Surprise! (It's Not Good)

I was told that when you undertake a project such as rebuilding an RV there are bound to be lots of surprises - and they are usually the ones you'd rather not have. Except, I was told this after I found out about the surprises.

When Jerud and I started this project I was using the word renovate and not rebuild. Google dictionary: Renovate - restore (something old, especially a building) to a good state of repair. Rebuild - build (something) again after it has been damaged or destroyed.

Turns out our surprise is that we are going to be doing a lot more of rebuilding than renovating...I won't go right into why we are going to do more rebuilding than planned.

The first thing we did was remove the RV fridge. We'll be replacing it with a non-propane fridge. A residential fridge will be a lot more energy efficient and have more space for food.

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Taking out the fridge started off easy. We still don't have electricity in the storage unit.

Then it got a bit more difficult even after finding all the screws in the back that needed to be unscrewed.

Finally after several different methods and attempts, Jerud finally got it to start sliding out.

Fridge is out!

We have a ladybug infestation problem. Better ladybugs than stinkbugs!

We finally got electricity at the storage unit the next day and started removing the RV siding. 

Before we could take the siding off, we had to remove everything that was attached to it. 

The trim came off next. Siding from the front and back end of the rig have to be removed before the long sides.

It's not good to see a screw this badly rusted come out of your RV siding.

The siding is overlaid on top of one another and stapled to the RV on the side edges.

There was a lot of moisture behind the pieces of siding we removed.

Yes, that's rotted wood.

The wood and insulation was wet on the roof.

View of the front of the RV, where our bedroom is located. That's A LOT of rotted wood!

After removing the aluminum siding on the front end of the rig, we moved to the back. 

I removed all the windows from the RV so that we could take the sidings off. First surprise in the rear - a window frame is rotted.

Removing the water heater. We plan on replacing it with point of use water heaters.

The siding is removed from the back of the rig - where the kitchen and entrance is located.

And THIS was our big, ugly surprise - the back of the RV also has water damage! View of the back with the insulation removed. All the black wood is rotted wood.

ROT!

To top that off, we realized the area of the floor that the water heater sat on was also rotted.

Finding the water damage at the back of the RV was a punch in the stomach. This meant more work, more time in this expensive storage unit, and more money in general. We're both disappointed (me more than Jerud) that we purchased this RV. But it's the first RV we've purchased. We thought we looked into everything we should to make sure it was a decent buy. Luckily we purchased the rig at a pretty decent price. Since we're newbies at this, I guess we have to accept that shit is going to happen.

Items like the entrance door, storage doors, lights and awning all have to come off the trailer before we can remove the rest of the siding. Jerud and I have had many discussions about RV awnings ever since our friends, Mary and Barbara who live in an RV full time, told us stories of their awning being ripped off the rig because of high winds. Apparently, this is kind of a common thing. Jerud and I agree that having an awning would be nice, but we worry something like that might happen to us. Another downside to awnings is they weigh a lot. We're trying to shave weight off where we can to ensure we don't go over the weight limit once the rig is fully loaded.

Turned out the decision was kind of made for us when Jerud realized our awning fabric was dry rotted. There was a quick back and forth between us and then we decided it was time to cut the f**ker off! (Simply cutting the fabric off made removing the heavy awning rollers and arms a lot easier.)

We figured, instead of replacing the awning with a new one, we can just rig up some cool tarp instead.

Below are pictures of what we did next.

With the front and back siding removed, we were able to remove the sides.

We removed the fresh water tank. It lives in the basement, directly underneath the bedroom.

Removed the AC/DC distribution panel (shown), DC converter and battery charger.

We had to take the couch out of the slide. Instead of taking the slide out, we're hoping we can push it in enough to remove the piece of aluminum siding that is right above it.

The original plan was the reuse the siding that we removed from the RV. But halfway through the teardown we realized that it would be hard to reuse it. The pieces of siding were deformed when removed and they weren't in the greatest condition to start with.

Tybee thinks we took the couch out so she has a better view of us working.

This is the last piece of siding that remains on the RV (because of the slide). We removed the insulation and packed up the ones in good condition in case it comes in handy later. (We are trying to reuse as much stuff as we can.) But we're planning to get new insulation for the walls. We want insulation that has a higher R-value (RVs aren't build for 4-season living) and is more eco-friendly.

We also removed rotted wood from the bedroom.

Totally off topic, Tyki, the dog we're fostering, has warmed up to us a lot more and come out of his shell. He's turned into this really affectionate and loving pup. Who knew he'd love to cuddle!

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