Shelby Demolition, Day Two

We missed demolition weekend before last, but we made time all day Sunday to carefully finish gutting Shelby's interior. We finished removing the kitchen, fridge, stove, sink, and cabinets, and all the pipes. We also cut all the propane lines from the camper, as we won't be needing them for the finished project. 

Strong Matt. Mr. Muscles I was calling him all day. We took turns with the tools, cutting things out with a hand saw, removing them with a circular saw, and screwdrivers. Sadly, we found more water damage, which means more walls that have to be ripped out and repaired. At least now we know we'll have to seal up all of the windows. Playing it safe.

Yay, ripping out the rotten ceiling. We didn't finish ripping all this out since we need protective eyewear, face masks, and a hat for me. That insulation is itchy!

We ripped out the propane powered fridge, had to remove the door to get it out of the camper. Propane fridges are apparently quite sought after, since they rarely break because they have no real moving parts in them. Behind our fridge was an access panel where we found all kinds of metal shavings from animals, mouse nests, bird nests, and ever a wasp's nest! I don't think we'll be needing a fridge much in the boutique and if we take her camping, we'll bring a cooler. More space and less worries about building it a new shelf.

Hooray! Look It's almost empty! Where I'm standing was the water closet / wardrobe. We drew out the new floor plan after we finished demo. It's so exciting that we'll be starting from scratch with the 12' x 7 1/2' space. The only restrictions are the wheel wells and the ceiling gets a little lower in the back of the camper.

After we finished all the demo, we realized we had more trash than expected, and couldn't fill up our trash bins at the house. So everything went back in the camper, where it will be thrown into a dumpster later this week when we get her back on the road. This week has been so nuts with work for both of us, but there's no rush in emptying her since the next steps in demo are ripping out the water damage, and putting up new supports on the walls and ceiling, then sealing up all the windows and seams, and then the terrible process of running new electrical. Luckily we figured out where all the outlets will be, and we plan to buy some solar panels. As long as the electrical wires are laid out properly, we shouldn't have a problem.

 I love days when I don't have to do my hair or makeup and we can just mess around the house. I'm so glad our backyard is big enough, and the weather cool enough to work on this project. Matt and I bicker while working all the time, I think I get a little too bossy and "know-it-all" and I'm sure he gets really sick of me. I can't imagine how my parents built a house together. I've found that as long as when we're done arguing about something, we laugh and realize it doesn't actually matter, we'll make it through this. Thank god Matt is patient!

And of course our supervisor, Zeus. Look at this mutt pouting like he's in hell. He got to sit out side all day and hang out with us. I even broke the rules and playing tug-o-war with him. A game he's not allowed to play since once you start, he never stops, and no one likes a soggy dog toy pushed on them all day. Silly boy.

More soon! Next I'll show you the floor plans and weigh my options of solar panels and trickle powered batteries. I can't wait to have Shelby all finished, and a truly independent mobile boutique!