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CarrieSue · 06-13-2012, 01:16 PM

Oh, don't worry guys, it wouldn't feel like a proper thread if there wasn't at least a little hijackery.

CarrieSue · 06-26-2012, 10:37 AM

Finally, progress.

I've moved out of my rental and back to my house in Portland, and the trailer safely voyaged with me and is cozied up next to my parent's house, also in Portland.

And I got the toilet out.

I decided to be serious and go with the Rot Doctor Epoxy; I hope to have the last of the floor prep done today so I can get that applied by tomorrow at the latest. Floor's on order and I'm going to check out the flexible quarter round options at HD. I might even stop at the fabric store and do a little dreaming -- curtains and upholstery are a ways away, but for me, that's the fun stuff. Probably because I actually know what I'm doing!

danlehosky · 06-26-2012, 10:56 AM

I knew you could do it!!!!!!! Success builds satisfaction, pride and confidence...

Dan

slowmover · 06-26-2012, 06:46 PM

This is shaping up very nicely as a renovation thread . . can hear those CarrieSue gears clicking at a distance of 2,323-miles . . not an hour ago was looking at those cabinet door "antiqued" mirrors in mine and wondering how this trailer was coming along.

meredith · 06-26-2012, 08:29 PM

CarrieSue, what school do you teach at? I'm here in Silverton and I love our School District (most of the time) I have 5 kids but only three are still at home. Two of them are at the high school and my youngest is at Victor Point.
Are you going to be living here in your trailer? I would love to see it when you are done!
Meredith

Gene · 06-26-2012, 11:55 PM

Carriesue, you are now a member of a select group who have removed toilets. Your next one will be easier.

Gene

ROBERTSUNRUS · 06-27-2012, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Carriesue, you are now a member of a select group who have removed toilets. Your next one will be easier.

Gene

Hi, I'm a member of that group too; Maybe we should have some big red numbers to identify ourselves.

Gene · 06-27-2012, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, I'm a member of that group too; Maybe we should have some big red numbers to identify ourselves.

Brown numbers would be more appropriate.

Gene

CarrieSue · 06-27-2012, 10:46 AM

It's true that I have felt mixed about wanting to share this new accomplishment among my friends. Although compared to scraping the whole floor with a putty knife, getting the toilet out was far more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

Meredith, I'm the art teacher at the high school -- I teach everything except Ceramics -- and yep, next year I'll be living at the Silver Spur RV Park Mondays-Fridays with my daughter, who will be a junior. Weekends we will still come back up to our Portland house. It's possible I had your kids in class this year! It's true the the school district in Silverton is remarkable & I'm glad to hear you appreciate it as well. You will be welcome to come for a visit -- if all goes well we will have the trailer moved down by the last week in August.

It is going to be a beautiful day, 78 and sunny, and as much as I just want to be in my trailer, the yard demands attention, too. If only I had a clone to help me out... actually, I'd rather have a clone of Rednax instead. That would be way more useful!

slowmover · 06-27-2012, 06:13 PM

And I'd much rather be in a place where the high is 78F instead of 102F + humidity. My clone can stay 'round here and attend to the ordinary.

We're all looking forward to pics as you go along. I learned quite a bit when I sold my last one. Put together a CD for prospective buyers with 115-pics and 5000-words of text/captions. Lighting is some work. I say all this, art teacher, because whatever you do I'll be studying closely (among others). Some of us have an eye: CG, for example, in their multitudinous trips has been my teacher on what camera to buy and some of how to use it. Some talented types around here as you know . . so get'em all cloned, willya?.

The dirty stuff is satisfying when done (we can make it easier to clean in the future by the way we modify it).

.

danlehosky · 06-27-2012, 06:35 PM

[QUOTE=REDNAX.

The dirty stuff is satisfying when done (we can make it easier to clean in the future by the way we modify it).

.[/QUOTE]

CarrieSue, in keepingwith the above advice, if you have the funds I'd change out the toilet to a new porcelain one. Especially if you are going to be living in the trailer five days a week. The old plastic one may have lost some of it's gloss and may stain easily, water stains, I mean. The flush mechanism may be old and brittle as well. Anyway I'm not sure how much a new throne costs but if they are reasonable I would do it.

Dan

Gene · 06-27-2012, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REDNAX

Some talented types around here as you know . . so get'em all cloned, willya?.

My wife won't allow any of us clones to go to Oregon; she wants all 6 clones for herself. We never know when we have to replace a toilet.

We'd like a ceramic toilet too, but although they feel right and substantial, they add weight to the trailer and the space they are in is no bigger.

As for cameras, iPhoto makes anyone a good photographer (well, I do love the Canon we got).

So, CarrieSue, now you have to put it back in. I don't know what kind of seal RV toilets use, but for residential use toilets use a bees' wax seal. If that was the type for your toilet—you'll know, it is made of wax—get a new one at anywhere with plumbing stuff. Buy the best one, they only cost around $3 or $4. The cheap ones are around $2, but the better ones combine with a rubber seal. Bees' wax sticks to anything and flexs with the toilet; don't get a seal made of only rubber. But maybe RV toilets are different—I'll be waiting to find out when you install yours.

