One more day of disgust & asbestos.

Disgust

One more disgusting day still-to-come, that is. I removed the subfloor on the remaining side yesterday. I was really hoping it would be a one-day operation, but alas, no such luck.

If anything, this was the most disgusting demo-day yet (and I quit before dealing with the rodent's nests). The amount of nastiness below the floor was shocking.  Maybe time caused me to forget the other side.

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The other side.

So I tried a new technique for removing the old flooring. I had realized last time that I used too much effort trying to pry the old floor up (where it wasn't rotten through). So this time I set the circular saw to about 1/16" less than the thickness of the wood and cut a checker board along the floor frame joists.

Starting cuts.

Making a checkerboard.

It worked well, but I was actively cutting the floor out from under me. So, I needed to keep a careful eye out for where the frame would support my weight, despite not being able to see it. A frame joist runs under every subfloor seam and obviously underneath all of the flat bolt heads. I put a picture below of them. These are where I was careful to step.  By the end of the day, my ankles and calves were on fire from balancing.

The seam and bolt tells me it is a safe place to stand.

The first panel I pulled up was an omen for the rest. I didn't remove the insulation missing in the center of that ring.

It wasn't a human who made that hole. Rats! (or mice, squirrels, etc.)

As I went, it was clear that this end of the airstream was favored real estate for rodents. Granted I found nests in the walls and in the other side, but there was nearly no insulation left under this side at all. There are at least four nests left in it right now; I had to quit before getting to them.

I had not removed any insulation when this was taken. Rodents removed it all. You can see two of the nests in this photo and, on the far side, insulation that went mostly unmolested.

Asbestos

But the rodents' nests was not the worst concern of the day. Sometime in the past year I discovered that the tiles in my airstream were made out of asbestos. Asbestos is no big deal, right? As long as you don't disturb it... oh right. I cut the flaking, disintegrating tile out with a circular saw. That might make it dangerous.

If you're reading this for your project some time in the future, here is the best pic I have of the asbestos tiles:

Asbestos tiles: approximately 8 inches square.

I hope I followed enough safety precautions! I used a respirator, wet down all of the debris before bagging it, and wet myself down before throwing my (old) clothes away. Then I took a shower. The tiles pictured above were about half of the tiles left, so I was really not willing to pay for professionals. I'll probably spray down the walls and new floor of the interior just before I'm ready to completely close this side. Until then I'll use a respirator inside.

I'll leave you with the thought that kept me up one night a few months ago: I can't remember if I even wore a respirator on the other side.