January 15
Another thing I have been considering is the insulation. While there is indeed insulation between the metal exterior skin and the interior metal skin...those 2 skins are connected by steel studs, which means there is an efficient thermal bridge between the outside and the inside walls. Here is a picture detailing a stud, insulation, and window frame.
This means we'll have to deal with the rivets after all...which I was hoping to avoid. We decided to try a few approaches to rivet-removal to see which one yielded the best results with the least amount of time & effort spent. Drilling was...uh....difficult, to put it nicely. In the first 5 rivets I broke 1 drill bit, and bent another. These were special drill bits designed to drill through steel.
Time to try another approach....so I tried the angle grinder w/ grinding wheel attached, figuring I could grind down a good portion of the rivet head, leaving less of the rivet to drill out. After this trial, it turns out it's just easier to grind the whole rivet head off. Here is a picture of what happens when angle grinder meets rivet.
Meanwhile, Rhonda has been working on the rubber floor; I didn't want to run the angle grinder without both of us wearing masks, eye protection and ear plugs...so I helped with the floor. I have had a gnawing fear that we would find the metal subfloor rusted through and unusable. Time to find out!
We started removing the rubber flooring in sections. We rolled it up tightly so we could fit a lot into our garbage bin. Boy, that rubber flooring is heavy! When it was gone, we could get to work on the plywood subfloor.
The wood floor was rather gross, but not horrible. It is attached to the steel cross members with large screws -- about half of which were removable using a variable speed, reversible drill with a phillips head bit. (This thing has been a life saver; more specifically, a wrist-and-forearm saver!)
Rather than drill out the rusted screws, I used a large prybar to lift the plywood and snap off their heads. Finally, I get to see the condition of the metal subfloor.
It's not as bad as it looks! Mostly it is light surface rust, with the exception of the area around the wheel wells; those areas will take a little more elbow grease, time & money to deal with.
Also, today we had a suprise visit from an OSHA inspector who was there to make sure all safety requirements were being met. And to see if we had any spare tuna.