Episode 4: Packrats Love Acorns

My new P-100 respirator is from Northern Safety, the GVS Elipse. I bought it in January so of course they're out of stock now. This mask has a check valve to let exhaled air out easily which makes it utterly useless for a pandemic situation. It's strictly for working alone in sketchy circumstances. 

The first thing I did when I got my mask was to remove the elastic straps. Then I  took out the filters and washed the silicone part with dish soap. I replaced the straps with some spandex lingerie elastic from my stash. I went through a whole process trying to find elastic that isn't toxic. The stuff they use in bras and fold-over elastic is fine. Anything else starts out stinky and just gets more toxic to me as it ages.

Kimsul Insulation Brochure

Original faucet with very close spacing on water lines

https://www.vintagecampers.com/1948-spartan-30-mansion-355t/

This is the back of the kitchen sink showing where the original faucet was mounted and the new holes for the T&S Brass faucet

Plumbing under the kitchen sink. Not original

I don't know how the power and water came into these things originally. I hope to find out as I get farther along with gutting it. Maybe something will be revealed when I take the belly pan off and get a look underneath. The gas line went from the trailer hitch to the stove and somehow the water had to come in and wastewater had to go out. I'm guessing there were hookups directly below the bathroom.

While it's not that hard and kind of fun to take down the paneling and take out the cabinets I have put it off because I don't want to just pile them in my shed again. I need some sort of organization or plan for how I'm going to store them and to what purpose. 

On the request of my brother I added scientific ID to my nature clips and a little bit of True Facts in this episodes. I hope I didn't say anything inaccurate. Here's some citations.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Neotoma_floridana/

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm91_054316.pdf

All photos and videos in this episode were taken by me with the exception of the Kimsul adverts and the faucet photo from VintageCampers.com. 

I'm adding the subtitles file to the end of every blog entry for quickly finding things later, should that ever turn out to be a thing.

1

01:00:03,934 --> 01:00:07,400

Hi, my name is Barbara and I'm a blank builder and a blogger

  

2

01:00:07,400 --> 01:00:11,233

I'm on a mission to rebuild and repurpose this 71 year old 

3

01:00:11,233 --> 01:00:14,233

aircraft construction aluminum trailer home, Ally Mo

4

01:00:22,567 --> 01:00:27,266

So to get the back door open all I had to do was turn the 

knob. And pull

5

01:00:28,867 --> 01:00:30,900

Oh, I don't like that noise

6

01:00:39,667 --> 01:00:43,700

I think part of my problem here is the hinge pin is out of 

this part

7

01:00:44,033 --> 01:00:47,033

But the hinge pin is sticking out

8

01:01:02,300 --> 01:01:05,300

I got a new respirator

9

01:01:07,767 --> 01:01:10,767

I really like it

10

01:05:43,400 --> 01:05:50,333

What's in this stove is rock wool insulation, acorns, and 

whatever else the packrat wanted in its house

11

01:05:54,133 --> 01:06:00,500

I took that photo of a packrat in 2005 when I was tearing 

down the burned out well house

12

01:06:00,500 --> 01:06:04,934

While evidence of them is blatant they are actually pretty 

good at staying out of sight

13

01:06:04,934 --> 01:06:13,033

In addition to building these massive dens where they hoard 

acorns, another packrat  habit that reveals their presence 

is a latrine

14

01:06:13,033 --> 01:06:18,800

Unlike mice that just leave a trail of droppings wherever 

they go, packrats go in the same in place every time.  

15

01:06:18,800 --> 01:06:21,567

Notably, in the northeast corner of my shed

16

01:06:22,233 --> 01:06:28,567

I found a paper that confirms that packrats'  favorite food 

is acorns. They stock up when they're in season and ration 

them through spring and summer

17

01:06:29,266 --> 01:06:37,600

Rats in the genus Neotoma only have 4 nipples and have 1 to 

4 babies at a time. Here where winter is mild they breed 

year round

18

01:06:37,700 --> 01:06:45,033

True rats in the genus Rattus have 12 nipples and have huge 

litters of babies in spring and summer

19

01:06:45,033 --> 01:06:48,300

Packrats pick up treasure and take it home

20

01:06:48,300 --> 01:06:55,767

Whenever I rearrange my scrap lumber pile in the shed I wind

 up saying, "That's where that went!" 

21

01:06:55,767 --> 01:07:04,333

I've found a shed snake skin, a Scotchbrite pad, my work 

gloves, a hacksaw blade, and pencils in packrat nests.

22

01:07:05,133 --> 01:07:11,967

That's why I'm careful what I leave out in the shed now. 

Cause they will take your tools. They don't give a rat's 

ass.

