working on it wrote:aggie79 wrote:Did I read right that your floor will be insulated and the bottom plywood will be 3/4" thick? If so, the 3/4" plywood is overkill. You really don't need much in the way of fasteners to attach the teardrop shell to the frame. I used self-tapping trailer deck screws that go directly into the 2" tube steel frame.
- I didn't insulate, but installed my floor in two stages, with two types of fasteners, making a 3/4" floor from two different plywood sheets.
- 1)The base, a 4'x 8' sheet of 1/2" birch plywood (it sat unused in my wood storage shed for 10-5 years, very dry and hard), was centered on my 50" wide x 97" frame (original was 50" x 60", rectangular tubing added), with 1" frame showing on the sides, and 1" on the rear (the front was set flush with the frame). I used eight 3/8" carriage bolts to the original frame tubing, at the old front and rear tube, slightly countersunk to not have the bolt heads protrude too much above the plywood.
- 2)Then, I applied a full, thick coat of Titebond 2 adhesive to cover the birch base, and placed a sheet of 1/4" Lauan over it, using Tek screws to secure it to the perimeter of the frame. I started at the back, working forward, pressing out the glue with a roller as I went. I used around 36-38 screws, if I remember correctly. I sat some feed bags in the center, to hold it flat, and let it dry for a week or so.
- I probably didn't need to do the double-layer floor, but, after countersinking the carriage bolts, I needed to cover the heads anyway, so the Lauan was an afterthought, which brought the floor thickness to 3/4" (nominal), to match the plywood thicknessI was going to use for the remainder of the build. I used the birch, just to use it up, and had planned to use linoleum to finish the floor, but I liked the grain of the Lauan, so it became my floor surface. I had always intended to screw down the perimeter, so that served the double purpose of securing the top sheet, also. Looking back, I would've just used the perimeter screws, but I was in overkill mode, so why not use two methods of fastening down the floor?
- 1/2" birch plywood base, with carriage bolts
- top sheet screwed and glued on; drying out
- finished floor, stained, polyurethaned
I hope your next project is a boat. Sounds like you have marine grade ply now!
I'm probably overbuilding a bit, but our son is rambunctious so I fully expect jumping on the floor. I love that I can visualize these different approaches now after reading through so much feedback on this site! Glad you are all here!