Floor restoration coming along.

I bought a product called Prodex which is a insulation that does not promote mold or rodent nesting. It's basically bubble wrap with aluminum on both sides. When done properly it claims to have almost a R15 rating. I decided to remove the insulation under the floor and put down the Prodex prior to the plywood sub floor.This will also go in the walls and ceiling, eventually the smell will be gone! I think it will work pretty well, but only time will tell.

It was so hot at the trailer and with no AC I was soaked from head to toe. Not much work was done but almost all of the supplies I need are now at the site.

I found a deal on 1/8" birch from a cabinet company looking to liquidate, so I bought 30 4x8 sheets. According to my calculations this should be just about enough to redo all the birch in the Spartan. I also have 8 sheets of luan to go over the 3/4 plywood prior to installing the tile. Four rolls of Prodex at 750SF each. They have deals on this stuff all the time at http://www.insulation4less.com/

I had a bit of a accident while trying to open one of the windows. Most of the windows that you can open have been broken over the years and either replaced or repaired with window putty. This was not the best thing to do since the windows are now inoperable. I went to open one to get more air in and the top of the frame did not want to open but the bottom did and WHAM! there went the glass then the entire frame fell out to the ground. I was able to take the glass out of the frame, but the corner brackets were all broke but one, so the frame has no way of staying together.

I took the frame back home with me and took it to a local glass shop. He said the best way to do it would be to glaze the glass into the frame and the glass will keep the frame together. At $25.00 per window I will have him do all 8 of the windows. It should be fun trying to get them all out!




I am contemplating what type of AC I should get for the Spartan. Should I install two window units on the floor venting through the belly or get a couple portables?? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Some progress made!

I cleaned all my junk out of the Spartan and put it in my storage trailer. The soft spots on the floor seemed to be in more places then I was comfortable with so out came the circular saw and mask. I cut into and removed all signs of soft floor in the living room area. And this is what I ended up with. The cross bracing 3/4 ply on top of the steel frame is the issue. Over time it rotted and de-laminated.  The floor itself was in OK shape but had carpet pad and stench stuck to it. 

I was able to move the kitchen upper cabinet to the storage trailer and remove the mouse stained shelf paper with my heat gun. It was so full of mouse urine and yuck that I am considering painting the interior of the cabinets to permanently do away with it.

Next week replace the missing floor? Also have a line on top grade birch at $20.00 a 4x8 sheet!

Not quite a Spartan Update

Well I finally found a storage trailer for a good price. I was thinking of buying a 20ft cargo container to store my tools and stuff in on the land. I happened across a old 30ft low boy truck trailer that has lights, a side door, roll up door in the rear, shelving and a work table for $400.00 bucks! I had it delivered for a little bit more and now I have a great place to store and restore the parts of my spartan. Hopefully the real estate market will allow me to slow down and take a break for a bit so I can get up there and get some work done!

Seems like a long winter may be coming to a end.

I ran up to the Spartan today to reinstall the door handle with it's new lock. It now works perfectly! I was also able to remove the padlock clasp from the door which makes me very happy! I removed most of the vinyl mobile home skirting piece that was around the bottom today. After a good rain it should remove most of the dirt left behind. This is the year I will be finishing the floor and replacing the birch paneling in the Spartan...I hope. I also brought home the original headboard in the bedroom. Yes it smells as bad as the rest of the Spartan once did. I also plotted out were the cargo container is going to go as soon as the snow is gone. This will free up all the space in the Spartan and allow me to work without tripping over things. No major work will happen until the ground is thawed which should be in a few more weeks. See you then!

Happy New Year!

 I figured I needed a rest and a break from the everyday in front of my computer work so I decided to take  a little road trip to see the Spartan. The weather forecast said this would be the warmest day we would see in a long time. Here in Chicago the snow has melted and the high temp was in the 40's. Up by the Spartan it reached the high 30's. When I arrived there was a foot or so of snow blocking the driveway from the snow plows that come by to plow the road. I parked by the road with the hazards on and walked into the land looking to see if there were any signs of life around the Spartan. With the exception of a few deer tracks all was quiet at the acres. The spartan sat there with about 6 inches of snow on the roof and not a bit of snow under her. I pulled off the pad lock, since there are no keys, they were lost long ago I would imagine. I banged on the door to wake or rattle any raccoons or squirrels out of there in hopes of not being attacked, like you would see in some Chevy Chase movie. All appeared well in the Spartan, still smells a little, but no signs of mice in any glue traps or any signs of animals getting inside at all.

