Trailer Renovation Day 3, 4, 5 & 6

Tomorrow is a huge turning point for this entire trailer process. The decision to continue with it or hold off for some time will have been made by the end of the day. We don't have the trailer with us today and were unable to make any progress on it, tomorrow will be day 25 if we work on it. We're suppose to be leaving this Wednesday for a cousin's graduation then 5 days in the Olympic National Forest. Will we???  For now...on to the flooring...

Once everything had been completely removed from the trailer, we were finally able to assess the damage. 1/4 of the floor was pretty rotted, we learned this AFTER the fact. The two front corners along the front wall were REALLY rotted. But the rest was actually in pretty decent condition. Looking back, I really do wonder if we could have left this as a front end project instead of a full-on-gutting-it project. Oh well, now we know.

 Day 3 started with our first dump run FULL of trailer bits and pieces, all mostly rotted, plus a good size pile we had been collecting for the past year of nasty wood. Then we started on the trailer with removing the old floor. We did it in sections because hubby said that it was what was holding up the trailer. He added the bracing (which is in the middle of the pictures) to help stabilize it and keep it from collapsing. I honestly don't know if this was a necessary step, so I just went with his plan.

So again...day 3 (and I believe day 4)...we removed a 4'x8' section of flooring, removed pink insulation, shop vac'ed crud out, painted bottom 2x2's with a wood hardener (surprisingly they were not rotted, but could use a little love), patched any holes that may have occurred in the bottom metal, filled back in with rigid insulation, measured area's exact dimensions and cut new 3/4" plywood to shape, before laying in place we painted it with 2 layers of Killz paint (a preventative measure I guess...again, just going with hubby's plan), laid it in place, nailed in good. Phew! 2 days just to do ALL that!

I believe this was also when I spent the morning removing ALL that pink insulation. It was a NASTY job, and I was the lucky one to get it all done. 6 garbage bags later and a good layer of insulation particles covering my arms and head, it was all gone!

On day 5 we actually had a friend volunteer to help out in trade for borrowing our trailer for the 4th of July weekend. Depending on tomorrow's decision...I honestly don't know if it will be ready for them even, now. So hubby and friend replaced the right hand section of flooring which was another 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" plywood, following (I assume) the same steps as above.

By the end of day 6, we had a brand new floor in our trailer...for the most part. The front end was another sheet of plywood but cut in half along a support line because of having to squeeze it under the existing walls, one side at a time. There was also that little back corner by the entry door and where the closet sits, we eventually refloored that little area too.

Man Hours:
Day 3: hubby 8, me 5, Total=13
Day 4: hubby 5, me 3, Total=8
Day 5: hubby 5, me 0, friend 5, Total=10
Day 6: hubby 9, me 7, Total=16

Money Spent: (who knows, I haven't even added that yet)
Here's what we had to pay for:
Dump Run
(3) sheets 3/4" plywood
(3) sheets 1.5" thick rigid foam insulation
Large bolts, nuts & washers that holds entire trailer to the floor & trailer frame
Killz (this may have been leftover from a previous project)

Layton Renovation Day 2

Today makes 21 days that we've been working on our trailer. I'm not counting the days hubby works and I spend running around town to all the RV stores for parts. So in reality, it's been 4 weeks and 1 day. Today was damp and drizzly. It's been raining so hard the past couple days that the tarp is leaking and we already have water damage on our brand new paneling. So disheartening. On to Day 2's progress...or I should say discoveries...
We continued with the demolition, we kept cutting holes in the linoleum to see how far back the water damage went. And farther...and farther...

Well...this WAS a kitchen counter with oven and sink. The floor damage went this far back. It was all so dirty! In the process of removing the range hood (which ALWAYS rattled when I turned it on) we discovered several nests of a species of insect that I have no clue as to what kind or where they're native too, but I'm pretty sure they're not from around here...

ETA: I just googled this insect, I believe it's a mud dauber wasp. I still am not sure where they are from, maybe all over the US.

Once we moved over to the old Coleman heater we found several old wasp nests, one of which was still active and the queen gave me the stink eye.

At the end of the day, we had discovered several wasp nests, the mud nests, a bird's nest (have NO IDEA how that one happened since it was in the wall), a mouse nest, and an infestation of these brown bug's that I think are related to boxelder beetles.

I didn't get a picture of the interior, but we demolished the ENTIRE interior except for our precious bathroom that we renovated last summer. Here's a sideways view of the kitchen wall with all it's nasty pink insulation.

Man Hours: hubby-12, me-9 = 21 hours

Money Spent: $0