How to remove a wall

[madfinnhockey]

Well, today I started my project to repair a soft spot on the floor of my 03 coyote and its going to be more of a project than I expected.

The wet piece of flooring goes under the wall that separates the main living area from the bathroom, and one of the structural cross members that I need to lay the plywood on is in the bathroom side of the wall, and the other is in the main living area, so that wall has to come down so I can take out the old flooring and put in the new.

Question, how do I remove that wall????

Thanks

[madfinnhockey]

oh my gosh, what a pain lol. So here's what I've got after I started tearing things up.

As for the wall, they build the frame for the wall and screwed it to the floor and ceiling by putting screws through the bottom and top plates, then they put the wall material on, that thin veneer stuff, stapeling it on the edges of the frame. That veneer would be easy to remove, but the trim that they put on the wall edge (bathroom wall, end where the door strike goes into), that trim is glued, and I can pry it off to slide the veneer off, argh!!!

Tearing up the floor, its a layer of plywood, then sheet styrofoam, then a thin layer of plywood, then the black fabric thats under the trailer.

I've cut to the point in one direction (towards the front of the camper) where I've found a metal floor joist going the width of the trailer.

Cutting towards the back of the camper,(towards the toilet, where I think the leak started) I've come to a wooded floor joist, 22 inches from the metal joist.

But the wooden joist I think is only making a frame around the toilet drain pipe, because it only comes out from about a foot from the wall to the far edge of the toilet drain.

I've stuck a straightened out metal coat hanger through the sheet styrofoam under the floor towards the other end of the camper looking for another floor joist, but I can't find one.

I think I've got most of the wet flooring out, a 3 x 2 foot section. I'm thinking that I could add a cross member between the two joist I've found, then I'm thinking of just laying a 3/4 inch sheet of plywood over the entire bathroom floor, and over the living area just outside the bathroom door. If I were to do that, I the toilet would be raised about 3/4 inch and I'd have to put some sort of spacer in.

Thoughts?

[Bignascarfan]

Yea, Thoughts? Anyone?

I am getting ready to do the same thing on mine. The soft spot toward the rear of the trailer got prety bad while at the Glen. My seats for the Kitchen table are screwed in from the out side. They must have built it from the inside out cause the only way to get to the screws is to take of the siding. I think the saws-all is going to come in handy.

Good luck and if you make any progres, let me know.

[madfinnhockey]

got to say this bites, I really thought this would have been a 2-3 hour job. But here's where I am now.

I removed all of the linoleum in that area, which includes the bathroom, and 3 feet outside the bathroom walls.

I've removed the worst section of the soft floor, which was just outside the bathroom wall. I needed to remove the flooring under the wall, but I couldn't remove the wall, so I cut off about an inch off the bottom of it to be able to remove the old flooring. Pulled out the flooring and the styrofoam, so the hole in my floor is probably 2 ft x 1 ft. Its a little wet around the hole, but its drying out very fast.

Looking at everything more closely, the plywood just above the black fabric on the bottom of the trailer, that was very wet, and the bottom half of the styrofoam was wetter than the top half, so I'm thinking whatever is leaking, its coming from the bottom up, and its right near the wheel well. Its as if the fabric had a rip, but I don't see one. I'm wondering if the wheels are throwing up water from the wet roads, and its getting in somehow thru the wheel well.

But then the adventure keeps going. All this is happening on the right side of the trailer. On the left side, directly across from where the soft spot was, the floor is wet there also. I drilled a 3 inch hole to check it out, and on that side, it appears to be wet from the top down, the styrofoam really didn't seem wet. But the location again is right at the wheel well.
Opening one of the outside access doors near the wheel well, I can see some stained linoleum right on top of the wheel well housing.

But to add more confusement to it all, my rig is a hybrid, and there are drop down bunks on both sides where its wet, so I don't know what to think now regarding where the water is really coming from.

So what I think the repair will be, I'm going to let this dry out for a few days for starters. Then I'm thinking of laying down some 3/4 plywood over whats there. I'll have to add a spacer to the toilet drain flange to bring it to the level of the new flooring. To make the area over the big hole I cut out stronger, I'll screw a short stud to the new plywood in that area.


If this thing was built like a house, with floor joists every 16 inches, then I'd be all set because I'd know where the next joist are, but I have no idea where the joists are. I found 1, and I've gone back almost 3 feet from that one and I can't find another. If I went back any further, I'd have to take the toilet drain out, which is cemented to the pvc going to the black tank, and the bathroom sink and cabinet out to get to it.

Hey, has anyone every used hardibacker on their rv floor?

Anyone wanna come to NH and help!
!

