Need input. Water tank leaking.

Answering my own question. It's the gravity drain pick up that's causing all the trouble. I see that there are other more conventional pickups toward the front of the tank on the top. I'm going to just plug the gravity drain pick up. I don't really need it.

Can't wait to replace all the insulation again though. Good times. Lol

Bulkhead fittings can be troublesome to fix. You could either use a fitting larger than the original or to try an adhesives that will bond to the tank.

If it's moving a 1/4 inch can you cut a piece of plywood or plastic sheet to make a shim you can insert into the gap to keep it from moving?

The tank actually didn't move this time. I blocked it in really well. When I opened it back up it appears that the plumbing was moving around now and just worked the fitting out of the tank again. The threads that are part of the tank itself are getting worse and worse the more this happens. So, what I did is I just disconnected this gravity tank drain line. In its place, I put a standard cork, a metal plug threaded in and holding this cork, and used plenty of thread sealant. So far so good. We will see when I drive on the roads in New Jersey. Worst in the country. LOL

HadEnough wrote:
The tank actually didn't move this time. I blocked it in really well. When I opened it back up it appears that the plumbing was moving around now and just worked the fitting out of the tank again. The threads that are part of the tank itself are getting worse and worse the more this happens. So, what I did is I just disconnected this gravity tank drain line. In its place, I put a standard cork, a metal plug threaded in and holding this cork, and used plenty of thread sealant. So far so good. We will see when I drive on the roads in New Jersey. Worst in the country. LOL

Nice.
Do you have any pics of when you took the basement walls and floor out? Thanks,

Sorry. No pictures. But it is so easy you will have no issues. Don't be afraid to open the bottom of it up. There's nothing you could ever screw up.

The bottom is just some door skin plywood screwed onto the studs.

Just take those screws off working from front to back with the truck camper close to the ground. The plywood has enough flexibility in it that using your knees you can take the stress off of the remaining screws as you work your way back. Before you know it, the whole bottom is off really easy.

From there, it is just insulation between studs like you would find in any normal home. Standard insulation.

Just slide that insulation out of place, and everything in your entire basement is exposed and ready for you to work on.

I would recommend emptying the tanks before you do this. Just in case something is loose or you start making modifications that take the support away from the tanks. You don't want one of them falling down on you. When they are empty you could move them with your pinky finger.

There is absolutely nothing tricky about doing this at all. I was scared at first too, but once I opened it up I realized there was nothing at all to be scared about. There is nothing you can't put back together very easily.

Just stuff the insulation back into place and screw the door skin plywood back into place and you are good to go. Everything else is all held in above the studs.

Actually, since it's a floor, I guess they would be called joists not studs.

If you have any questions about the process, just let me know.

HadEnough wrote:
Sorry. No pictures. But it is so easy you will have no issues. Don't be afraid to open the bottom of it up. There's nothing you could ever screw up.

The bottom is just some door skin plywood screwed onto the studs.

Just take those screws off working from front to back with the truck camper close to the ground. The plywood has enough flexibility in it that using your knees you can take the stress off of the remaining screws as you work your way back. Before you know it, the whole bottom is off really easy.

From there, it is just insulation between studs like you would find in any normal home. Standard insulation.

Just slide that insulation out of place, and everything in your entire basement is exposed and ready for you to work on.

I would recommend emptying the tanks before you do this. Just in case something is loose or you start making modifications that take the support away from the tanks. You don't want one of them falling down on you. When they are empty you could move them with your pinky finger.

There is absolutely nothing tricky about doing this at all. I was scared at first too, but once I opened it up I realized there was nothing at all to be scared about. There is nothing you can't put back together very easily.

Just stuff the insulation back into place and screw the door skin plywood back into place and you are good to go. Everything else is all held in above the studs.

Actually, since it's a floor, I guess they would be called joists not studs.

If you have any questions about the process, just let me know.

Thanks I appreciate that.
I would like to take all the insulation out and put in new stuff. Would I need to remove the basement wall panels to do this? Thanks!

Not at all. The insulation is just sitting on the top of that door skin plywood arranged between the joists. Just sitting there with gravity holding it in place. Half of it will fall out as you pull the door skin down anyway. It's just standard household insulation.

The walls have a very small bit of Styrofoam insulation on them. But mostly they are not well insulated at all. Not that they would need to be. The styrofoam is plenty. That styrofoam will stay in place as you do any other work. It doesn't fall out.

To replace the insulation, just dropped the door skin, pull out any insulation that is sticking in between joists or wedged in between tanks and things, then just replace the insulation and screw the door skin plywood back up. Your project could be done in a few hours no problem. The only reason it may take that long as there are an awful lot of screws. LOL

HadEnough wrote:
Not at all. The insulation is just sitting on the top of that door skin plywood arranged between the joists. Just sitting there with gravity holding it in place. Half of it will fall out as you pull the door skin down anyway. It's just standard household insulation.

The walls have a very small bit of Styrofoam insulation on them. But mostly they are not well insulated at all. Not that they would need to be. The styrofoam is plenty. That styrofoam will stay in place as you do any other work. It doesn't fall out.

To replace the insulation, just dropped the door skin, pull out any insulation that is sticking in between joists or wedged in between tanks and things, then just replace the insulation and screw the door skin plywood back up. Your project could be done in a few hours no problem. The only reason it may take that long as there are an awful lot of screws. LOL

Ok thanks again. Did you re-use the screws or use new ones?

They are just common drywall screws. You can reuse them.