When one door closes ...

Nick and I were at the dump shop today, sourcing materials for a (non-caravan) project.

We were very chuffed with those efforts and were poking around a little (while Nick recovered from loading the trailer), when I made an amazing find.

You see, our caravan is a bit rough round the edges.  That's an understatement but you get the idea! The existing door has been repaired.  It's functional but no longer has a fly screen insert.

I was looking online last night at caravan doors. Wow! I was stunned at the prices for items but even so didn't spot anything suitable for us. 

Nick had also looked and confirmed today that he found a door for $1,000.00 - or we could custom order, which would be $2,000.00!  As those figures equal around 30-60% of the total cost of our van, we obviously weren't at all tempted to buy!


There didn't seem to be any caravan wreckers - local or otherwise - and I'd started looking at magnetic flyscreens (like these) as an alternative.  I found some on eBay for around $15.00, which seemed a far better solution more in keeping with our budget. 

Against that background, imagine my delight in spotting a caravan door (of the right shape and era) leaning against a wall in the dump shop!  We confirmed the cost - $15.00 - and handed over our money very quickly!

Of course, we weren't sure the door would fit but thought we'd take a chance - and if we lucked out, we could list on eBay.  Although I said to Nick on the way home that if the Universe was going to give me a door, surely it would provide the right one - and as it happens, I was (pretty much) right! 

As soon as we got home, Nick set about fitting the "new" door to the caravan.  It'll need a few small modifications and a replacement handle but it should work wonderfully!  How good is that?!  We are absolutely delighted! 

You can see our other good work in the first pic.  Nick finished fitting the new ply to the rear wall.  I've made most of the curtains - using two thermal-backed curtains bought from one of our local op-shops.  They cost $6.25 each and yielded enough fabric to cover the three side windows and the larger rear window.  The existing long curtain rod was bent so a replacement was found at the dump shop last weekend, as part of our $7.50 haul (which included cutlery and a flyscreen for the roof hatch).  I have enough fabric left over to make tie-backs and a small curtain for the kitchen area. 

One of the curtains was quite smoky, so I soaked it as well as washing twice on a long cycle.  The smoke smell remained, so I googled and then washed the curtain a third time with two cups of white vinegar as well as the detergent.   Success - smoke smell vanished!