[Bignascarfan]

The trailer never sits at the same exact "Level" every time you set it up. When You are driving, water will slosh around. Evan if it is laying on the foam or under it. Not to say you are a bone head, but becasue the bottom is wetter than the top doesn't realy mean anything since water feels the effect of gravity. I found today, that one of the Pipes" going to the sink has a realy slow drip in it when under presure and the floor was soaked again where I had already done the first part of my repair. I have decided that I am going to gut it and replace the entire floor. If I have a toilet and a bedroom at the track I am happy so I will get it in good enough shape to use at the track. We spent the rest of our time even in the rain under the canopy.

The water could be coming from any where. Push on the walls all the way around, you might find some "Soft spots" there as well. My front wall is Peeling, and it isn't painted so I now know that the front window or front roof seems are to blame also.

Just some thoughts
Also pull a light fixture and see if you can feel around in the cieling, you might be surprised there too.

They used regular insulation in my floor and then the black stuff. Sounds like yours was built a little better than mine. I pluged a fan in and aimed it at the hole and let it dry for 2 days. Then just to be safe I sprayed a bleech solution in there so if there was any mold, it would take care of that.

I wish you luck my friend. I know the minute I start construction, the job will cal and I will have to leave town.

[Bignascarfan]

I thin we are byond "Ask The Tech and now should be posting under the Renovations. Take a few Pictures along the way we can compare notes.

[Nascarcamping]

Big, has some good points there.

Here are sosme things that have happened to me.

That black stuff on the bottom can actually hold pockets of water in it, so even if you filled in or fixed a leak, that black stuff can hold water for a long time, so make sure you dont have any hidden pockets of water if you know what I mean.

Where is your water tank?

I would drain it while you are doinbg the repairs.

When you are finished, wait for a bit and then fill it up again, its better to have the finished rig sitting ion the rian for a bit, you know what I am getting at?

Try to eliminate every variable possible one at a time rather than everything at once.

Do you have an ice maker?

These things are great for leaking, and can do so one drip at a time, and be very hard to find and diagnose.

At the end of the day you will have a much better appreciation for these things and how they are ( not built) they way we like:)

They all leak, even the prevosts's, I ran into a guy who was on his 3rd roof in one:shock:

[madfinnhockey]

Oh, do I have an appreciation now for how cheaply these things are made, shortcut city everywhere!

Anyway, tomorrow I'll crawl under and take a good look at the black fabric to see if I can find any water trapped in it. I did see that the manufacture ran a wire under the trailer, and screwed it with a clamp right through the black fabric.... But if there is water there, I still have to find the source.

My water tank, I never leave water in it. The only time I put water in it is when I go to the 2 races at NHMS. And the tank is at the very front of the trailer.

An no, no ice maker.

I did trace the water lines to the back of the trailer (to the tub, sink and toilet) to see if they were leaking at any of the junctions, and everything appear dry there.

I removed a wall plate that gives me access to the tub drain (I can't remember the last time we had the shower going) and nothing there. And that area is just inches from the wet floor and foam, and the foam under the tub is dry.

I've opened up the two rear access doors, which are both located between the wheel wells and the rear of the trailer, and I've pushed against the walls and inspected it pretty well, and theres no sign of water coming in from up above and no staining on the walls. But there is a piece of linoleum thats on the wheel well hump (inside the trailer, between the outer and inner wall) that has a water stain, thats why I'm thinking it could be coming from the wheel well.

I'm just very frustrated with this.

[Nascarcamping]

Here is an idea also.

get some water dye, food dye stuff that might help you locate the leak.

this might rule out the water problems from the plumbing at least.

how about filling up the water tank and then using the pump start to pump water throughout everything and see if you can see the food colour dye leaking anywhere?

just a thought.........

[madfinnhockey]

Good idea and last week when camping I was using city water, -ll try that connection also

[madfinnhockey]

Well just to update this, I've found no obvious leaks. I now have access to all of the water and drain lines, and I've been running water for a while checking each line and connection, and nothing there.

But what I did find was along the outside bottom edges of the camper where the sides meet the bottom, there's a small trim piece that runs the length of the camper, and the caulking on that in a few places was not good. And I always tilt my camper towards the back, so I'm wondering if when it rains, water comes down the sides of the camper, hits that trim piece, and travels towards the back, finding its was in the poorly caulked areas, then settling in the back where the floor is wet. So I've caulked that, I'm going to give it another day or two to dry up more inside, then lay down some flooring. This has not been a fun weekend!

And the saga continues... what I thought was gonna be a 3 hr job that started noon on Sat, well, its now 8 Sunday evening....
A chunk of the floor is cut out, and the remaining floor is dry. I've been caulking and sealing and laying down eternalbond all day.
I've got some 1/2 plywood all cutout and ready to go, I've got a 1/2 toilet spacer since the toilet will be sitting higher now. I'm running the heat inside at night just let it sit and air out a few more days, and we're expecting rain again, so that should be a test.

Went to the local RV place to buy a new toilet seal, and I mentioned how I'm bummed that I'm having these problems with a 5 year old unit, and they said they've having similar problem with 3 year old units... Even they admitted that these things are made very cheaply.