Gateway Storage bay wall removed...Suggestions welcomed

[2psnapod2]

Jerrod, Bones, and anyone else doing this type of mod -- Before you drill holes into your basement ceiling and floors, how do you know what it behind the floor/ceiling? I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the floor except the plywood base so that seems pretty safe but I'm not so sure what might be in the basement ceiling, e.g., electrical lines, etc. And what type and length of screws are you using? Something like a 2.5 inch wood screw?

Jeff, take a look at the ceiling where your toilet comes out. Should be 6 inches of Styrofoam.

 

[Bones]

Jerrod, Bones, and anyone else doing this type of mod -- Before you drill holes into your basement ceiling and floors, how do you know what it behind the floor/ceiling? I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the floor except the plywood base so that seems pretty safe but I'm not so sure what might be in the basement ceiling, e.g., electrical lines, etc. And what type and length of screws are you using? Something like a 2.5 inch wood screw?

When I worked on my basement I knew my black tank was directly below my sub-floor. I took the thickness of my material into account and the thickness of the sub-floor and used a screw that would not penetrate the Floor. Typically mine were 1.5 inches long. When you deal with the wall you only need a screw that will go in a little bit after your material you are fastening. Lets say I am using 1 inch material I might only use a 1.25 inch screw. You are going into extremely thin material there. Now for the curve ball. in my basement I have a reinforced floor on the step deck which is the roof in the basement. They use a combination of sealing materials here. Plywood foam metal studs and more plywood. I don't remember the thickness but I don't think it is much past 1/4 inch material for my basement floor. I'm not sure what they call this but their are metal studs here that if you use a metal finder you can send a screw into one for a strong support structure. You can also use a stud finder to look for AC in the floor walls and so on. As for finding DC circuits your are limited there. You may have to pull off switches or panels to see where the lines might be going.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

All of the electrical wires are run along the curb side ceiling behind that carpeted panel so I don't think there is anything up there in the rest of the area. Finding the aluminum cross beams is the fun part I used a metal stud finder and a very small drill bit to find the beam.

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[Bones]

Update Update. After moving the wall I gained some good space. I wanted to take the advice of other's in this thread and add some shelving. So far I came up with this after I got ahold of some plywood.









I think I will add some type of bungee cord netting across the front to keep the stuff in when traveling.

I'm also thinking of adding a removable shelf over the top of my mats for the one to two time's I need access behind the wall for de-winterizing and winterizing.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Very nice job. I had found a website that has all of that netting can't remember what it is right now.

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[Bones]

Thanks

 

[Jpg136]

Bones, I see your utility baggage door opens above 90 degrees to the unit. Did you change the gas lifts? If so what did you install and did you have to make any other changes?

 

[Bones]

Bones, I see your utility baggage door opens above 90 degrees to the unit. Did you change the gas lifts? If so what did you install and did you have to make any other changes?

I cant see which unit you have. I did change the struts to single stage struts. The ones you have are probably 2 stage. You'll have to push up on them to get the door to open further. If you are like me and don't like that then you can change the struts out for single stage ones.