Original thread is here
I cut out a groove in the guide bunks on my Four Winns trailer. Now, the upright supports are countersunk into the bunk and do not protrude. It was this that caused the damage in the link above.
Some items I noted while doing this project:
- While I had not had the trailer in the water for over a week, it had rained about 24 hours earlier. The wood was still very wet.
- The carpet is held on to the bunk with staples only. They are not stainless and were rusting.
- The hardware was also not stainless and there was evidence of rust on the bolts.
- The carpet is ordinary indoor/outdoor carpet. Nothing special as far as I could tell.
The first step was to remove the carpet from each end of each bunk. This involved avout 10-15 minutes of time prying out about 30 rusted staples per end. Once the staples were out, I simply folded back the carpet.
Here it is all peeled away
The next step was measuring where and how large to cut the groove. There were imprints on the wood, but I measured anyway. It's ~ 1/2" from the top and end.
I used a router with a flat bit to cut out my groove. The wood was wet so the cut wasn't clean all the way around. Doesn't really matter, though, since it's going to be covered up.
The last step was to install the new hardware and cover it back up. The carpet still fit well despite a 1/2" deep groove. I used an electric staple gun and re-attached the carpet.
The finished product!