 I decided to make the trip worthwhile so I took the front door handle off the door. It removed easily and it is a Bargman L-66 lock. I took it home to clean it up and to find a new lock. I ordered a new lock and key from Vintagetrailersupply.com. The page says it's for a L-77 but someone in the comments said it will fit the L-66. Cross my fingers! I only bought one lock and key for the front door since the back door is not really used to access the Spartan. If I knew for sure the locks were keyed alike I would purchase two.

 After looking at the floor in the Spartan I think it will be worth the time to remove most of the living room floor. I patched the spots that are soft, but I have no way of removing the old stuck on carpet pad and I'm afraid this will cause my tile job to be uneven. I think I will remove strips of the old floor up to the kitchen and replace it up to that point.

 I hope to have a cargo container in spring so I can securely store my tools and other items inside instead of in the Spartan. All the junk in the Spartan really hampers my restoration!! Plus, if I have storage at the acres I can take the truck only a couple more times with supplies like the new birch paneling and the new sub-flooring that will go under the tile. The gas I will save will definitely be worth it!

 I bought aluminum jacks to level the Spartan out, and forgot to leave them up there. Doh!

 Split rims, with original tires?

The dent I pushed out seems to be weathering well! You can hardly see it.

Once a month doesn't cut it!

Now that the hot summer days are winding down I need to get going with my restoration of the Spartan. The good news is it did not smell as bad today as the last time I was there.

I really needed to get the floor sealed up to keep out the local small animal population. I guess removing the rotted floor pieces removed most of the smell along with it. Today I started replacing the plywood with new 3/4 inch plywood which will act as the base for the luann that will cover the entire floor and should act as a smooth base for my tile.

I am using R13 insulation under the floor and in the ceiling. Hopefully this will keep things nice and warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Forgot to cut the hole for the floor duct! D'oh!

It looks like I will need to cut out more of the floor and replace it because of the wood bracing under it is rotted. I can't wait until the entire floor is solid and tiled!

I am not a big fan of the laminate in the kitchen it's worn and mainly white. I thought this was from the 50's?? White?? Come on! I have a sample of boomerang laminate from Menards in a blue color that would be cool. They quoted me $72.00 for a 4x8 sheet...Can this be right? Anyway, the piece behind the stove seemed loose so I unscrewed the screws and it came right off. Amazing no liquid nail stuff under it! I'm adding a few new outside shots I took today, boy the grass is growing!

She needs to be leveled!

Starting on the floor repair

So I finally got up to the trailer last weekend and brought along a truck load of crap. I was only able to bring some of my insulation I purchased last week since I loaded the truck with other stuff including my new bathroom sink and a sheet of 3/4 plywood.

I was really excited about the sink since the size was sorta odd. I dragged the sink out of my truck and plopped it into the hole in the vanity. PERFECT fit!!! Once I put a chrome faucet on it and clean the rest of the bath it should look great. The green color of the sink should match the pink and black of the rest of the bath.

I had to cut out a bit more of the floor and clean up the cuts I made previously. Most of the old screws were rusted to the steel frame or rusted to a point. I pounded them down which released them then simply pulled them out.

 The 3/4" floor is sitting on steel frame rails that have 3/4" x 4" nailing rails on top of the steel. I cut new rails and glued them down with liquid nail sub floor adhesive. I will reinforce them the next time I'm there. I can tell I will need at least another 4x8 piece of plywood to fill the holes in the living room. All of this will then be covered with a thin sub floor so I can tile it.

I decided to remove the bathroom toilet since I discovered it was cracked across the bowl. The bolts were so rusted I had to break the tank with a hammer to get it out of the bathroom. The entire floor of the bath will need to be replaced since it is as bad as the parts of the floor I removed in the living area.

I decided to also take down the cabinet in the kitchen so I could attempt to take it home. I got it down but no such luck taking it home. Now I will be able to clean the cabinet really good along with the wall behind the cabinet.

I removed the panel below the non opening window next to the door and it looks like there is a ground wire that runs through the wiring. This should make the replacement of the outlets from 2 prong to 3 prong safe and easy.

I did not get as much accomplished as I would have liked. The grass was very long and by the time we borrowed a lawn mower and got it gassed up allot of time was gone. At least I got to go have a Swig at Nigs bar in the Dells with my son who just turned 21!