One Giant Leap for Camperkind

This weekend turned out to be hugely productive for the camper! The weather (three days of sun) allowed us to tackle the biggest part of the camper... The roof!

The roof tear-down begins! Very tedious work... scrape out the gunk and sealants to gain access to screw, try using the nut driver to find they're too rusted, use the Drexel to grind slots onto head of screw, remove by hand with a screwdriver... And repeat about 300 times!

Halfway there!

All roof items (fridge vent, plumbing roof vent, etc.) removed, working my way around the perimeter of the roof.

The actual roof removal process took three guys to lift and slide it off the back of the camper. The roof weighed about 80 lbs. in all, with 60 lbs. being tar and layer after layer of previous patch jobs.

Ta-da! I took this from a step ladder inside the camper. This is what was left of the roof supports. This is above the bathroom, fridge and closet. We only found a few dozen ants here, likely stragglers that were left behind from the demo.

Front drivers side corner. Most all of this upper wood is in good shape and will be staying.

Front passengers side corner. The upper wood is good here too, but since we are replacing the side top beam in the rear, the whole beam will be replaced up to the front corner.

Another look into the camper. This thing needs cleaned out! :-)

Now to start replacing the rotten side beam...  

One last look at the old rotten beam.

To gain access to the beam, we need to remove the siding. Someone pass me the Acme can opener!

Here I am tracing the curved profile to be cut on the new beam.

Only clamps and a prayer are holding the wall, well what's left of it, up.

Unable to find a nice straight 14 ft. long board, I had to make a two-piece beam. Not ideal, but it would have to do. The two beams are joined together with a 60 degree lap joint, several 3" screws, and a Simpson Tie mending plate.

Side beam in place. Now to add uprights and the roof framing.

Roof rafters attached on this side! 

Squaring up and attaching the rafters on the other side now.

Now to put up the roof panels. These are glued with TitebondIII glue, then nailed with 3/4" crown staples to secure them. The panels are only 0.5mm thick and are weather coated on one side. Obviously this is not the final roofing cover, this skin will stiffen everything together and provide a nice base for the final roofing material to be installed upon.

Not a lot to look at from the top end... This is the weather guard primed side.

But this side, is nice to look at! Yay! We finally have something of a roof! And it's not a bowl or green pond!

A quick panorama from the rear corner of the camper. She's coming together now!

Framing up the rest of the side wall and doorway.

Gimme some skin! :-) permanently attaching the siding! Yay!!!

We are using lifetime guaranteed rust oleum coated screws for the siding. They are pricey, so they warrant their own photo. ;-)

More siding done and the doorway is framed and ready. The fender and wheel well are also permanently sealed and joined at this time.

8" aluminum flashing installed to wrap around the doorway area. It not only under laps under the siding on both sides, but also curls under the floor and in between the floor frame and the underbelly skin to encapsulate this area of the floor.

We finished the siding and installed the door. At this point I was completely wore out and forgot to take a photo of the final progress before covering it up.  The roof has two layers of plastic covering and every possible seam or corner is covered and duct taped to keep out water. This is how the camper will spend the week (it's supposed to rain, rain, rain). Hopefully next weekend will be nice again and we can continue on!

That's all for now,

Sam

After-Work Progress

Today was a wonderful Spring day, sunny and warm, so I made "camper hay" while the sun shined.  I was able to reattach the wheel cover / fender to the camper and make/install the lower wall boards for the side of the camper.

Freshly sealed and screwed wheel well / fender and the new wood pieces. I was able to use the original boards to quickly copy dimensions to build this one. The fender is not attached to the new wood yet as I don't know if I'm ready for it yet. Lots more to do. The holes in the top board are countersink holes for the 3" screws that join all the pieces together.

