Looks like I am getting a new counter front!

We decided to get a couple of hours in today before John left for his vacation to Oregon.  We wanted to get the kitchenette out if we could and check the drying progress.  We also wanted to get the old water tank out and decide the next step.  It was a cold day today and the wind was pretty strong so we didn't spend a real long time.  Things are looking really good as far as the drying is coming along.  I was very pleased to see that.

I also had a chance to check the upper right edge of the camper and found that there is a channel installed for an awning.  While no awning came with the camper I will be making one eventually.  I am happy that I will not have to go about installing a channel.

We've decided to remove everything from the camper and open up all of the walls.  We want to make sure that there is no rot in any of the walls and if there is we want to go ahead and repair and replace what we need to now.  We've also decided that, given the lack of support on the floor that we have found so far, we want to fully reinforce and replace the floor front to back and make sure that it is fully insulated.  It's a little bit more work but we believe it will be worth it in the long run.

We started by removing the sink and old cook top.  The sink looks good and solid, we had to cut the pipe leading from the drain and we will have to replace it if we put the sink back in.  I must admit that I am a bit torn about this.  I have never used the sink in any of the campers that we have had so I am not entirely sure that I need to put this one back in.  When I do dishes while camping I have a solar shower hung up that heats the water and I do them in two dishpans outside.  I know that some people might object to not having a sink in a camper, but I am leaning towards not re-installing it.  I'd be interested in your opinions.

The cook top came out easily, but is pretty old and corroded and we're planning to replace it with a convection cook top.  These cook tops are safer than propane, run on 110 power and look very nice once installed.  They are designed to either sit on top of the counter or be flush mounted into the counter.  I think I would prefer the latter.

Once we had the sink and stove out we got the counter unscrewed and pulled out.  We're going to replace the counter top, because the hole from the old cook top is too big and oriented the wrong way to receive the new convection unit.  This will also resolve the hole that would be left if I didn't replace the sink.

Counter top off and water tank coming out.  My cheerful demo/Mr. Fix it!

Old cabinet face.

Next came the nasty old water tank.  Even if we wanted to use it we wouldn't have been able to, the outlet valve was broken off from the tank and would leak if we had put water in it.  It will be going to the scrap man.

It came off in our hands, no interest in trying to repair this thing at all. 

Once that was out John started working on getting the counter framing and face out.  I am playing with the idea of putting the fridge under the counter below the cook top.  This would of course require a new counter face.  John was having some trouble with a couple of the screws and resorted to the simple expedient of cutting the facing in half and pulling out that way.  So it looks like one way or another I am getting a new counter facing.

Removing screws and shelf supports

Old counter facing, I'll measure it for when we make a new one.

Once we had the counter out we checked the floor and sure enough there was more rot and wet wood. We're not sure if this water was from the leak at the back that has run towards the front over time or if we have another leak to seal up.  I am sure that opening the walls will answer that question.  We pulled up what we could and decided to leave it at that for the day.

Taking measurements for when we replace the cabinet you can see the original flooring and the rot underneath it.  Yuck!

The copper pipe was from the old cook top and will be removed.  The horizontal pipe is actually the direct water inlet and was attached to the sink.

Prying up the old floor.

This corner was actually relatively dry, but we're going to get it out too when when we pull out the closet and cabinets.

Once John's back from his trip we will be removing the closet and cabinet unit and the upper cupboards and then get the walls opened up.  I'm anxious to get all of this done so that we can start repairing and rebuilding.

Let me know what you think about the sink question!

See you soon!

Mel.