In every large rebuilding project there are going to be occasional unplanned for "surprises". Ours was discovering that there were termites buried very deep in an area that had had additions long before we received the ship. We had to declare all out war on the termites!!
We cleaned behind the stove (one of the last places that had soot from the fire) in preparation for removal of the small side cabinet. We tried twice to kill them off with insecticides and were hoping they would be contained just in this small area. Not hardly...
This photo was from about a week ago. After removal, we waited for absence of 'sign' but we then noticed more termite 'shavings' on the floor, coming from the very top corner and bottom edge of the cabinet.
It was so disheartening to tear out all the varnish and painting work from a year ago.
We also found where they had been in the floor and the overhead. we didn't take any chances and removed it all.
Checking for 'sign'
We replaced the areas cut out from the floor with new 3/4 inch ply.
Eric's shoulders don't care for overhead work much anymore!
This area behind the stove has the A/C unit and may get worked on
when DJ is here for a week over Christmas. The giant wooden door panel isn't attached but simply leaning over the opening. This door seems to have no insect damage so might be used for other projects.
The silver lining from this whole ordeal is that hopefully the ship has been freed from termites and the galley now has ventilation. It was miserable in the heat of summer and had no air flow. So we are thankful for how open it now is.
Modifications will be added in the future.
On a lighter note, the shower stall up forward is finished!