Close up photo of the new wood pieces.  The small 2x2 at the door frame is going to be replaced with a new 2x4. You can also see that nice new wood floor too! :-)

Here is the front corner section with new wood in place. The front corner saggs a lot under the weight of the roof and camper (you can see this by the siding not matching up at the corner), even with new solid wood in place. I think it's an inferior design and will put in a vertical 2x4 to support the wall correctly from the floor to roof. Afterwards, the siding will be correctly aligned. I'm waiting to do this until we replace the main top beam on this wall. The poorly installed awning and water leaks have done well to rot it away. We will be replacing the current stacked 2x2s with a 2x6. 

You're not seeing things, that corner board is hanging off the floor. This is how it originally was (trust me, I've checked). There will be another board installed in front of the treated 2x4 to fill the gap and support the front bevel of the camper and the curved siding in this section. I couldn't move the floor boards forward any because they are already as far forward as the frame mounts go. Yet another odd design choice of this camper. This will likely be the next section I work on to complete the front.

Sam

Floor Repair: Part 3 - DONE!

Even with Saturday being mostly a washout, and Sunday being Easter, we were still able to finish the last section of the floor in the camper Sunday evening after spending time with the families.

I'll spare you all but the final photos since the process is the same as the rest of the floor.

It's so nice to have a (known) solid floor and foundation to continue the rebuild project upon!

-Sam

Floor Repair: Part 2

The floor repair continues...

Cleaning up and cutting out the old floor, which was (yet again) infested with carpenter ants.

All flooring, insulation, and framing removed--ready for rebuilding.

Just a little trim work left--cutting the plywood and insulation around the bathroom.

 Framing the floor.

 Holes drilled on the underside of the plywood to allow clearance for the perimeter bolts.

 These bolts. :)

 Next section of flooring ready for plywood.

 Extra reinforcing in the door area.

 Adding a generous coating of insect poison to the floor and swept it into the cracks/corners.

 Plywood down!

Nice to walk into the camper without balancing on 2x4 runners. :)

More to come...

-Sam

Floor Repair: Part 1

Since we had to support the roof and walls while replacing the floor, the removal and replacement of the floor is an evolving project. This post will cover our strategy and some photos of the progress up to this weekend.

The original floor structure consisted of untreated 2x2s glued and stapled from the bottom, up into the plywood flooring. A technique obviously only possible during initial assembly in a factory. The perimeter of the camper was framed in 2x2s, liberally spaced apart, with ridged foam board insulation filling the spaces between. 

Being as I am, I was not about to repeat their design. Instead, and bearing in mind a few worse-case scenarios, I framed the floor with treated 2x4s lying on their side. The boards are glued to the aluminum belly skin, attached to the frame with stainless steel bolts, and connected to each other as needed with galvanized brackets and screws. In areas where structural integrity was not paramount, I used plain 2x2s to help distribute the floor load a little and in the unlikely event of foam-failure. I feel the weight addition as compared to just using 2x2s is well justified and worth it to maximize the life of the camper. 

"Hey, what were the worse-case scenarios you mentioned?" 

Ah, yes... The first is water intrusion. Should the flooring ever get exposed to water again, I didn't want the framing to rot away. Hence using treated lumber. 

The second, is insects, and best shown in the below photo.

After fitting the floor boards and insulation, I swept insect poison all over the floor and into the cracks between the boards. I figure any bugs that do get in, will enjoy a nice first last meal on the house. :-) this is then covered by the plywood flooring. Overkill or genius? I prefer the later. Keep in mind we have a Shop Vac full of bug carcasses from the demolition. :-)

Here are some various photos taken during the floor repair process:

This was the "good" corner with very minimal rot. If you look closely, you can also see one of the stainless bolts on the right edge 2x4.

Framing the rest of the rear floor. It was tricky to keep the roof jack in place while being out of the way. Here you can see that the wall corner boards have been rebuilt and fit into place.

Measuring for the foam insulation boards. We had to leave a catwalk of the old floor in place to allow us to walk in there as needed for the installation.

Another photo of that jack again. And the floor ready for plywood. :-)

Ta da! About 1/3 of the floor is done. It's nice to have fresh wood in the camper. Makes it feel like this project is moving along!

Stay tuned for part 2 of the floor, which should be done this weekend, weather permitting.

-Sam