Trailer update

It's raining outside now, the end of a 3 day weekend, but at least it isn't 35 degrees anymore. Starting on Friday we got up into the mid to upper 50's for the first time in months, and it was just in time too. It wasn't a play weekend for me, too much work to do to get ready for race season. Its only 6 weeks away and the clock's ticking.

But here Sunday evening, I think I've finally come out the other side, at least for the trailer rehab. Since the last post, I've been painfully removing all the floor tiles. That wasn't so bad, the bad was once pried up, they left behind a gooey mess.

You can see the tile glue left behind on the plywood

Since then I've mounted all the plywood walls. painted them, cut the trim from a sheet of thin plywood, mounted and painted most of the trim, painted the wheel boxes, and spent hours upon hours scraping up the tile adhesive.

About 2/3 done. The foreground floor is milky looking. That all
leftover glue.

The only thing to do with this is pour on some thick adhesive remover, let it sit for an hour or two, and laboriously scrape the vile mixture off. This was sheer torture for my knees and back and I could only do 2 hour stints at night during the work week. It didn't help that it was 29 degrees outside. Even with my space heater going in the trailer, the cold minimized the effectiveness of the remover.

 The pleasant arrival of warmer weather this weekend helped matters. By Saturday evening, I had all the glue up and the floor washed and cleaned.

Sunday afternoon saw the application of the epoxy flooring well underway. This is a 2 part epoxy from Lowes, used mainly for garage floors but can also be used on wood. I picked a nice dark gray.

Application in progress

The process was to mix the 2 parts in a bucket, stirring with an electric drill for 3 minutes and then the clock was ticking. It had to be applied in the next 3-5 minutes otherwise it would start to harden in the bucket. Luckily the weather was cloudy today and cooler than yesterday which extended the application period.

Once mixed, you pour a line of material and take a squeegee on a pole and squeegee it across the floor to get a nice even thickness. Next take the roller and roll the floor 90 degrees from the squeequee application. Let it setup for 10 minutes and then re-roller. Now you can broadcast the paint flakes into the air. I also added silica as an anti-slip material.

Front done

Close-up of the flake pattern. I used red, white and blue.

View of the finished floor. Those aren't defects in the middle, but
the holes for in-floor tie-downs.

Done. Much nicer than those chewed up checkered tiles. Also did the tailgate.

And about 5 minutes after I finished the last bits, it started raining. Perfect timing. I closed the trailer up and backed it into it's normal spot where it will sit for the next day or two curing.

Still plenty on my to-do list for the trailer. Lots of hours still ahead, but getting the floor done was the biggest item on the list. But for now, I need to drink some beer* and finish up Season 2 of the Game of Thrones. The rest can wait a bit.

* Evolution Rise Up Stout