Gene

ROBERTSUNRUS · 06-27-2012, 11:53 PM

Hi, Gene. My toilet has a brand specific rubber seal. The seal is made to fit the bottom of the toilet. The pipe is basically the same as a house, but each toilet is different on the bottom. I think trailers might get too hot for a wax seal, but I could be wrong about that.

danlehosky · 06-28-2012, 12:15 AM

CarrieSue, Take a picture of the bottom of your toilet and pull a tape measure across it so I can see where seal sits and how wide it is. I'd like to see the flange as well with some measurments if you can.

Dan

Gene · 06-28-2012, 04:18 AM

Bob, you are probably right that the RV toilet seal is rubber.

Gene

CarrieSue · 06-28-2012, 08:56 PM

Several glamour shots for you gents. The toilet just has a rubber seal -- I am familiar with the beeswax kind and that is definitely not present here. There's an easily removable rubber seal (in the ziplock bag -- what I'll take with me to make sure I get the correct replacement -- while this one actually seems like it's in fine shape, as do the bolts, I'm going to replace them both to be safe).

I agree that the porcelain toilets are a good bet for the money, Dan, but it's not a must-do, and it will be fairly easy to replace in the future, so I am going to wait at least til next summer. Otherwise I am afraid I will get to the end of the summer with no more $$$ and --whoops-- no new furnace.

I am going to give the water heater a run for her money and see if that's a must to replace this year, or if I can wait til next summer. That would certainly free up some money, but I am skeptical that I'll actually end up being able to wait on it.

P.S. Epoxy is down, that stuff does not mess around. I feel really good about using it, and I have enough unmixed left to apply inside the trunk and inside the water heater and furnace compartments. There's more of a musty smell than actual rot in those places, but the epoxy kills those microorganisms, and thus, I hope, the smell too.

danlehosky · 06-28-2012, 10:36 PM

CarrieSue, great pics. I would replace the foam gasket as it may have compressed over the years. I'd replace the bolts too. Try to get brass ones. You can get any of this at any good RV or marine supply.
Is your water heater tank watertight? If so it probably has a standing pilot set-up with a thermocouple and an element for the electric side. If the tank is sound I think the other parts may be inexpensive to replace. If you have a permanent elec hookup you can run off of that and not worry about the propane. Was the epoxy difficult to work with? I'm thinking about cure time.
Epoxy is amazing material. I have a kayak that is about 18' long and largely made from epoxy and kevlar. It weighs 26lbs and is very, very stong.

Dan

meredith · 07-01-2012, 09:00 PM

CarrieSue,
My son is Stuart and he will be junior too. (the other son will be a freshman this next year) We went to the staff page of the high school website and he still did not know who you were. He is a computer type kid and does not do art stuff!
I work for Silverton Together and teach Parent Ed classes, part of my job is to teach the young parents at the high school in Helen's class.
I"m looking forward to showing off our AS when you get back in the fall. We will have to have Show and Tell party!
I just put in new flooring in mine and I'm in the process of making new curtains. I also made the accordion door for the bath! I'm very pleased on how it turned out.
Good luck getting everything all done. It looks to be a very large undertaking.
Meredith

CarrieSue · 07-09-2012, 12:07 AM

Sometimes small projects are important to keep a person from feeling overwhelmed by gigantic projects.

When I was in middle school I wrote a poem titled "Stairs." It must have been really great because I still remember it:

Reach the top never,
struggle on forever,
panic-stricken heart beat
burning in the night heat,
terror screams as no one dares
to try to reach the top...
...of stairs.

So obviously stairs are pretty important to me. Also, I like tools, and in stripping the rust from these bad boys I learned to use my stepdad's (aka LFA, the tool-handiest man I know) angle grinder. Boy did it do the job. A few coats of Rustoleum later, not too shabby, eh? Of course I'm not actually done until I get the grippy strips down, but still. Progress.

P.S. It's been very hot of late and I've been waiting to get a good stretch of free hours below 80 degrees to do my floors -- looks like tomorrow morning's a winner. Fingers crossed.

P.P.S. Meredith -- I'll do my best to make a splash this year, but it's true they keep the art teachers in their own hall...

CarrieSue · 07-25-2012, 08:46 PM

So the damn floor is finally done, including caulking and trim. Whew! Not too shabby, eh?

I had planned to use a vinyl quarter round, which I purchased and spray painted, but when I started the cuts and mitres and looked at it, I just didn't like it that much. The paint was too black. Even though it was only 1/2", stuck out too far. My mitres weren't quite... perfect. Plus, especially in the front, the bottom couple inches of the wood panels were kinda scraggly looking, and the fresh trim made this more noticeable. So, I moved to a pre-adhesived cove base and never looked back. I wouldn't call the installation of the base flawless or without some technical and aesthetic challenges, but I think the result looks great.

It was nice to have that success to distract me while I scrubbed my toilet, inside and out, upside and down, with a toothbrush in the front yard...