Half decked!

Thanks, again, to Joe at Centennial Wood here in Denver, I found just what I was looking for for the next step in my project - 6/4 pine tongue and groove decking.  The stuff is light too, just 278 pounds or 126 kilos for the entire deck!  Matt and I got half of it installed and the rest will go on in the morning!  Below are some pics!  In one, you can see the fiberglass batting in the joists under the flooring.  After talking to a friend in the shop that has lot's of experience with pine flooring in log cabins, I decided to install the floors upside down which exposes the v-tongue which is more commonly face down.  Apparently, the flat edges are never flush on pine flooring and even if you sand them flat, the edges become misaligned as the wood contracts.  The V's make minor height differences between planks negligible.  The only drawback to this orientation?  The grooves are going to get filled with playa dust but nothing a vacuum and some elbow grease can't fix.

I am very pleased with the floor space I'm going to have.  Though, as I look at the proportions, I will be constructing exterior storage compartments underneath the decking, outside the frame rails in front of and behind the wheel wells.  Not only will they be ultra utilitarian but they'll help drop the profile of the trailer.

Also, Jeffrey and I brainstormed a design change today.  He has been consistently pushing the idea of a lower bunk below the top bunk.  Until now, I've had that space reserved for clothes drawers.  It dawned on me, why not both?  The width of the raised bed will be approximately 5' and slightly more than 8' long, due to the increased width at the midpoint of the bow-shaped shell.  The space under the raised bed will be 8' x 5' at the floor, increasing slightly as it goes up (obviously).  I only really need 2' of depth for clothes drawers, so I'll be constructing the drawers 2 feet deep and and 5 feet wide flush with the front of the raised bed section.  This will leave a space 3' x 8' wide behind the chest of drawers and a 3' opening to the right of the drawers.  It will be a super cool cubby to crawl into!  Hard to envision; I'll draft it when I get a chance.

Gotta go!