Tools:
- one small crowbar
- small is good in this case because there are a lot of tight spaces in this camper
- http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stanley-Wonder-Bar-Pry-Bars-13-3-8-wonder-bar/19284706
- one MASSIVE crowbar
- we chose a heavy weight one with a long shaft for more leverage, this thing packs a big punch
- http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-36-in-Wrecking-Bar-DWHT55131/202985573
- cordless tool set, this is the best deal I found for buying many tools at once on a budget
- we chose Ryobi because they are inexpensive, they have a wide variety of battery powered tools, and the batteries are interchangeable between all the tools in this line.
- the drawbacks: the battery life isn't that long, the drill bits wear out readily, and if you have access to a higher grade of tools, or just feel like spending about $800 dollars, go for a better brand, as it is we spent just under $300 for everything we need.
- http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-ONE-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Super-Combo-Kit-4-Piece-P883/203466914
- We needed all of these things to get the floor out (excepting the flashlight).
- Cordless drill
- cordless circular saw
- cordless saws-all
- cordless battery charger
- You will also need a drill bit set and extra batters, get at least two. If you're feeling adventurous, their 6 battery charger would also be super useful.
Now that you've got your stuff, the basic principal of tearing up sub-floor is: get it up in any way you can without damaging its supports or in this case the metal bottom of the camper. In all the places the sub-floor was screwed down it was best to remove the screws first rather than try to pry it up. Finally, you'll see in the photos that we cut a straight edge around the walls and cabinets or benches that we didn't remove. It was our thinking that those pieces would stay better supported that way. So without further ado:
My wonderful hubby (who puts up with and helps out on all my crazy "adventures") breaking ground on our demo!!!
Tips and Tricks for Demo and Floor Prep:
- Pry up everything possible with the crow bars, and don't be afraid to bring the saws into it. Having the pieces cut down into smaller sections makes them considerably easier to pull out in the small spaces and weird angles of the camper.
- Making nice clean corners is best done with a small handheld saw, we picked one up for a few dollars at walmart, but any home improvement store will have saw choices as well. It's hard to see in the picture below (sorry we were working in the dark), but my husband is wearing gloves for hand protection and sawing out a corner.
- Once you've cleaned up all the edges, remove the screws for a smooth final surface to lay your new subfloor on.
- Then use a crow bar to remove all the nails
- Rather than removing the staples, we found it was easiest to just use a hammer to flatten them into the beams (since they were old and rusty and prone to snapping off when we tried to remove them anyway).
Pictures:
Before After
Before After
Before After
After: Left Bench Area
After: Right Bench Area
This is where the worst of the water damage was, we believe it is due to a poorly sealed storage door on the outside of the camper.
Repairing the Bottom Metal Sheeting:
This is the barrier between the outside and the inside of the camper. It lays on top of the trailer frame and is AMAZINGLY delicate. We punched a few holes in it ourselves and also found a few holes due to rust. Luckily there is a cheap way to fix the damage with a metal tape used to repair duct systems.
Tape:
Behold the damage:
1. Find a hole
2. Start taping in one direction
3.Place perpendicular tape strips
4. Third layer of tape in the original direction
5. In all possible cases repair holes from inside and outside the camper
Annnnnnnnnnnnd now we're done. We are ready to put in insulation and the new sub-floor. That will all be covered in step 3.
