Update time - kitchen, water heater, screw-ups, and success:
I had the day off work (the paying kind), so I decided to do some of the non-paying type of work... I had 2 choices: install the kitchen cabinet/sink/stove, or work on the water heater and its spaghetti if wires and hoses. I chose the latter because I had all the openings on that side of the trailer that were just covered up with a sheet of vinyl flooring.
I needed to make a new base for the water heater because I raised my floor 1/2". That went OK. As did the attaching of the water heater flange to the trailer wall. The one thing I noticed, was that the opening was very tight on the vertical but had lots of room of the horizontal. I also noticed that any water infiltration would result in the wood parts of the wall being damaged. I decided to apply liberal amounts of bathroom silicone all over the opening base, and in between the wall panel and the aluminum bar framing it in. I also noted that the water heater had originally not been placed in the centre of this opening, so I shifted it over a bit. This resulted in the old screw holes in the trailer wall not being used: I filled them up with the putty that comes in a roll, then applied a new seam of it. I made sure it was nice and thick, and when I inserted the water heater, I pressed real hard to make sure I had very good contact all around the flange. New screws into new holes, and I was good to go! This job was just steaming along: I was going to get this knocked off real fast!
Well, until the next step...
The next step involved screwing the pump to the floor and connecting the gas line to the water heater. 4 screws and the pump's installed: going smoothly. Then I went to install the gas line, and I noticed a bend in the plastic sleeve: I had to check it out. My worst fears for this had come true: I kinked the holes during the subfloor installation, and I needed to fix this. The problem was, the next step after this was to install the cabinet, then make all my connections, and I needed the cabinet out of the way in order to fix the gas line. I didn't have the tools nor the know-how to flare gas lines, so I had to wait until my neighbour (who is a gas technician) to come home with the tools and fittings:
I now had to switch tasks until he came home from work. So I decided to do the bathroom caulking. When I do a bathroom job, and the bathtub is straight where it meets the floor, then I can install a straight piece of quarter-round over that edge to make it look nice. The issue is one of compatible materials: the edge where a bathtub meets the floor is the most common place to have water splashing over onto the floor. This means wood is out of the question. Home Depot sells this PVC quarter round that has a concave spot where the corner is. This means I can run a tick bead of silicone along the back, and the excess will ooze into the space between the flooring and the tub as well as along the edges, and will make a nice water-proof seam:
I only wish it came in a tan colour.
That task didn't take long, so I decided to attack the kitchen cabinet.
Now, I don't think I mentioned this before, but I noticed a few holes in the wheel well and I wasn't sure how they got there. Well, in installing the back plate that supports the lower drawer, I found out what happened: the idiots (I'm being very nice here) that installed the cabinets, decided to use screws that were longer than the total depth of the material (two pieces of wood) being screwed together. this meant that you had 3 screws that penetrated the wheel well! Just another of the many places that water had leaked into this trailer...
I added another layer of wood so I had a good total thickness, added some contraction adhesive, and used the proper screws for the job: done!
Installing the plumbing takes patience, especially when securing the sink: very cramped quarters and hard to reach brackets. I had to re-rout the cold water line. I have no idea how it worked before, but I couldn't get it to reach the faucet connection without drilling a new hole in the cabinet shelf. Connecting the drain (an d gluing/welding a coupling) went easy: I do this kind of stuff all the time, so it went without incident.
Then came the electronics: I had to connect all the different wires, and that was easy, because I had taken a picture before:
Funny thing: I ended up with an extra wire! And the end of the wire was stripped, but I had no connector to take a stripped end (or any other type of wire). This baffled me, and ended up sucking time away (this project was filled with time spent head-scratching, trying to figure stuff out). The solution ended up being quite enlightening: The previous owner (may he rot in the excrement of a thousand camels) had turned on the water heater without water in it, so some components had to be replaced. I noticed a green wire that was not connected on the water heater. I also notice a red wire that was connected to a small piece of green wire that looked like it was the green wire from the water heater control wiring. I have to check it out with the manufacturer of the water heater, but it looks like they didn't need this wire any more, and they disconnected it under the kitchen cabinet. Sigh...
While installing the stove, I noticed I had also kinked the gas line, but this time not so much that I needed to repair it. It least, if I do, I can still access this part. I will do a pressure test under full load to see if everything still works fine. If not, it;s gas line repair time! :)
By this time, my good neighbour had come home, so the repair of the gas line was done, as well as reconnecting the pex lines I had to cut (it's so nice knowing the right people).
After installing the cabinet, I had to make all my connections inside. This is a good time to organize things: the wires were all in a mess, and weren't grouped together. So, I spread them all out over the floor, and then grouped them together based on their function and where they were being connected. Just wrap electrical tape every 12 inches, and then the mess gets tidied up very nicely, and it's easy to find what ever wires you're looking for.
I keep noticing crappy manufacturing in this trailer, and here is another example: The 120VAC electrical outlet fits in the hole in the cabinet side. Any modern manufacturing facility would have the right tool to make the hole in the wall, as well as a template for making the hole. Not at Dutchmen!!! I sure hope that Keystone makes the necessary changes in the quality control...
Another thing: check EVERYTHING electrical whenever you stick your nose inside your trailer/RV. Make sure the connections are good, and never assume the person doing the work did so properly. As you can see in the following picture, when the outer insulation was cut, the guy cut into the actual wires. This is 120 volts, so we have a risk of electrical shock as well as a fire hazard... sigh... SMH...
Today is bench installation as well as installing the shoe-moulding: I normally have a guy that does the trim for me, but in this case, I'm the guy! heheh! :) Wish me luck...
