Inside Out- Deconstruction

With the airstream safely tucked into its new parking spot, it was time to assess the next stages and begin to demo the interior. To begin, we decided to open all the windows to get airflow going through the trailer. About half of the windows literally fell off their hinges and onto the ground... not the best start. Luckily, none broke. Window repair moved pretty high on the list pretty quickly. We did what I'm sure will be the first of many Rona runs, and bought a few tarps to temporarily seal off the windows from the January west coast weather. 

When we returned the following weekend, there was lots of water in the airstream- not only from the windows where there were gaping holes, but from the broken seals of the intact windows- more tarps, taping, and temporary weather sealing (you'll notice this is a common theme in this post...) Once we had everything reasonably sealed, we moved on to taking items out of the trailer. Because of the condition of the subfloor, everything had to be removed so that we can re-do the floor. It took a few weekends of taking out interior walls, cabinets, closets, and appliances. 

We saved the interior dividing walls, some of the overhead bins, the bathtub, and any small components that looked airstream specific. The walls were in really good condition which was nice, and so our plan is to either re-use them, or use them as templates to build new walls. The kitchen cabinets were in rougher condition, so asides from a few key pieces, that will be a full rebuild. 

We took out the propane system components, the giant furnace, the hot water heater, oven, and air conditioner. None of them worked, and they took up a lot of space, so already things are looking better! We do now have more holes in the airstream from taking these out, so more tarps and tape were required as a temp measure. 

Our fun weekend activities now include trips to the dump, showing up at my parents with a truck full of items to store in their basement (thanks!), and scrubbing walls like we never have before. We've been pleased at the relatively fast progress, and the visual improvements with every weekend have been huge. We have a few more systems to remove (plumbing is next) and the interior skins need another good clean, but we're getting close to being able to remove the interior skins to inspect/fix the electrical, check for any (more) leaks, and re-insulate the airstream.