"No trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers...to the development of such qualities as patience..."

It's been a wet week....on Thursday and Friday lots of badly-needed snow was laid down however on Friday, it began to rain on and off which continued until late Saturday night.  Overall, it was warmer but the dampness has made it a challenge to achieve much progress this weekend.  That and the fact that the home improvement box store is 20 minutes away.  Our local hardware store (a mile down the road) has lots of stuff but not necessarily all the items this not-so-little project requires.  Today started out good with help from some friends (thanks James and Aaron) to flip the floor over but then between the weather and some errors in my thinking created a somewhat frustrating afternoon.  However at the end of the day, progress was made, just not in as many leaps and bounds as I'd prefer.  Not many photos this week but we're getting there....

Yeah, there's not much room to maneuver but it beats getting rained on!

Picking up where I left off with getting the floor of the step-down assembled, a fat bead of adhesive and clamping the floor in place got the process underway.  I expected the timbers to bow when using them to apply pressure to the edges so some shims were placed strategically to keep the pressure even.  If I was building this in my dad's shop (where practically every tool known to man resides) my methods might be different but in my garage, I'm a little more "challenged".  This was only an intermediate step but I wanted to make sure things were secure prior to the next.
 

I still might cap the corners with the white angle material.

Now this is where the twenty-minute dilemma comes in:  I have six of one style of angle, four of another yet plenty of screws.  I also have a short memory at times when remembering where the floor support straps are located under the floor.  Needless to say, there are few extra screw holes which will need to be sealed up - at least they don't go all the way through to the interior of the step down.  I just have to console myself knowing there are no assembly instructions or part fabrication documentation to support this endeavor other than the photos and .  My mantra of "Patience - good things come to those who wait" often comes into play when I feel frustrated.

Now, that doesn't look all bad, does it?

Some may wonder why there are so many angle brackets securing the floor when 1) the original design had none and B) there are two hefty 1-1/2" x 1/4" straps running under the floor section.  Let's just say someone is a little heftier than he was 34 years ago today!

I miss my dad...I would like to think he'd approve this project.

Actually I want to make sure the Scotty will last another 50+ years when I'm done so all the flooring is 3/4" instead of the original 1/2" with a little extra support here and there.  Since the floor in the back doesn't seam over a frame member, I've secured the joint underneath to keep the joint pulled closed and tight.  I don't have a biscuit tool but joining plywood in that way seems risky to me.  This method was easy, inexpensive, and required no special tools.

The 2-inch-plus gap on each side is for the frame members.

The next major step will involve painting the underside of the floor to seal it and then coating it with waterproofing compound.  Before that, I need to be come a expert on sheet metal repairs!  The wheelwells need to be cleaned up (including removing a multitude of staples), some minor fatigue cracks repaired, followed by using up the last of the paint left from when the frame was painted.  Once they are assembled into the floor, then the waterproofing can commence followed by a then and now photo to see where things stand compared to this time last year.  Good things DO come to those who wait!