Since I can't seem to......

....stop the leaks,  I decided to do the next best thing, Seal the floor!    Actually, I did this as soon as the weather warmed up so this post is long overdue.

These were my tools of choice.  I've always liked the West System.  It's a two part epoxy but the handy pumps make it foolproof even for a beginner.  Five parts resin to one part hardener but the pumps take care of the measuring. One pump from each dispenses the perfect ratio. 

It was a bit of a slow start as I noticed the neck of the large pump had a crack in it and I had to McGyver it with a hose clamp.  It soon broke anyway and the spring in the pump fell into the can,  I spent 15 minutes with a coat wire fishing it out and then called my local boat place to get a replacement pump.   Like I said, slow start!

I needed to fair (level) the floor first, fill all the holes from the elevator bolts, and fill the plywood seams.  So I mixed up batches of 12 pumps each, added the 407 filler, mixed again until it looked like peanut butter.  I used a putty knife covered with masking tape to fill in all areas and stripped off the tape after each batch so I could start with a fresh blade.

I had a bunch of plastic mixing cups, which I set aside after each batch, when the epoxy dries it's easy to pop out the hardened stuff and reuse the container,   Some places needed a second layer, which is important to do before it cures completely, otherwise this product can get something called an amine blush.   Which requires mechanical removal in order for the coats to bond.   Which would suck!

The next day, I sanded it all down and gave it three coats of the epoxy, again all done within a couple of hours to avoid the dreaded amine blush. 

I'm still going to have to go back and refair some areas and I missed one of the bolts, see right in the center?  Gheesh, how'd I miss that!  
 I also had a slight problem with bubbles in the epoxy, evidently this was caused by the temperature increase inside the trailer during the curing phase.  I probably should have waited for a cloudy day but they are cosmetic and won't show under the finished flooring anyway.

After the fairing and sanding

And after the three coats of epoxy.  I'm happier than a slinky on an escalator. So bring on the rain! 

My helper chose to spend the day with me, well actually I tied him up .....so forced to spend the day with me would be slightly more accurate (notice where he chewed through the  leash?) . Good thing I did too, cause look what saunters out of the woods and parades right in front of him?  

My trailer was fully chocked or I'm pretty sure Finn would have reinacted this:

Without the bike of course, Finn's smart but not that smart!!