A 25-year-old motorhome gets a much-needed makeover.
By Steve Thomas, F453140
October 2019
There is a moment when you realize you have found the right one in life. I am not talking about my wife, but our coach. I still love my wife, Lisa!
Once we purchased our motorhome, we telephoned our financial adviser; that way, he couldn’t try to talk us out of it. We explained it is 25 years old and we told him how much we paid. There was a long, quiet pause. “Is it safe?” he asked.
After many fun and exciting trips, we started to think about upgrading The Escape Pod, as we call our motorhome, but decided that we have too many memories to sell it. It would be like losing a friend. What would happen to a 25-year-old motorhome? We doubted it would find a home in the Smithsonian Institution.
We decided to refurbish the one we love.
As with a house, we started with the roof, which, when it rained, resembled Southern catfish ponds. Mitch and Paula Holland, owners of Infinity Commercial Upholstery in Nacogdoches, Texas, replaced the roof with new decking and covered it with fiberglass. They also reupholstered our sofa and seats. No longer does the roof hold water or feel like you’re walking on a trampoline. The upholstery looks great; it adds that new look and smell to the interior.
Our next stop was Xtreme Paint & Graphics in Nacogdoches for fiberglass repair and a paint job. We met with Greg for scheduling and with Brittany for our paint scheme and graphics. Both were very patient and helpful. Greg reassured us when we saw that both sides of the coach had been removed after a week in their shop. That was necessary to gain access to the underlying rotted wood. It was an “Oh, my!” moment. Once a game plan was decided, Rance, the bodywork technician, began replacing the sides with foam, then plywood. Then he covered the sides with layers of fiberglass. The motorhome started to look better, and we felt more encouraged.
When we first arrived at Xtreme, Brittany took photographs of our coach and downloaded them into her computer so she could work with the paint and graphics. Once we decided on the look for our coach, we received a computer printout showing how it would appear with the paint and graphics applied.
Refurbishing a coach is fun, challenging, and rewarding. We’ve read many times in Family RVing about the importance of finding reliable and dependable companies. We found this to be true with Infinity Commercial Upholstery and with Xtreme Paint & Graphics. Without them, we would not have this beautiful motorhome that will last for many more years.