Post #7 - Update & snow

Not a a lot has happened in the past two days except a little welding on the frame.  Husband added supports across the frame from each of the brackets holing the scissor jacks and a piece where the drain for the old black water tank used to be. Work has kind of halted due to another 4-5" of snow that fell during the past few days. Next week is supposed to warm up quite a bit, so I hope to start prepping the frame for painting. (dates on my camera are wrong.)

Post #6 - chasis update

This is where we are to date: March 22, 2018 - everything has been removed - and we're down to the floor and trailer frame.  We have rewelded the frame were needed,  added mounts for scissor jacks, and will be adding structural support where necessary in the next few days.  Every time I turn around I think of something I have to purchase so I can continue with the build.  Had to by primer and paint for the trailer frame, new vents for the fridge so I know what size of holes to create in the wooden 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" framework of the sides and roof...

Post #5 - good things

Things I did like about this trailer when I purchased her: She has a bumper with a spare tire holder, and hitch mount, room for a refrigerator ( I had to buy one since it had none. It has a porch light, range. sink, bathroom with an overhead cabinet, fan over the range and two vents. I will not be reusing the toilet - thinking of building a toilet spot with a removable bucket, and adding a tiny sink in the bathroom. The hitch has a space for a battery and two propane tanks, and she has brakes.

Post #4 - skin off

Once all the skin was off I numbered and measured the distance between the wrap supports - (I call them ribs), removing the framework around the vents to keep as reference to rebuild, and started removing the paneling inside and taking the whole thing apart, down to the floor. You can see the porcupine effect from the pin nails they used to attach the blue flooring to the roof in the last photo. 

Post #3: Rot & mold

Once the demolition started I couldn't stop until she was completely naked. As more skin was remove I could see how extensive the rot was around the edges of the trailer. I think the belly pan captured moisture and created the rot along the edges of the framework and floor. The edge of the soundproofing underlayment was black with rot, as well as the bottom, front, and back edges of the framework. I was pleasantly surprised that most of the side framework would be reusable. The curbing is made of strips of 1/4" plywood glued and nailed together over the curves and 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" boards for the rest of the frame work. We ripped 2" X 4"s down to use as replacement framework. Some of the photos are of the rot found in the perimeter of the wooden framework. The curb side was more affected than the street side because of the fridge vents. This trailer was built with with the paneling layered over the 1.5" curbing and under 3/4" curbing with the (ribs) nailed into the 1.5" curbing. I plan on following Larry's (Mobiltec) method of going to the outside edge with the (ribs) and filling in between with the curbing to give the skin a more solid base to staple/screw into.I was pleasantly surprised that most of the side framework would be reusable.

Post #2: - deconstruction

We moved the trailer in January 2018 to the spot were I could start to disassemble it. Because the weather was so warm for a January (32+) I bundled up and started the process of taking hundreds of photos so I knew how to reassemble the trailer. Part of the issue I had was that the previous, previous owner had glued and pin nailed blue flooring to the walls and ceiling and covered the seams with rope on the front half of the trailer. First thing I pulled off - she looked like a porcupine from the outside when I pulled off the skin. Took the skin off so I could see how much rot was visible and found out I'd have to do a frame up re-build because of the rot around the edges. And you would think from the look of the inside paneling from the outside, that it would be OK inside but it was all delaminated and nasty.