DISCLOSURE:
I am not a van conversion professional or professional handyman. This is a documentation of my experience and you should make your own decisions on how to build your own van, and seek professional guidance if you are unsure. This blog post also contains affiliate links, so if you click a product link and buy from the merchant, I will receive a commission fee. The price you pay remains the same, affiliate link or not. Buying through my product links is the best way to say thanks if this blog post was at all helpful to you.
SOUND DEADENING + FLOOR
MATERIALS USED:
- Rattletrap Sound Deadener (recommended: 50 Sq Ft) (Buy on Amazon)
- I used 25′ Sq Ft, and kinda was wishing I had gotten more. It was enough to get a medium-small sized square on every large blank wall, but I did not put sound deadener on the floor, I did not cover the entire wheel wells, and I put minimal on the ceiling.
- Foamboard Adhesive (Buy on Amazon)
- (I would err on the side of buying too much of this! Like 2 per large piece of wood/foam. I ran out and had to use random adhesives I found lying around)
- 1/2″ XPS Rigid Foam Board
- WHY XPS? Despite having a lower R factor, it’s more rigid and therefore great to have as flooring/something to build on top of.
- WHY 1/2′? I wanted to keep the floor as low profile as possible so my head doesn’t hit the ceiling (I am 6’1″).
- HOW WARM? The floor is only “warm” in winter conditions when the heater is running and blowing heat on it. It cools off pretty quickly. We wear down booties ->(Buy on Amazon) and are very comfy in cold conditions.
- 1/2″ Plywood
- Spray Foam (Buy on Amazon)
- Laminate Flooring
- Glue for Laminate Flooring
- Silicone (Buy on Amazon)
- Aluminum edging
SOUND DEADENER INSTALL:
Installation of the Rattletrap Sound Deadener was really straightforward, I just rolled it on with the provided roller! Here is a helpful video I found that shows you how to install the deadener. Skip ahead to 1:21 if you want to get to the meat of the video.
FLOOR INSTALL:
I cut pieces of the XPS foam board to fit the profile of the floor.
I then took the foam board out and used it as a template to cut my plywood. I then glued down the foam board and plywood down using foamboard adhesive, and let it dry with weight on top of everything. I did not screw my floor down. Make sure you get the surface you will be applying the adhesive to nice and clean.
I did add more weight than what is in this photo, but still, I wish I had used more as I got some warping on the rear piece of plywood. Not too concerned because it is under the bed and has a lot of the build on top of it.
Once the plywood was in, I used spray foam to fill the gaps between the plywood and the walls and trimmed it back flat once dry.
I used a roll of laminate flooring from Home Depot, along with glue specifically for that type of flooring that I also got there. I had to cut it into two sections with a seam that would be located under the bed. I glued down the two pieces first, then used a box cutter to cut the edges to the curves of the van. Once dry I used silicone to seal the edges where the flooring met the walls. Where the two pieces of laminate met, I overlapped them slightly and used a straight edge to cut through them both, which resulted in a perfect seam between them.
Here is a in depth how-to that I followed when installing my floors.
I used aluminum stair edging and silicone to finish the edges showing in the door areas.
4 Comments
Octavian
Apr, 8, 2020Wasn’t the floor too cold since uses R3 value insulation? During your ski trips
charlesstemen
Apr, 8, 2020Any thicker insulation on the floor and I would not have been able to stand, so that was part of the reason for not going thicker. I have a friend who used 1″ insulation and 3/4″ ply and says he wish he went thinner for more headroom, as his floor is still cold. In general, you probably aren’t loosing much heat through the floor since heat rises. The heater I have installed points down towards the floor so it’s fairly warm while it is running, but yes the floor is often pretty cold. We wear down slippers (https://amzn.to/35ePlYi) most of the winter when we are hanging inside the van and that takes care of the problem!
CBass
May, 5, 2020Love your van and appreciate your website tremendously. Any thoughts about insulation for a hot weather van? I have the exact same size as your van but most info out there talks about insulating for cold weather. Also, I’ve seen some people lay their flooring without adhesive. Any thoughts on that? TIA
charlesstemen
May, 11, 2020Hi CBass,
While I do try to avoid really hot weather, we do end up in warm climates and it even gets really hot in places like Montana. The insulation works just the same as it does for cold weather. Having the fan and window by the bed to create airflow makes a huge difference in cooling the van, and window covers are a must for keeping it cool.
I have seen people not using adhesive recently too. I’d guess for most if would be fine, but you would be more prone to the floor warping, and if you had any seams in the living space that could be bad. So you would probably want to build on top of it before it has any chance to warp. Hard to say!