23

01:15:42,934 --> 01:15:50,166

I'm not sure if this faucet is original or not. T&S Brass 

was a brand new company in 1949

24

01:15:50,166 --> 01:15:55,133

You can see this faucet in the T&S Brass catalog page from 

1950

25

01:15:55,133 --> 01:16:00,100

Unfortunately the chrome on the handles is flaking off

26

01:16:00,100 --> 01:16:04,967

You can get replacement handles from Home Depot but they 

changed the font. It's just not the same.

27

01:16:04,967 --> 01:16:13,066

I wonder if this is the original formica? This pattern is a 

cure for insomnia. I bet it was called Tan Linen.

28

01:16:13,066 --> 01:16:18,967

It's well worn out by the sink though. They were stuck in 

the '50s without a cutting board I guess. 

29

01:16:18,967 --> 01:16:22,633

The kitchen window still slides open and the screen is 

intact

30

01:16:22,633 --> 01:16:28,867

But the glass has a couple of bullet holes. The screen 

must've been replaced after the window was shot.

31

01:17:10,233 --> 01:17:14,533

I want to see if I can get this shelf out of here

32

01:17:17,533 --> 01:17:22,800

And I'm going to take the water heater out

33

01:17:23,567 --> 01:17:26,567

 I can't find my big crescent wrench

34

01:17:29,767 --> 01:17:32,767

I'm not sure which way to turn it

35

01:17:32,767 --> 01:17:35,767

That's tightening it, that's loosening it

36

01:17:44,433 --> 01:17:47,433

It's good plumbing in these things. It's all copper

37

01:17:51,567 --> 01:17:54,567

That was my finger!

38

01:20:24,467 --> 01:20:27,934

This right here is the wheel well

39

01:20:27,934 --> 01:20:32,133

And it has a layer of insulation on it here

40

01:20:34,066 --> 01:20:37,066

It's like some kind of foam

41

01:20:40,600 --> 01:20:43,834

It's weird stuff. I'm not sure what this is

42

01:20:45,867 --> 01:20:50,533

It's very stretchy. It's like crimped paper

43

01:20:50,533 --> 01:20:56,800

Is it some sort of corrugated.... It's weird, y'all

44

01:20:57,934 --> 01:21:03,266

After some research I found out this is Kimsul. Its creped 

paper insulation

45

01:21:03,266 --> 01:21:12,500

This brochure from 1939 is primarily to convince people to 

insulate AT ALL. But it does have specs, just like you'd 

expect? Ex-speced? Sorry

46

01:21:12,500 --> 01:21:18,367

Kimsul has a K factor of .27. It's above average

47

01:21:18,367 --> 01:21:25,333

That's an R value of 3.7 per inch, the same as the open cell

 spray foam insulation I used in my house and lab

48

01:21:25,333 --> 01:21:31,000

Kimsul was marketed specifically at trailers. I'll be 

interested to see where else I find it

49

01:21:31,000 --> 01:21:41,934

"Actually a home insulated with one inch of Kimsul is better

 protected against cold and heat than a castle with masonry 

walls several feet thick." 

50

01:21:41,934 --> 01:21:45,266

Sure, but how is it against a trebuchet?

51

01:21:45,266 --> 01:21:52,967

Comparing Memphis to Medicine Hat is impressive. 

Copyrighters in the '30s had a high opinion of their 

demographic

52

01:21:52,967 --> 01:22:02,967

Imagine assuming anybody knows where Medicine Hat is. It's 

in Alberta. That's Canada. The big cold place North of 

Montana

53

01:22:02,967 --> 01:22:07,300

Whereas Memphis, well, everybody knows that's the Capital of

 Finland

54

01:22:15,100 --> 01:22:23,900

OK, this copper pipe is gonna have to come out of there 

before I can remove this cabinet  

55

01:22:23,900 --> 01:22:29,800

I remember breaking it off when I was working on the wheel

56

01:22:31,500 --> 01:22:34,500

But I'm not sure how to get it out of there

57

01:22:36,166 --> 01:22:39,166

I might have to go at it from below

58

01:22:40,567 --> 01:22:46,967

So there's that copper pipe. I just pinched the end of that.

 I don't think I can push it up through that cabinet

59

01:22:47,400 --> 01:22:52,300

But the underside of these wheel wells looks pretty good, 

actually

60

01:22:52,300 --> 01:22:59,266

I'm kind of impressed. These are way nicer than Ally Min's 

wheel wells

61

01:22:59,266 --> 01:23:06,100

If I just patch the holes where the pipes go through I can 

use this 

62

01:23:06,100 --> 01:23:12,400

So now I'm completely inside the wheel well. This is an 

advantage of having one of the wheels out

63

01:23:17,066 --> 01:23:20,066

I forgot how strong copper pipe is

64

01:23:26,233 --> 01:23:29,233

OK

65

01:23:38,834 --> 01:23:41,834

Alright. Back in the wheel well

66

01:23:46,433 --> 01:23:49,433

>boink<

67

01:23:59,533 --> 01:24:07,934

It's kind of satisfying to get all these little pieces. I'll

 have to start a collection

68

01:24:08,333 --> 01:24:11,867

I might as well document my plumbing

69

01:24:11,867 --> 01:24:17,767

I do not know why that pipe went down through that hole. Was

 that the input?

