floor repair and divorce

62 Overlander · 02-09-2003, 06:12 PM

I can truthfully say that replacing a section of floor and going through a divorce are much the same. You can't imagine the the surprises that await and you'll never want to do one again.

Annie and I stripped the inside of our "new" Overlander last Saturday to get ready for a fresh interior. Having extensive experience with wooden boats, I probed the floor to look for rot. Naturally there was a soft area under the front window. So I read every thread I could find on how to replace the section. After I had removed the interior skins and drilled out the bottom row of rivets on the exterior I thought - "I'll have this done tomorrow". Well, three days later I'm fitting new belly skins. I ended up having to replace the floor across the front and down the side to the door. Yuk. I thought the hard part was done when I had the insulation back in place, the channel bolted down and was ready to fit the new section of underbelly. The .040 aluminum is not nearly as easy to work with as the original. Anyway, I'm supposed to get pics back tomorrow so I post some. It just feels like I should have more to show for 40 hours work. I've replaced planks and frames on my old Chris Craft with no where near this amount of labor.

I'm going to go soak for a while.

**john hd** · 02-09-2003, 06:31 PM

should have named it "trouble in paradise"!

sounds a lot like the time my wife asked me to "paint" the bathroom in our house....

new floor, new toilet(i destroyed the old one with my forehead!) and of course, fresh paint.

john

Jabba · 02-10-2003, 07:25 AM

Ok John, explain to us how one takes out a toilet with your forehead, this is a new approach that has me curious.

smily · 02-10-2003, 07:30 AM

I just completed my second floor repair......

It aint so bad, beats the hell out of paying for a new floor, (new Airstream), or paying the RV shop for repairs.

Sometimes ya just gotta do it yourself!

I know the satisfaction that you had upon completion, you know you loved it.

62 Overlander · 02-10-2003, 09:10 AM

Yes, a little rest went a long way towards wanting to crawl under the trailer again. It just all looked so simple. (My famous last words) Anyway, here is a snapshot of the progress, this just before I started fitting the belly pan.

**john hd** · 02-10-2003, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jabba
Ok John, explain to us how one takes out a toilet with your forehead, this is a new approach that has me curious.

jason

it works like this:

i had an old fashioned two part toilet, the stool on the floor and the tank on the wall. it was connected by a chrome pipe.

thinking i would save some time i left the tank mounted to the wall and pulled just the stool.

when i was nailing in the new subfloor (remember, all i'm doing is painting the bathroom) the vibration from hammering detached the tank from the wall! i looked up just in time to see the tank hit me in the forehead. needless to say it broke into a zillion parts!

that is how you break a toilet with your forehead!

john

Jabba · 02-10-2003, 03:31 PM

Sounds like something they should have put in "Home Improvement" or This Old House Funniest Out takes... I cringe at the thought, I bet you saw stars for a while!

53flyingcloud · 02-11-2003, 08:32 AM

john hd

You're not accused of 'being' HARD HEADED are you now???

Ouch, that had to hurt...

Glad you came thru and, not the other way around...<s>
ciao