The progress on our repair slowed yesterday. I thought they would apply primer and get the edge moldings installed. I was only partially right. In the morning they masked the new panels on the living room slide. The masking job looked strange to me – I didn’t understand the pattern.

I was told they only wanted to apply primer to the areas where they fiberglassed the seams and sanded the surface. The rest of the panel is pre-primed and still had the protective plastic film on it.

Masked and ready for primer

Armando applied a coat of white primer over the ‘glassed and sealed seam areas, feathering the primer over a larger area.

Armando applying primer

Jim Haxby, a fellow Alpine Coach owner that lives here in Mesa, Arizona stopped by to see how things were going. While he was here we watched Armando apply a thin green coat over the primer. It looked watery and had runs in several places. I wondered what was up with it.

A while later I saw the painter, Steve, and asked him what the runny green coat was all about. He told me it was a catalyst that hardens the primer coat. It’s water soluble and after it reacts with the paint for about an hour they hose it down with water and it washes off.

Thin green catalyst over the primer

I reheated a plate of leftover pad Thai for lunch, then my phone rang. It was my friend Dave Hobden. He and his wife, Stilla, have an Alpine Coach and have just purchased a home here in Mesa to use as a base while they continue to travel. He stopped in at RV Renovators and we had a brief visit and talked about the work being done.

About an hour later Dave phoned again. He was going to drive his truck down to Casa Grande with his cargo trailer. He wanted to pick up his Harley and some odds and ends that he had stored there in a cargo container at his brother’s house. He asked if I wanted to come along and help him. I had nothing else to do, so I went along.

Before I left, I looked for Izzy, but he was on his lunch break and was probably off site. I wanted to tell him I would be away from the coach for a few hours. I locked the coach and left with Dave. I wasn’t comfortable leaving for the afternoon with the coach unlocked. Not that I don’t trust the crew here, but during business hours anyone can walk in to the place and I’d hate to lose valuables like laptops and what not.

It took us about an hour to reach Dave’s brother’s place. He lives outside of town an acreage. Their mother and step-dad also live on the property. I met them and Dave’s brother, Steve. We loaded the trailer and strapped the Harley down. We were nearly finished when my phone rang. It was Danielle at RV Renovators. She told me they needed to get inside the coach to reinstall the windows. It was 3pm and I told her I was an hour away.

The drive back took longer than an hour due to traffic. It was past 4:30pm by the time I got back. Armando was still here, but he was cleaning up and ready to call it a day. He said not to worry about it, they can do the windows first thing Monday morning. They only got one edge molding installed on the front edge of the slide out. They still need to install the upper and rear edge moldings before it’s ready for paint.

This is why I need to be onsite as much as possible. I’m guessing Armando must have been pulled off of this job at some point in the afternoon. I can’t believe it took all afternoon to remove the masking tape and paper, wash off the catalyst and install one molding.

Install two moldings and windows and we’ll be ready for paint

Donna phoned me while we were driving back from Casa Grande. She made it to Vieques and said her room was nicer than expected – although the internet photos looked good. Usually everything looks better on the internet than it does in reality. She has a small patio outside her room right on the beach!

We had high, thin clouds yesterday and the temperature reached the mid-70s. The weekend forecast calls for sunny, blue skies and upper 70s. No work will happen on the coach over the weekend. I’ll find something to do today. Tomorrow I’m going to a Superbowl party at Mike and Kim Childs house.