Even though our Casita is a 2009, the interior was stuck in 1990. Tamara Armstrong at Clifton Upholstery in Waco, Texas (she doesn’t have a website, but you can email or call her: 254-753-0211) not only makes the cushions and covers for all new Casitas, but she can make new covers with a good selection of fabrics. The local marine upholstery shop quoted me $2,500 for new covers. Clifton’s covers came in just over $600. She has the measurements and patterns already, just give her the model of your camper. We ended up getting a new piece of foam for one of the dinette cushions as it looked a bit mildewy.
Our Casita is a Spirit Deluxe Layout #4 with the bunk bed option. The upper bunk bottom was a thin piece of wafer board and the hinge screws had started to pull out. I had a piece of marine birch 1/2″ plywood made so now the bunk was much stronger. I painted the railing white instead of black. From the Casita factory, the support rods for the bunk were mounted too far inward causing the cushions to bend out of shape and fray. I moved the fittings outward and now everything is great!
Here were the old pattern cushions:
Notice how far inward the vertical poles were mounted, distorting the lower cushion. Also the saggy waferboard upper bunk.
If you look carefully you might spot Zach hiding in the lower bunk.
Relocated posts, white railings, plywood bulkhead, plywood upper bunk and new covers.
Here’s the dinette in “bed mode”.
Delicia is delighted with the upgrade. We’re pretty sure new Casita’s have this material as an option, or a grey pattern that’s very close.
6 comments
If you are a fanatic, you can match the chrome uprights to the white railings with some white, glossy heat shrink tubing. McMaster-Carr probably has it. The issue is figuring out what size to buy. Just a suggestion. I’ve used this technique on pipe to dress the look up.
Good idea. It’ll be more scratch resistant and not rattle either when the bunk is in couch mode and the rods are behind the cushions. I love McMaster-Carr, if they had a VIP program, I’d be on it! Plus it’ll give me another excuse to break out the Milwaukee heat gun. I will look into it.
Did you have to do anything special to remove the divider or just drill out the rivets? Does the divider provide support to the top bunk in any way or just hold up the rail? I’m replacing my covers and making some adjustments. Thanks for your time.
To remove the divider, there are hidden screws on both sides at the bottom and some screws in the upper cabinet. No rivets to drill. The divider does hold up the bunk rail, which does offer some support to the upper bunk. Most of the weight is held from the 2 poles though.
How much weight does the top bunk hold?
Casita rated it for only 80 pounds. But after replacing the cheap waferboard wood backing with 1/2″ marine grade birch plywood, the screws have much more to bite into. I would say mine would hold much more than that. However the space is small and my kid outgrew it age 10.