Need to remove twin beds and nightstand

[Al and Missy]

We had a mishap that brought a problem to our attention. Last month while we were intermittently storing the trailer in NC the bedroom vent didn't fully close. The next time we entered the trailer we discovered the bedroom rug was soaking wet. Why they did this I don't know, but Airstream put foam padding and carpet in the exterior storage compartments and covered it with plastic. We have a twin bed model so there are three storage compartments adjacent to the bedroom. The water went into all three although it was the worst in the roadside one since the trailer was tilted that way. The foam trapped the water and the plastic held it in.

We have cut out the carpet in all three compartments but are having trouble getting a small strip out that runs across the trailer forward of the rear storage compartment under the nightstand and beds.

This demolition led us to discover that the roadside compartment (where I have been storing the water filter) was the worst and the bulkhead separating the rear of the storage compartment from the interior of the trailer has rotted for about 8" centered on the storage compartment.

As a result I need to remove, as a minimum, the roadside twin bed to rebuild the bulkhead; but I would like to pull the nightstand and curbside bed as well. I need to reduce the size of the nightstand top since we added the Sleep Number beds and I'd like to get the remaining small bits of wet carpet and pad out. I also want to convert the drop door and storage bins into drawers as that would be much easier to access.

I have found the following fasteners for the bed - The rotted rear bulkhead has a single screw into the floor and two screws into the nightstand. There are two screws into the floor from a cleat at the bottom of the panel with the door that provides floor level access to the storage tubs. I haven't located the front fasteners but I assume they are similar to the ones on the rear bulkhead. I presume there are screws from the cleat running along the wall into the wall but haven't confirmed that yet. I haven't figured out how to remove the nightstand yet.

The floor fasteners I have tried to remove were installed through the carpet and have carpet fibers wrapped around them under the cleat. This acts like a nut and essentially prohibits backing the screws out more than about 1/4". I plan to cut those screws with a Dremel carbide wheel.

Has anyone removed a twin bed set that can give me any tips about removing the bedroom furniture?

Thanks,

Al

[Lily&Me]

Bummer, Al.

Good luck with this.

Maggie

[newsgauger]

Hi Al, I am not too sure how applicable my scenario would be to yours, but, I will offer a suggestion to the issue of access the plates holding the beds down and shortening the night stand between them. We have a 1976 Argosy with rear beds and night stand.

The hold-down plates on our beds were under the carpet and facing into the hall. Which meant the carpet needed to come up to access these 6 screws (3 per hold-down plate). Since we were replacing the plywood floor, this was not a problem for us. When we put the beds back in I turned the hold-down plates inward, which made attaching everything a little more difficult but manageable.

I hope this helps, even a little.

Good luck

The nightstand is also screwed into the floor at the front and fits into guides, for the lack of a better term, at the rear. We shortened the nightstand by cutting the fronts of each panel and table-top by 6-8", which left the back of the panels contoured to the wall. Everything went back together the same way it was taken apart.

[Al and Missy]

Thanks for the info. My situation was different. There were 9 screws on each twin bed. Two at the head, two at the foot and two along the inside wall of the storage compartment, all screwed through the carpet, to the floor. Two screws at the aft end screwed into the stub wall in front of the nightstand and one screw from a brace on top of the head end of the bed screwed into the wall. The nightstand was screwed on top of the rear storage compartment with 5 screws and the storage compartment had 4 screws into the floor and 4 into the rear wall. The ones into the floor were a problem. They were screwed through the carpet and carpet fibers wrapped around them making a nut of sorts. I had to cut those screws with a Dremel tool carbide wheel!

It’s all back together now. The outboard half of the side storage compartments was open to the underside of the bed with ample gaps for cold, or hot humid, air to get in. I’m sealing those off as I finish the job.

Al

[Bigdaddy_2]

Al,
I have a 2002 Classic 30' with twin beds and have removed the bed frames, night stand and the supporting structure that the night stand sits on.
The bed supports are all screwed to the floor and can be accessed by removing the mattress support piece that is attached to the wall with a "piano hinge." You also must remove any screws that are attached to the piece at the foot of the inside frame where the furnace duct comes out into the BR.
With the bed frames removed you will need to remove the false front with the 2 electrical outlets on the base where the night stand sits. The night stand is held in place by screws inside the drawer area. Remove the drawer to access the screws. A couple of them may be awkward to get out. Also the plastic strip at the back of the nigh stand needs to be carefully removed so not to damage as you will need to re-install later.
Once the night stand is out you can continue to remove the rear section across the back to open up the entire area. Make sure you check the areas around the inside of the storage access doors for any hidden floor damage from small water leaks. I have problems caused by small leaks at from caulking failure at the bottom rub rail and the storage door frames.
Don’t re-install any carpet our padding in the compartments. I leave mine with the sub-floor plywood exposed.

You will need to shim the bed frames for the thickness of the old carpet and padding when re-installing. If you do not the height of the frame will not match the holes for the mattress support etc.
I would also recommend that you remove the small piece at the foot of the drives side bed to access the carpet and padding in that area. It is mounted with screws through the bathroom wall. I rebuilt mine to use for small storage and widened so it was attached to foot of the bed frame and did away with the carpet covering.
Good Luck.