Vista 32YE bathroom cabinet addition

John Locke · 06-23-2019, 10:28 AM

The standard bathroom arrangement on a 32YE Vista coach doesn't include a bathroom medicine cabinet. This wasn't acceptable to the DW since our last coach had one that she found essential. It seems Winnebago doesn't agree that bathroom medicine cabinets are essential to RV life. So I found a reasonably good quality medicine cabinet at Home Depot for $110 and installed it.

This installation isn't as easy as it may appears, but not bad. You have to locate the studs in the wall with a stud finder. In my case, I removed the TV from the wall on the other side and cut out some of the paneling to install more 3/4" backing board, glued into place to have a solid wall for a swing out TV mount. This is to provide a better work environment for my video editing work performed from the dinette, using a replacement 4K TV, which is another story I'll tell later.

Taking down the OEM mirror in the bathroom can be dangerous. It's stuck to the wall with 2-sided tape, very strong industrial tape. The mirror is also nailed to the wall. The nails can pry out fairly easy, but the tape is really strong, making it impossible to remove the mirror without breaking it, so wearing eye protection is essential. I had to be careful to NOT RIP the wallpaper in areas that wouldn't be covered by the new medicine cabinet, because the tape is stuck on so good.

The Home Depot cabinet has special double thick wall areas at top and bottom to mount the cabinet to mount with screws. The back wall is 1/8" Masonite, so the doubled area is 1/4" thick. However, at the top, I had extend that double wall another 3" lower, enough to hit the stud in the wall. You can see in the photos how the screws at the top are a little lower from the edge, versus the bottom. A stud finder helps finding the wall studs for the screw locations.

The only other modification needed to this cabinet is a way to keep it securely closed, since this particular cabinet only has springs in the hinges to keep it shut, too weak for RV purposes. I had to install a more secure door catch that holds the door closed more securely (not shown in photos). I'm also going to replace the OEM shelves in this cabinet with custom shelves that have a lip on the edge, along with dividers to keep things from sliding around sideways.

Next project, finish the new 4K 40" TV installation.

Then, design drawers under the dinette seats to use that storage space easier (another feature my last RV had).

Oldchinahand · 06-23-2019, 11:59 AM

Nice job. Best thing about an RV or sticks n bricks is ability to make it reflect you.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

FishBear · 06-25-2019, 03:25 PM

Sweet!

blueridge-fl · 06-26-2019, 06:47 AM

Nice!

Keep us posted on the dinette seat mod. I have adding access doors to the front of the dinette on my to do list. For now, I just want to add the doors. I still might decide to add drawers in the long run, but just having doors would be a huge improvement.

NeilV · 07-01-2019, 05:44 AM

Just be mindful that if you have seat belts on the dinette that cutting out the side panel to allow the addition of drawers or a door may weaken the benches so that they are no longer safe to use as a riding position so if you do proceed with this type of modification the seat belts probably should be removed and labels affixed indicating that its not a riding position.

blueridge-fl · 07-02-2019, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilV

Just be mindful that if you have seat belts on the dinette that cutting out the side panel to allow the addition of drawers or a door may weaken the benches so that they are no longer safe to use as a riding position so if you do proceed with this type of modification the seat belts probably should be removed and labels affixed indicating that its not a riding position.

The seat belts anchor to the floor.