(RE)Building A Dream

I grew up caravanning, and have always loved it. But my husband, Paul, and I could not afford a new caravan, so we decided to buy one “voetstoots”. We drove all the way from Johannesburg to Springs to pick up an old Ci Sprite.

 

- Malita Du Plessis

Once home, we realised that the tires were in a terrible state and the caravan was rotten to the core. What had been going to be a quick fix, turned out to be a nightmare. Two parts of the floor had to be replaced, as well as all the supporting beams – all the wood was rotten. The caravan sagged on one side, but Paul managed to hoist and lift it while we put in a new structure. All the panels were replaced. 

We are both really handy, but we are by no means experts. We learnt as we went along. I cut and sawed and nailed and hammered and used the angle-grinder …

We replaced the ugly tiled floor with beautiful panels. I painted the cupboards white, wall-papered the panels, put acrylic sealant everywhere, and built new cupboards to suit our needs.