Coming Unglued

I guess it is bound to happen sooner or later.  My wheel estate has reached the age where it is coming unglued. Kind of like me...  


The exterior rubber around some of the windows  was coming out. Poking it back in place wasn't doing much to fix it. A few days later it defiantly poked itself back out. Contact cement finally did the trick.  (Said carefully with fingers crossed on a wing and a prayer.)


The rubber around my big boxy rear view mirrors on the left and right managed to pop loose. I couldn't get it to pop back in place, but a strong armed friend manged to do this for me. Whew. 


Although my cabinetry is well made, there are some trim strips on the walls that match the wallboard which resembles wallpapered sheetrock though it is not. The matching trim is used to cover up seams or to trim around the door. They were glued then stapled in place with tiny staples. Where as the glue has failed the strip has bowed popping out the tiny staples.  Not sure what I am suppose to glue that with, but I settled on super glue, then gently nailed the tiny staples back in place. 


Then the upper cabinets in the rear of the RV had carpet inside them. You guessed it. The glue dissolved leaving gaps of carpet hanging off the ceiling and sides inside the cabinet. A two-part epoxy put that back together. 

I've also used those newfangled magic eraser sponges to removed mysterious stains on the walls. It might be melted adhesive. I just don't know, but the magic erasers cleaned up the weird stains.  I am not show when they appeared or what exactly they are. The RV is dry with no leaks at all. Mumblings around the campfires is a consensus from other RV owners that the various adhesives used in the original manufacture, are simply old, tired and worn out. 


Did you know velcro can finally fail?  Such is the case of the strap that holds the glass carafe in the built-in coffee maker. The strap needs to be in place before driving to prevent the coffee pot from taking flight. 


I did manage to remove the velcro from the sides of the coffee maker, then replace with new velcro.  The heavy plastic strap refused to give up it's worn out velcro strip.  I have no idea where you buy those heay plastic straps. Mine are clear and used throughout the RV to hold various things. Like there is one to hold the folding shower door open. Another to lash down a cloth accordion door for the bedroom.  I flipped  over the coffee pot strap, used a different colored velcro, then attached that. Now I can safely use the strap again to contain the coffee carafe. I was temporarily using an unsightly bungee cord. This is the original Black and Decker under cabinet coffee pot from circa 1994.  I redid the coffee maker strap to make it better, so that it can hang neatly on the side of the coffee pot, when I don't need the coffee strapped in for travel. This saves me having to hunt for that little sturdy strap every time I want to drive some where. 


The coffee pot is one of Black and Decker's best made. Who ever heard of a coffee maker lasting 17 years?  It's super fast, making terrific coffee. I am very spoiled. I keep cleaning it up to look new. I don't dare dream of replacing it with anything modern until the day it dies. 


It always feels good to get things glued back together. I have no idea why, but it does.