No sleep did me well....the wee hours of the morning provided a solution to fixing the counter top...

[Tina]

Yepper...I found a fix!  But first, let me tell you what was probably the issue to begin with once that particle board got soaked under the laminate.

The stove.  Besides the 1/4" or so lip of the frame of the stove resting on the counter top edge, there were only two screws holding it in place. Those two screws were in the back of the stove into the counter.  The rest of the screws that were placed in there when installed, either missed the particle board all together or hit the very bottom edge of it and did nothing more than break it up.  They didn't even need turning, they were free floating, rusted, and I just pulled them out with my fingers.  Wow...

The back of the stove under the counter has no support whatsoever. No frame to hold it up, nothing.

I think that as the particle board got wetter, the stove was beginning to cause it to sag.

I cut three 2 x 4 sections and propped them in under the counter and directly flush to the stove where there are some spacer pieces attached to the top... for reasons I know not.  They came in useful because I was able to prop the whole counter back up where it's supposed to be in 3 places where I needed it.  I'm going to let it sit overnight and then go out and drill some new screw holes in the stove frame going into the counter where they were supposed to go.  That will help support it and I will install the 2x4's permanently in place once it's all squared up.  The counter looks sooooo much better, and I think once I'm done it will be just fine. I need another support in the very back yet. Will get to that tomorrow. It looks like it dips there in the center, that's an illusion created by the leftover paneling paper leaning off the back. It's really pretty straight back there now.

This end part is screwed into the wall underneath with a spacer piece, I''ll undo that tomorrow and get it level then reattach it.

I think this will work!  It will be something I can live with, even if it isn't perfect.  I just couldn't bring myself to try to tear out that stove and sink completely.

Just got finished rigging up some T-bars from spare lumber and have the two major portions of the ceiling propped up and drying.  The blue foam insulation is still pretty wet.  This could take weeks to dry out. LOL

Hope you all are having a nice holiday remembering and being with your loved ones.

[John "T" Nordhoff]

 CONGRATULATIONS TINA, When it comes to any nasty wood and mildew removal and replacement YUK I hate it and have no patience lol. Its just so crowded to work inside an RV but you will be rewarded once its all complete.

 God Bless and keep you and yours, hope to see you on the road

 John T

[Rich Thomas]

Hi Tina, looks like a lot of progress is being made. I have never had to go deep into a build like that but I think you are doing a great job. One thing you may benefit from is to get a couple jugs of mildew and mold killer. poor it into a sprayer and go to town spraying every thing that shows black mold and mildew. I used some on the floor of my uncles house that was saturated from a hot water tank leak that went un detected while he was in assisted living. It worked wonders killing the spores and cleaning the smell. what I did over the Holiday, I put flowers out on my family's graves on Saturday then drove over to Indy and watched the Indy 500. They had a B 52 fly over and a helicopter group from the army do demo's of what they do in action. one chopper flew in and picked up 5-6 and flew them out hanging from a rope. It is awesome what our brave men and women do to keep us safe. Hope you had as good a week end. 

[Lakota Wolf]

A make you feel better note,,,,   I have been in NEW RV's that the stove isnt even secured down with anything,, Its just set in place and I am assuming that they expect the gas line to hold it in place when ya go drifting around a corner at 70 mph..

[Tina]

Dang smart thinking Ken! Why the heckfire didn't I think of that??? I'm heading downstairs in the morning to get my dehumidifier. Cannot believe I let that slide from my mind. Thanks so much. :)

[Ken and Cindy Haney]

Glad that worked out for you Tina. Much better if you don't have to tear it out. If you happen to have a dehumidifier it will dry out a lot faster than just fans.