Opening The Camper....Literally!

So I took last Thursday and Friday off so we could go to camp and get things opened up for the season.  We knew the floor in the kitchen area was weak from a prior water leak that happened before we bought it, but never expected what we walked into on Thursday when we got there.

I'll start from the beginning....there was a leak from a previous owner that weakened the floor between the fridge and the bench.  We put a sheet of plywood down last summer and it stabilized it somewhat.  The table still had a weak post and would wobble a bit when walking past, but nothing major.  This year, probably from all the rain in early Spring brought a greater leak down the outside wall and under the floor.  It literally rotted the joists and when my husband walked into the camper he almost went through the floor.

After much thought and planning our next move, we decided to pull up the one bench closest to the door, and the entire floor.  There was about an inch and a half of water under the floor setting right on the skin that covers the bottom.  We had to cut a slit to drain the water and let it sit to try to dry it out.  Had to pull all the wood joists out since they were rotted, all the insulation that was soaked and part of the wall where the leak had come through.  At first we thought we would have to scrap the bench and table, but later decided to re-install them once the new floor was put down.

the new frame in for a fitting

We then got a sheet of 1/2" wolmanized plywood and a couple of 2x6's.  My husband ripped the 2x6's down to 2x3's to make a new frame for the floor deck and got that set into place.  Then he took measurements for the plywood, cut that to size and installed it on the frame. Now we have a solid floor.  He then put the bench back in place and secured it to the floor.

Next time we are out there, we will put down the Pergo that my mom had left from her house.  It will look great since it's very close to the color and grain of the cabinets.  We anticipate having this all completed and back to normal before Memorial Day.  Next step is to get the back side of the camper cleared out so we can reposition the camper back there and have more room in front for our picnic table and fire ring.

This is our first camper and we really want to make it last for a few more years so we are making the little repairs that come along.  It's not a really big one, but is just right for the two of us.

Updates to this saga will be posted when we make further progress.

Mother Nature Gypped Us!

Here it is, October 16, it's been in the 40's all week, rain, and now a chance of snow. I am NOT ready for this! I'm still waiting for summer....where is it? Did it go to Florida? It certainly didnt come here. We had maybe a week of very warm weather, a few in the 90's, and very little in the line of storms that we normally get. I was hoping for a good thunderstorm, they always seem to clean the air and make everything so green. Can't remember more than one or two that made me sit up and take notice. Most of our summers, from about mid May to early August, have several good stormy days, a few severe ones, and unfortunately several tornadoes. This year there wasn't much of anything. Nothing memorable anyway, not in my area. We had some heavy rains tho, and most of our weather warnings were related to either flood watches, flood warnings, or heavy fog. Can't even remember hearing our sirens go off for storms. They go off more for the volunteer fire department than for storms. Come to think of it, they never did go off for anything weather related, at least not this year. We've been here since May so we have been in this house for what would be considered the entire summer storm season.
This can only mean one thing....WINTER IS GOING TO BE BRUTAL!!
Mother Nature is going to take out her wrath some way and I have a bad feeling that it's going to be in the line of snow ice and freezing temps. Oh joy, can't wait!

When It Rains, It Pours.

Christmas Day the driveway was covered with about 5" of ice and snow. The day after Christmas the temperatures started to rise and all the ice started melting, creating a surface that is slippier than any I have ever known. Then the fog rolled in, followed by horrendous downpours during some pretty strong thunderstorms.

This is DECEMBER! In Illinois, south of Chicago, where we should be in the 20's and snowy. We were subzero then snow, then sleet and ice, then rain and storms. So this week we experienced all four seasons...kind of.

The rain seemed never-ending. Not only does it cause all the snow to dissolve and create puddles and massive flooding in some areas, it fills up my duct work. Our house is on a floating slab and the heating ducts are under the house, in the ground. This was the way they did it in the 60's when the house was built. So seepage fills the duct work, and then when the furnace kicks on, it causes the water to slosh and roll around, at times splashing out of the vents and onto the floor.

This is what woke me up at 3am, so I turned the thermostat down in the hopes it would shut the furnace off and give me peace and quiet so I could sleep. Didn't happen; the furnace didn't shut off. Seemed odd since it was about 55 outside at the time and it was quite warm in the house. So, I woke my husband up and asked him to check it out. He had to shut the furnace off completely.

Later this morning, after we were finally able to get some sleep, what with the rumbling in the floor from water sloshing in the duct work and the rumbles outside from the thunderstorm, my son checked the furnace and discovered that the hot surface ignitor was malfunctioning. That explained why the furnace wouldn't shut down last night and why the blower was at such a high speed and caused the water to really slosh around.

So, we spent all morning and part of the afternoon trying to find someplace that had the part for the furnace. The problem we had was that it's an American Standard furnace and they are proprietary and not many supply houses (that are open on Saturday) carry the part we needed. Finally, after a dozen or so phone calls, and running to 4 different supply houses in 3 different towns, we found the one we needed. Then it was back home and put it in. Just in time too, since they are calling for colder weather tomorrow.

We were lucky on several counts with this. First of all, the temperature today was close to 65 and second, a friend of my husband was finally able to locate the part for us. It was either a coincidence or pure luck that this friend also called my husband for help with a refrigeration job that he was on at the same time we were looking for this part. That was when he asked him if he knew anyone that might have it. Either way, everything worked out for everyone.