Demo Continues - Plans Change

Demolition and reconstruction continued the other day. The picture to the right shows some of the rotten wood that we came encountered and the three new vertical studs. That corner piece was a tricky puzzle  to cut. The light colored wood above the window isn't doin' much but sitting pretty (well not really). It was what that upper bunk was attached to. Mind you it is just connected by a few nails on the left and righ and just floats there. Ya, that really seems secure to me.  To make sure that that corner will never leak again we stole a trick from the marine world and slathered some 3M 5200 between the wood puzzle piece and the aluminum siding. It takes a week to cure, but its well worth being patient as it is completely water proof. Mainly 5200 is used for through-hull fittings under the waterline. I am not too worried about rain storms.

In the photo on the right you can see more rot above and beneath the window.  What puzzles me is the piece of wood hidden behind the paneling that was designed to hold a AC Power outlet. I'm not sure why it was covered up and no power outlet was there, yet there was one on the ceiling above that window. Hmmm.... The photo on the bottom left is of the left side of the camper. It has the same rotted mess. Most of this is not only rot, its also a carpenter ant city. The smaller ants and their eggs are on the left, the larger ants and eggs to the right of the window, with a Ant Highway running in between. I am almost glad we found this at this stage. I can't imagine getting crawled on by ant in the middle of the night because their home was on the other side of the bed by my head! Eww.

Here is a full length view of the demolition. In the foreground you can see where I have pulled out the dinette benches.  I love it! It makes it feel so big inside! We're planning on removing the table also but we do need a place to put our stuff when working up front.  The box filled with stuff is all the things I found in the camper that I'm going to keep, for some reason or another. To the left of that is our nice pile of new 2x4s.

Now do you remember that bathtub I loved SO so much?  I decided to remove the walls that were water damaged, and guess what I found? Another colony of carpenter ants. Yes folks another spot with rotted beams, so the tub had to come out. All of this will have to be dealt with. That is the beautiful wall paper that is through out the camper, and it's not really wall paper as it can't be peeled, it is paneling. So that needs to go, and the insulation. Now we come come to that plywood step thing. That is what supported the bathtub over the drainage. A new one will be built to fit in that space out to the vanity with a removeable hatch so that if the drain needs any work done to it it will be easily reachable. My plan is to put drawers and a closet in there, and keep the tub out. It's a great space to keep and secure the grill, easy-up tents, and any other bulky items you want out of site. Because we don't plan to use the bathroom for a while, work may not be done (except structual) on it for a very long while (last). So don't be anxious on updates to the bathroom. Just Sayin'