renovation yourself, or do you need to hire people to help you with certain projects?
Airstream of Vermont at Pete’s RV Center in South Burlington put together this brief guide to help you focus your efforts and get your reno off to the right start. If you’re looking to buy a new Airstream RV or have questions about renovating your vintage Airstream model, come visit our dealership! We proudly serve customers all over New England, including those of you in Worcester, Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire.
Budget
When budgeting for a big renovation project like this one, you have to keep a few different things in mind. How large is your Airstream motorhome? Is it in good condition, or has it seen better days? If it’s the latter, does it need a full gut job or are there pieces you can preserve or re-use? Do you need to redo plumbing in the bathroom? Do you need new bathroom fixtures? What’s your tool situation—do you need to buy anything? Are you redoing floors and, if so, what kind of material are you using? Same question applies to countertops, wall finishings, cabinetry, and so on. These are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself in order to get an initial handle on your budget.
To DIY or Not to DIY – The Handiness Question
1. The Handy Geniuses
Some people are innately handy—they know what tool or tools they need for the job and exactly how each of them works. They can read an instruction manual or watch a video on the internet and suddenly know how to install cabinets, like they’ve always done it. They can demolish and rebuild whole basements by themselves. These people are handy geniuses, and they will likely be able to DIY much of their Airstream motorhome project without any difficulty.
2. The Tool Fumblers
Other people pick up a tool, and something unrelated spontaneously breaks. They might be great at other things but if you ask them to build a cabinet, they’ll stare at you blankly and then get on their phone to hire someone. No judgment intended—we’re all good at different things, but when you’re diving into something as large and complex as a motorhome renovation project, it’s important to know yourself and your skills. If you’re a tool fumbler, you’re going to need to call in a contractor for almost every job.
3. The Rest of Us
Most of us are somewhere in the middle. We can muddle our way through putting together a piece of flat-packed furniture, and maybe we’ve fixed some basic plumbing fixtures, or changed a light switch. We don’t have an innate ability to build an entire house from scratch, but we can figure out how to put up drywall with a little time and practice. For us, we need to do a little more thinking before we figure out what we can do ourselves and what we need a contractor for.
Things to Consider
Before deciding whether to DIY your renovation project, figure out what skills you have, what skills you don’t have but are willing and able to learn, and what skills are simply beyond your ken. Unless you’re one of those innate handy geniuses, chances are good that you’ll encounter all three kinds of tasks in your renovation. When you’re figuring out your budget, break down all the things you need to do into these discrete categories – can do, might be able to do, and absolutely cannot do. The “can do” and “might be able to do” categories are good candidates for DIY. The “absolutely cannot do” tasks will be best served by calling a contractor. Once you have these lists set up, you’ll have a better idea of the balance between DIY and contractor work, which will help you nail down your budget that much more clearly.
Of course, we could write books about how to renovate your motorhome but we hope this guide will help you get started thinking more granularly about your project. And if you have further questions or want to shop for a new RV, we’ll be here at Airstream of Vermont at Pete’s RV Center, where our experienced and friendly team will happily help you. We look forward to seeing you!