70

01:24:19,233 --> 01:24:22,233

I don't know where it went from there 

71

01:24:22,233 --> 01:24:26,033

This was to the hot water. I don't know if that was in or 

out

72

01:24:26,033 --> 01:24:29,734

And this was out of this hot water

73

01:24:31,233 --> 01:24:35,266

Hot... Coulda been the inlet or the outlet

74

01:24:35,266 --> 01:24:38,266

Actually I'll go look at the water heater and then I'll know

 

75

01:24:39,233 --> 01:24:42,233

Alright, here's the water heater. This is the way it was in 

the cabinet. 

76

01:24:42,233 --> 01:24:46,800

So this one is cold and this one is hot

77

01:24:46,800 --> 01:24:51,000

So the left one is cold, the right one is hot

78

01:24:52,200 --> 01:24:55,200

Two and a half gallons. That's not much of a bath, is it? 

79

01:24:57,066 --> 01:25:03,433

OK, so here's cold. And this is hot

80

01:25:03,433 --> 01:25:11,100

So this is the hot pipe going to the bathroom

81

01:25:11,100 --> 01:25:18,133

And this is the cold water. I don't understand

82

01:25:18,133 --> 01:25:26,400

OK, this is cold going to the bathroom

83

01:25:26,400 --> 01:25:35,567

And this is the main cold. So this must be cold coming from 

the... Oh, hell, I don't know

84

01:25:37,133 --> 01:25:42,433

So this is hot to the kitchen sink. Right there

85

01:25:42,433 --> 01:25:45,433

What, that doesn't make sense

86

01:25:47,100 --> 01:25:50,100

This says H for hot

87

01:25:50,567 --> 01:25:58,800

So this, this, and this are all hot? This makes no sense.

88

01:25:58,800 --> 01:26:02,500

This has to be cold. The sink is just backwards

89

01:26:02,500 --> 01:26:06,734

They plumbed that sink wrong. I wonder if it was done wrong 

in the factory?

90

01:26:07,066 --> 01:26:10,767

Or was this all replumbed later? 

91

01:26:10,767 --> 01:26:17,066

That doesn't seem like something they would do in the 

factory. It seems like they would've figured that out

92

01:26:17,066 --> 01:26:22,900

And it makes me feel like this was an input, like this was 

where the water came in, through the wheel well.

93

01:26:22,900 --> 01:26:28,500

I don't know how. That's weird.

94

01:26:28,500 --> 01:26:33,467

I got a bright light and stuck the camera way back under the

 sink. Well, look at that!

95

01:26:33,467 --> 01:26:41,834

That T&S Brass faucet is definitely NOT original. What is 

that, 4" spacing like a bathroom faucet?

96

01:26:41,834 --> 01:26:47,500

I found a photo online of the original faucet. That would 

match that hole spacing

97

01:26:47,500 --> 01:26:52,367

And it is the weirdest kitchen faucet I have ever seen. 

98

01:26:52,367 --> 01:26:55,367

Look at it!

99

01:26:58,200 --> 01:27:02,200

So this was cold out of the water heater

100

01:27:02,200 --> 01:27:05,200

And this was hot

101

01:27:05,200 --> 01:27:13,200

So cold water came up through the wheel well and then it 

went into the water heater this way

102

01:27:13,200 --> 01:27:19,767

And then this line took cold to the sink in the bathroom. 

103

01:27:19,767 --> 01:27:25,166

I'm guessing this went all the way to the sink and the 

shower

104

01:27:25,166 --> 01:27:34,633

And this line goes to the toilet

105

01:27:37,133 --> 01:27:47,166

And then the hot side out of the water heater, here's the 

hot. And it went to the sink and shower in the bathroom

106

01:27:47,166 --> 01:27:52,400

And it also probably went to the faucet

107

01:27:52,400 --> 01:27:59,233

I think this used to be up here. And maybe when they put in 

the new water heater they just put these back wrong

108

01:27:59,233 --> 01:28:04,900

Because if you put this one up here then that would be the 

correct side of the kitchen sink

109

01:29:15,567 --> 01:29:22,467

I'm not sure what this is. I thought it was mouse pee but it

 doesn't want to come off

110

01:30:20,800 --> 01:30:26,033

And that's Episode 4 of the Beachton Buck Rivet Report. 

111

01:30:26,033 --> 01:30:29,033

Go buck yourself.