carpeting and insulating my van…

I have absolutely no idea about any of this so bear with me…

Just bought an ex post van, a transit. I want to cheaply convert it to a bike / slumming it van so want to add better flooring and insulate the walls.

Floor

It’s got a hard wearing rubber floor at the moment. Will it work if I… Get some carpet underlay put down then some old lino I have put over the top. Through this I’ll drill some guide holes and then screw it to the rubberised floor with some of those metal carpet joining strips you can get?

Walls

Along the van at hip height is a metal rail with straps attached via moveable shuttles which I want to keep. Above and below this rail there’s tough but flexible sheets of plastic which I’ll clean up and keep. To insulate, I plan on pulling the plastic off, getting some foil backed foam sheets and will spray glue them to the metal. Then I’ll get some more sheets of insulation and get them stuffed behind the plastic sheets. Will this work? What do I need to look out for? I want to just go to a B&Q on Saturday to pick up the bits – any suggested products? Any idea of cost?

Cheers!

IME the worst problem is condensation which forms on any cold, shiny surface ( windows, plastic walls etc) so the more you can carpet and insulate the better.

I keep getting tempted to do this but the van’s done 125000 miles. I just know as soon as I’m done turnning it into a mini camper, the engine will blow up 🙄

I followed this post

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/insulate-my-van

Don’t say that – mines on 107!!

I did think about condensation – will any of my plans exacerbate that?

Kingspan type rigid insulation will not follow the curve of the metal and leave gaps for condensation. Closed cell camping matt is a favourite, or foil backed foam like you can get to go behind radiators.

Be sure to add up all the costs of glue etc…it may not be far off a spray foam kit consisting of two bottles and applicator gun (approx £400) which is super quick and effective.

Don’t use fibreglass style insulation as it will soak up condensation and vapour.

Lino over underlay will probably be quite easy to damage, managed to punch holes in mine and its glued directly to the ply floor.

If you take the bulkhead out, get a heavy curtain to hang in its place, keeps the warmth in the front when driving, and in the back when camping!

Any idea on cost of any of this?

Woah! Was thinking more around the 100 mark…?!

Have a look on http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk

There will be threads on there with step by step guides with pictures, recommended suppliers, tips and tricks etc.

Obviously the process is the same whatever the van is.

Personally I Kingspan’ed the flat spaces on the floor and shoved loft style insulation around the rest as that s where i’d be sleeping. I just packed loft style insulation on top of the silver “bubble style” rolls against the walls, then plyed it and carpeted it. Worked for me 🙂

Hmm plenty to think about. What about my flooring plan?
To be honest, a job lot of exercise mats from sport direct sound like the cheapest option. Got a budget of 400 for the whole job, inc some electrics and lighting.

That other STW post has some good tips. I used Kingspan and silver bubble wrap on my van.

I got an offcut of Altro heavy duty vinyl off ebay. Don’t see how you could have lino on underlay on top of rubber. Either stick with the rubber floor, or fit a new wooden one (extra cost/weight)

http://www.megavanmats.com/ for some automotive carpet for lining the walls. Use the right glue if you don’t want it peeling off first hot day of next summer!

as above Kisgspan, foil backed carpet underlay and laminate underlay in the walls.
Laminate and some firbre underlay under the floor sheets.

Roof was tougher with less for the pannels to be screwed to and ended up using hot water tank jackets.

I used cheap foam mats from Go Outdoors stuck to the roof, then silver “bubblewrap” then a proper roof lining I managed to source on ebay.

I did mine last year. Behind the ply I insulted it with normal rockwool and used foil foam stuff for the roof and akward bits. I bought a carpet kit from these guys http://www.c-m-c.org.uk/ which included the carpet and glue.

The carpet was about £100. The ply and insulation was a bit more than that. I did the capert myself, looks pretty good. There are vids on youtube showing the best technique.

Plenty to think about – thanks