Flooring

My van arrived with these heavy-duty D-Rings installed in the floors. I wrestled with them for several hours using a power drill and a plumber’s wrench and they would not budge. Being a complete novice at the process of building anything, throughout this process there were a ton of tools and hardware items that I ended up needing, and sometimes half the battle is just learning what they are called and finding the right size.

During this build process I had a constant stream of Amazon packages being delivered. Frequently my porch looked like this. I know many of us have complicated feelings towards our all-powerful corporate overlord, Amazon. But I have no idea how I would have completed a project like this without access to this massive online shopping center with every part and size imaginable available. I also made endless Lowes runs.

Finally was able to get the D-Rings out using a torque wrench and a T-40 bit socket. (These D-Rings are pretty heavy duty so I re-used them later with ratchet straps to secure my water heater and water tank.)

I also learned pretty quickly that my basic Dewalt drill, while adequate for minor household tasks, doesn’t carry enough power for a project like this. So I picked up this Makita impact drill and I love it. I know it sounds weird to say you love a power tool, but yeah, this thing is cool and became my friend for the rest of the build.

Layer 1 – The floor of the Promaster is corrugated (uneven), like this. at Far Out Ride’s recommendation I put down minicell foam with 3M 90 spray adhesive to even out the layers and create a flat bottom layer.

I measured the van open strips with a tape measure, and used a T-square and utility knife that I already had to cut the strips.

Once I was halfway through, this was beginning to feel like a huge waste of time, but I was committed already so I went ahead and finished.

I’m not sure that the minicell is needed at all, and it was very time consuming to cut all these strips.

The Far Out Ride site now recommends a new product, the BedRug Van Tred as a flat bottom layer. I’d recommend doing that instead of the minicell.

I ran into a dilemma early in my build, since I could not finish the flooring without removing the bulkhead that had been installed by the previous owner. I tried unsuccessfully to sell it on eBay, offered it for free on Craigslist, and finally found a junkyard an hour away that would take it off my hands. I drove all the way out there and they said all their staff were busy and I would have to remove it myself. But I couldn't get the bolts out, and it was too heavy for me to lift it by myself.

With the bulkhead gone, I was able to finish installing the minicell in the front section of the van.

Here’s the finished minicell layer. That was a headache.

For the second layer, the FarOutRide site recommends using 1" XPS foamular, that’s the pink stuff, which I picked up at Lowes.

I made templates for the foam layer and the wood layer using this large photo paper which is called Superior Seamless. I had this idea when I stopped by PPR to pick up some camera gear.

These large rolls of thick paper are normally used as backdrops in photography studios but since it’s roughly the same width as my van, I figured it would work for a template.

It ended up being easier to use cardboard around the wheel well and transfer that to the seamless paper, because it’s a bit thicker.

I created three different templates for the three sections of the floor, constrained by the width of the plywood. I then used the templates to cut out the Foamular, which was difficult to cut. I saw a website that recommended using an insulation knife which did not work very well, so I ended up resorting to just a regular utility knife. Make sure it’s sharp enough to get a clean cut.

The Foamular was attached to the minicell/flooring level using GE Silicone. My initial reaction was that it did not seem to be working. But after allowing it to dry overnight it adhered.

Some DIY tutorials seem to skip over the basic stuff, assuming that you already know. To use the silicone, you also need a caulk gun. To open the tube of silicone, you need to do (1) chop off the tip using the hole in the back of the caulk gun and (2) insert that small metal tube at the back of the caulk gun into the top of the silicone tube. I guess it’s assumed that you know this, but I didn’t the first time I used a caulk gun, so there you go.

Here’s the finished Foamular layer. Not as much of a headache as the minicell, but still time consuming.

Most van build websites, including the Far Out Ride tutorial, rave about Baltic birch plywood being the ideal material for your build. But it’s a specialty wood that isn’t sold at Lowes or Home Depot, and I really had no clue how to find it at a reasonable price. It must have been meant for me because I searched on Craigslist and found a guy nearby selling 20 sheets of Baltic birch plywood leftover from his kitchen renovation. So I jumped on that and picked up 15 sheets immediately. Here’s some of the plywood along with my growing stash of van build materials. This project pretty quickly outgrew my living room. You definitely need a garage or large workspace for a project like this.

I reused the flooring templates to trace the outline on the plywood for the three flooring sections.

I was a rookie at this point and just had the wood propped up on 2"x4"s using a jig saw for the first time. Don’t do this. I realized I was going to need proper saw horses and a work bench for the rest of the build.

Nevertheless, I did learn how to use the jig saw.

Here’s the 3 finished flooring pieces after I cut them out. Felt like I had accomplished something.

I sanded all the wood down with a DeWalt orbital sander and went to apply Thompson’s WaterSeal and learned that I had received a bum product from Lowes, because the can would not open.

But I was all geared up to paint, so I used a can of leftover polyurethane I had in the house from a previous project. It gives an extra layer of protection if the wood were to ever get wet.

One problem with the polyurethane is that it stinks, and it stinks for days. So I left it in the van to dry and revisited the project a week or so later.

Eventually, I installed the wood on top of the Foamular.

I’ve seen debates online as to whether the wood needs to actually be drilled into the frame of the vehicle, and I wondered the same. The rear two flooring pieces are not directly attached to the vehicle frame, but they are pretty securely held in place by the bedframe which is on top of them (and drilled into the vehicle frame).

The front section of the wood flooring, where the electrical panel would be located, I did attach to the vehicle using the holes where the D-Rings had previously been attached. First, I screwed hangar bolts into the D-Ring holes.

These screws were already protruding through the Foamular. (Be careful not to step in the wrong place!) Then I placed the wood on top, pushed it down to mark the drill holes, and drilled through with {what size} to secure it to the floor.

You can see the finished version of the front section of the plywood here, along with the spray insulation.

(By design) I left a gap of a half inch or so between the wood flooring and the van frame. You don’t want wood and metal rubbing together and squeaking. So, on the advice of Far Out Ride I filled these cracks with Great Stuff spray insulation.

This stuff expands about 3x or 4x so you should only spray a little bit.

After it’s dried, trim it with a utility knife.

For home renovations I’ve used LVP (luxury vinyl planks) and been very satisfied with the results, but decided to use vinyl sheeting (recommended on the Far Out Ride site) for a couple reasons. There’s no seams between the cracks for potential spills, and it’s thinner, which is valuable in a van. Plus, most of the floor space isn’t actually showing, so aesthetics are not as much of an issue as in a home. I bought this 12'x10' vinyl sheet from Home Depot.

I asked my Instagram friends if they were pleased with my selection.

Once I had the vinyl in hand I also tested out black trim vs silver trim. (It's actually stair nosing.) I attached it using vinyl adhesive, which worked, kind of.

One drawback is that this trim is metal and when exposed to the sunlight for a while it gets pretty hot. I may replace it in the future with a plastic or vinyl version and screw it down to be secured better.

It was pretty clear to me that black was the better choice vs. silver…

Again I turned to my Instagram friends who confirmed my decision.

The front of the flooring is tucked under the edge of the electrical panel – this time I measured carefully to make sure it was straight

Front of the van with the flooring installed and black trim {talk about attaching the black trim}

Here’s a better angle of where the two pieces of vinyl meet.