Floor
In step 6 we explained how to lay the foundation for the floor, now it’s time to install your actual floor.
For this it’s best to use sturdy, thick plates such as plywood (multiplex 15mm), as this will also be the foundation to which your furniture will be attached. Make sure the plywood sheets are wide enough to rest on multiple support beams of the base. In this way pressure is divided equally.
Lengthwise one sheet will probably not be big enough, so you will have to put several sheets in a row.
First place the plywood sheets next to each other outside your van so that you can draw out the shape of the floor in one go. You can use the original floor plate (which you removed in step 4 if you had one) as a template. If the original floor plate is no longer usable, you can make a mold yourself with cardboard or the like. Another option is to measure and mare the dimension very accurately. After the shape has been traced on the plates, it is time to cut it out. For the straight parts you can use a circular saw, but the curved parts are better cut out with a jigsaw. Finally, you can sand the sawn edges to make them smoother.
Now you place the plates in your van. With screws you secure them in the support beams of the base. Make sure the plates fit nicely together before fixing them.
After you’ve placed your walls and ceiling, you can cover your floor. We used vinyl on a roll as it is cheap, light weighted, easy to maintain, easy to place and it exists in an infinite number of prints. Finally, we attached aluminum L-profiles to the edges of our floor for a clean finish.
Walls & ceiling
Time to put up some walls! Depending on your type of van, you can either just reattach the wall panels (original or remade) and leave the bridges visible, or you can fully cover the walls of your van with new walls. In this case you also need to place support beams to the bodywork as you did for the floor.
For our ceiling we used only tongue and groove. For the walls we think it’s better to use thin, bendable plywood sheets (triplex 5mm) instead of scraps, as these do not form a stable base if you want to fix something in it later, like furniture or decoration. If you want a scrap wall you can always attach them against these sheets afterwards, like we did.
With metal screws you attach the support beams (55x18mm) against the bridges of your van. To make sure your beams don’t split, it is best to pre-drill the holes. Also for the ceiling you have to do the same again (22x44mm).
Note 1: Always take the direction of the support beams into account when placing your wallpanels. These must always be transverse to the direction in which you want to place your wooden panels. Otherwise you cannot fix all of them on the support beams.
Note 2: When you place a support beam in width, make sure that the beam itself is wide enough so that you can attach two consecutive panels to it.
Think carefully about the placement of the support beams so all panels can be properly supported and secured.
As soon as all your support beams are fixed, double check if they are attached tightly as they will have to bear a fair amount of weight. When you’re sure that they hang securely, you can attach the wall panels with screws. Don’t forget to make holes in your panels for lighting, ventilation and electricity. It is important you already put your lighting in the ceiling. In this step it is also best to connect your light switches and sockets in the wall to the wires you already provided in an earlier step, because after that it’ll be difficult to reach it.
As soon as the walls and ceiling are fixed securely, you can paint them in whatever color you want. Make sure you have the right paint for the material you want to paint. Or you can leave it unpainted, that’s totally up to you.
supplies
Original floor plate
Wooden beams 55x18mm (walls)
Wooden beams 22x44mm (ceiling)
Plywood/Multiplex 15mm (floor)
Plywood/Triplex 5mm (walls)
Tongue and groove
Sand paper
Screws
Sockets
Light switches
Flush-mounted boxes
Light spots
Light bulbs
Vinyl
Glue
Paint
Aluminium L-profiles