Shelby Rebuild: Back Wall Is Done!

What a day! What a great day we had this past Saturday working on Shelby. For those that saw the last post, we had the worst day ever rebuilding the front wall. So this time, we changed up the hardware for putting the braces back in place, and voila. Most productive day yet! We were both on the same page, we discussed out game plan, went over it, then went into action. We had to time everything and put the boards up in a certain order, with caulk applied at certain steps.

We started by removing the old screws from the window's exterior (above). This made all the rotten supports fall to the ground. We did the bottom screws first, then replaced that strip of wood. Then the top and side screws were removed, and the top support replaced, then the side supports replaced. When the screws were off the window, we carefully tilted the window back, removed the old caulk, and put down new caulk. When the screws were drilled back in, they grabbed the new supports, sandwiching the aluminum in between the window and the wood. 

After the bottom support was in place, above. This piece of wood must be as snug to the window as possible to catch those outside screws.

These metal braces saved us! Instead of the deck plates we used in the rebuild of the front wall, these were super easy in screw in, and didn't split the wood. For those that didn't see the last post, the deck plates were hammered in, and weren't good for the delicate metal exterior, and using hardwood pine, it wasn't easy to hammer into. Because the wood is only 1" deep, we couldn't drill into the narrow width from any angle. 

The previous states of the back wall. Next step, rewire the back lights, and then we're ready for the wood walls!

And it was such a beautiful day!

 Hooray for teamwork!

Zeus wanted to be a part of the team. He helped by continuously stealing wood beams from the wood pile and wagging his tail as he dragged them to his spot in the backyard, feeling victorious, like he got one over on us. Then we'd steal it back, since our wood was not a toy, and then time to pout.

As you can see in the previous pictures, along the top of the back and front wall, were running lights. these were most likely a major source for the water leaks, and the lights were all broken. Instead of fixing them and rewiring to these holes, we placed a wood beam along the line of holes, screwed it down from the outside, and caulked around the exterior holes, to seal it up to prevent future leaks. We will put reflectors in the lights original place, and caulk around the edges when it comes time for the exterior finishing.

And now the completely finished supports of the back wall, above. It was such a smooth process, we are so happy with it! We worked for another few hours finishing the front ceiling and sunroof. Stop back by on Thursday for part 2 of this day's rebuild!