My First Mods

[ThePressureIsOn]

I am having so much fun! The weak dinette seat back was the first mod. A 3/4 by 3/4 steel angle iron was used to strengthen it, (thank you boytimme). The DW picked out the bathroom towel bars, etc. I installed them with rubber well nuts. Next came the TP holder, I installed it with button head bolts under the shelf on the vanity. The button head bolts allow for a clean looking shelf. Next came a key holder next to the door and lastly a water filter, we hate buying filtered water.

[audio1der]

Thanks for sharing, esp. the pics! Will have to keep an eye on our seat back, and the tips for moutning the towel bar/tp roll holder are much appreciated.

[Jay D]

When u mounted the towel bars and key holder did u screw into a stud or use some kind of anchor? Thank u for the reply

[Ruffus]

Hey Bob
Please tell me that the blue thing to the left of the toilet paper roll isn't your toilet?? Please tell me that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ThePressureIsOn]

Jay D,

Of all of the holes that I drilled, none of them hit a stud except for the bathroom robe hook. I just exchanged my hook for the one that was already installed in a stud. For all of the other holes I used 6/32 rubber well nuts as anchors. This size well nut requires a 5/16 hole, which seems large, but they work well and are removable. Just start with a small drill bit, get a feel of what is behind the panel, a small hole can be hidden if needed. Then increase the drill bit size a little at a time. If you start with a 5/16 bit there will be an ugly hole in the panel, don't ask me how I know this.

For the key holder I first removed the control panel, above the installed location, to see if wires were run down the wall. Most of the wires run through the ceiling so I was safe drilling holes in that part of the wall.

Ruffus,

That is my toilet....but I have this huge 30 gal trash receptacle right in front of it!

[Jay D]

Thanks Bob. I will have to look into them. I really like the key holder. Are the anchoress the blue or red plastic ones? Do u have the name of the ones u used? Thanks again. Great job looks real nice.

[ThePressureIsOn]

Jay D,

The key holder is a cheapy from Menards made of MDF. The anchors are neither red or blue. They are black and made our of rubber. I don't know how to add a link to them, so just google (Pop well-nut, #57205). Hope that this helps.

[Jay D]

Great Thanks, Bob

[eanddrice]

Hey Bob,
Thanks for the pic of the water filter. I had already been thinking about putting one in. We have that same faucet in our Passport! The hot water handle broke off the first day we had it. Nothing a tap and a screw wasn't able to repair.

[ThePressureIsOn]

The bathroom closet really needed more shelving. Thanks kevin 46, of this forum, for his example for the shelving. Like kevin 46, I used cherry laminate flooring for our shelves. I had a piece of aspen lying around so I used that for the braces and stained them cherry to match. I had to relocate one door latch so have a few holes to fill. Removing the doors to the bathroom linen closet made the work a whole bunch easier. We fold most of our clothes, so I removed the hanger rods in the closets next to the bed and installed shelves there also. We do have one closet, next to the couch, that has a hanger rod to hang up what few clothes we don't fold.

Overall I, and especially the DW, are very pleased with the look and convenience of the added shelves.

I love this place!

[azlee56]

nice! I am glad I don't fold all the clothes. I fold and they get wrinkled. ugggg, I'll learn when I get older. :-)

[ThePressureIsOn]

The storage cabinets over our couch on our 248RKS are huge and deep. But the DW couldn't find anything in them without removing everything and the cabinets are over 5 foot from the floor so it's not easy to see what's in them.

I found these sliding wire baskets, made by ClosetMaid, at Home Depot and installed them today. They are 20 inches deep, 11 inches wide, 5 1/2 inches high and cost $23 each. Because they are made of wire the DW can see what's in them. The cabinets are 23 inches deep so there is some wasted space behind them, but the baskets offer so much more convenience. The opening of the cabinet is 22 inches wide, so it's a tight fit to install two baskets. I only ordered two to see if they would work, but the DW loves them and said that she wants wire baskets installed in all three of the cabinets. She also wants one installed under the sink, left of the pull out drawers.

It's kind of sad to think that our Bullet gets put in storage next Tuesday and won't be played with until the end of March

[Jay D]

Bob,

That's a great mod!!!!
I may have to try something like that in the pantry cabinet, it's about 3' deep and can't reach the back as well. Thank u for the post

[wgb1]

Originally Posted by Jay D

Thanks Bob. I will have to look into them. I really like the key holder. Are the anchoress the blue or red plastic ones? Do u have the name of the ones u used? Thanks again. Great job looks real nice.

Jay D, Target has the exact same key holder. That is where I got mine. Is identical to the one in the photo. I used Command Strips to put mine up in case I ever want to move it and leave no holes.

[eanddrice]

Good idea for shelves!! Might have to steal that idea from you!!!

[ThePressureIsOn]

Originally Posted by eanddrice

Good idea for shelves!! Might have to steal that idea from you!!!

Please do! That is what is so cool about this site. I have used quite a few mods from fellow members.

ClosetMaid has a wider wire basket, it's 14 inches by 20 inches deep. I'm guessing that there are more brands/sizes out there somewhere. We liked the price and quality of these.

[boytimme]

You're welcome, Pressure! I used aluminum angle, steel's probably stronger. I've also done most of the modifications listed here also. Removed rods and added shelves to the wardrobes next to bed (I added three to each), added shelves to the linen closet, mounted towel bars and TP holder in bathroom. I even added a key hook next to the door! It's amazing how people think alike! I wonder if Keystone is paying attention and maybe will provide these things in the future.
By the way I used plastic drywall anchors for the screw-in items (drilled a small pilot hole first to make sure I wasn't at a wall stud.
One additional change I made was to mount a 6-outlet power strip to the wall just above the counter near the outlet in the galley. Only 2 plugs are not enough and plugging in over head doesn't cut it.

[ThePressureIsOn]

Great idea of mounting a power strip to the wall. Ours just sets on the counter taking up space with the possibility of getting wet. This will be on my list of mods when we take out of storage in the spring. Thanks, yet again, boytimme for another thoughtful mod.

[filmtex]

Originally Posted by boytimme

You're welcome, Pressure! I used aluminum angle, steel's probably stronger. I've also done most of the modifications listed here also. Removed rods and added shelves to the wardrobes next to bed (I added three to each), added shelves to the linen closet, mounted towel bars and TP holder in bathroom. I even added a key hook next to the door! It's amazing how people think alike! I wonder if Keystone is paying attention and maybe will provide these things in the future.
By the way I used plastic drywall anchors for the screw-in items (drilled a small pilot hole first to make sure I wasn't at a wall stud.
One additional change I made was to mount a 6-outlet power strip to the wall just above the counter near the outlet in the galley. Only 2 plugs are not enough and plugging in over head doesn't cut it.

That's the first thing we did as well.

[boytimme]

Next planned mod is to add drawers under dinette seats. We rarely use that area for storage, mainly because its a pain in the butt to remove cushions and raise seat panels to get to it. I plan to cut openings in the ends of the benches and install drawers to provide easy access to that storage.