How to join the floor with the front and hatch?

[kevinmax]

Hey folks,
First time builder here. I'm looking for some advice with the mating of the floor to the front and rear. I have my wall/floor attachment figured out, but realized I don't know what to do about the front and rear. My trailer is 5x8, I am not covering the sides of my frame, so the camper will sit entirely on top of the frame. Wondering what size to make the floor and how to make the joint between the floor and the front (ceiling?) and the floor and the hatch. So my question is: do I build the floor the full 8' length and have the front sit on top, and the hatch close on top of the floor at the back? Any other ideas? Pictures of what you have done with yours would be very helpful. Hopefully my explanation makes sense
Thanks!

[tony.latham]

I place another spar right on the front of the floor. Hopefully, you can see it in this pic:



Here's a little 4-wide I built for my sis:



I'm in the process of setting blocking between the spars and I have yet to attach the bottom spar on the floor.

I use Fredrick's hatch method. Here are my first and third builds:





The first was a mistake ––but it works. The bottom of the hatch has several rubber D-seals on it. The hatch seals to the top of the (epoxy sealed) floor.

The correct way––in my opion––is to have the hatch seals mate with the end of the floor. My floors are a sandwich of plywood, framing, and foam so on the back of tear #3 the floor is 1.5" thick. Makes for a nice mating surface.

Make sure you leave room for compressed seals.



Tony

[kevinmax]

Tony, this is exactly what I was hoping to get! Thank you! If I had thought ahead to this step before building my trailer, I would have done things slightly differently to allow myself to have the hatch close to the back of the floor (like your #3) without then sitting on the frame, but oh well.
I will build the floor to 8' long and have the hatch close on top with some good seals.

The front step is also simpler than I thought, my brain just likes to complicate things