THE BUILD PROCESS
We took a slightly atypical approach to the build. We had some long-lead time items that didn't arrive right away so the order in which we did things we would probably not repeat again! We were on a tighter timeframe so did what we could when we could do it!
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SOLAR/FANS
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CLEANUP/HOLE FILLING
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Time: 2 days
First step for us was cleanup! Our van was previously used for cross country deliveries and had a track system installed in the back. We took that out so the van was down to its bare bones and then filled in all the bolt holes in the floor with Bondo. After the Bondo had set, we did some sanding to level the surface and then sprayed the exposed metal with primer to hopefully prevent future rust. We didn't worry about matching color, as it was going to be covered up anyway. This was a solid 2 days worth of work -- a few of the bolts were rusted in and the Bondo/sanding took much longer than we anticipated. Overall the van was in great shape and there really wasn't a whole lot to do in prep for the actual build to begin. Tools/supplies:
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FLOORING
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Time: 2 days
Flooring was fun and it was a relatively quick way to see some almost instant progress in the van. We first filled in the ridges of the floor with strips of the 1/4" foam insulation using 3M spray adhesive. We laid the the thicker 1 1/2" foam board insulation on top of that again using 3M spray adhesive. We went with thicker floor insulation thinking it would keep the floor warmer in the winter -- it doesn't. The floor is just always cold in the winter and we could have probably gotten away with thinner foam insulation and saved some head room in the end. Oh well -- a thin piece of scrap carpet fixes that issue so problem solved. Luckily we still had the back floor covering we took out during cleanup so we could trace the outline of the back onto the foam -- no measurements required! On top of the thicker foam we glued a 1/2" sheet of OSB (again shape traced from the mats), this would act as our subfloor. We installed the vinyl plank flooring floating on top of the OSB and caulked around the outside to seal it in. Tools/supplies:
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BACK WINDOWS
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Time: 6-8 hours
The first big holes cut in the van -- a (mis)adventure! Our van came with no back or side windows (but still a rear view mirror for some reason?), and initially we were not intending to add any. After driving the van a bit, we decided we wanted some rear windows mainly for driving safety -- we were not used to driving/backing up without rear windows and like the piece of mind of being able to see out back when we need. Also having a window near the bed is nice to be able to peek outside as well. Installation seemed fairly straight forward -- cut out the hole using the prefab metal as the guide, glue the window on and wait to dry. The window adhesive is nearly impossible to get out using a caulk gun since its so thick, so the driver's side window only got a fairly sparing amount before we were able to warm it up and make it easier to dispense...can you see where this is headed? Josh was able to squeeze more adhesive on the passengers side window, so both were up and we waited. A few hours later, as the sun was setting, we went did the "slam the door shut" test and the driver's side window was only attached about 1/4 of the perimeter. We scrambled to get it off while we still had sunlight -- resorting to using a old guitar string to saw thru the adhesive on the part of the window that was still attached (that stuff is tough to get off). We finally got the window completely detached and re-glued with our headlamps as our light source, and I'm happy to say both windows are still firmly attached! Tools/supplies:
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INSULATION
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Time: 4 hours
Since we were waiting for fans/solar panels to arrive, our insulation installation occurred in 2 rounds. We opted to insulate just the sides initially, leaving the ceiling insulation until after fan and solar panel installation was complete. Thinsulate installation was super easy -- just measure, cut, and stick it to the various panels in the van. We also shoved it in the ribs of the van that were large enough to take it (which most were). Some of the ribs were already filled with Great Stuff from the previous owner so rather than try the impossible task of removing it from the ribs, we left it in and actually filled some of the smaller less accessible ribs with Great Stuff as well. We didn't want to leave the bare metal exposed, so as we began framing, we used EZCool to act as a thermal barrier between the exposed ribs and our walls (we'll cover that in the framing section below) Tools/supplies:
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GENERAL FRAMING/BED
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Time: Forever and ever and ever
The frame out was by far the longest and most frustrating piece of the van build. Repeat after me: "Nothing is square and it never will be square, and I will live with it." Great -- now that we have that out of the way, in all honesty it wasn't that bad, just very time and thought-consuming. We chose to install rivnuts into the metal ribs of the van to give our wall "studs" something more sturdy to attach to than the thin sheet metal. Get yourself a good rivnut tool and this will be no big deal....get a cheap one (like we did) and then go back to the store to buy another cheap one when that one breaks halfway through :) We started by framing out the wheel wells (which we filled with more Thinsulate before screwing on the sides), and then moved onto the bed. We made a simple frame with the legs and supports bolted into the side of the van. We ended up adding 2 more support legs next to the wheel wells since the bed sagged a bit when we tested it out. We used basic construction lumber for everything here as it will all eventually be covered. The rest of the framing is where it got complicated. It seems like there are 2 ways of thinking here: (1) Frame out where the ribs are and let the walls remain at different depths (easier to see when you are in the van, but at least in the Promaster the walls are slightly curved and ribs are all at different depths so framing out each rib means you dont get a "flat" surface like you would think of during house framing, for example). (2) Frame out all ribs such that they all end at about the same depth (in other words, use varying depths of lumber -- or multiple pieces -- to make one flat surface). We went with (2) but would probably not go this route the second time around. We had to take the wall out several inches in places so that that wall would be "flat" with rib that stuck out the most. It doesn't seem like much but in a small van, those inches add up and ultimately its nice to save as much space as you can. Before bolting anything to the walls we put a layer of EZCool underneath (between the wood and the bare metal) to act as a a thermal barrier. We forgot to do this on the first few studs we added and we back after the fact to add that layer in. |
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SOLAR/FANS
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Time: 2 days (critical lessons were learned...)
Unfortunately due to longer lead times for the fan fittings, we had to wait to install the fans and solar panels until much later on in the build then we would have liked. With the floors, much of the framing, and most of the electrical system components installed we were wary of the potential for metal shavings from the cuts in the roof to make their way into places they don't belong. We sealed off the electrical cabinet and tried to also seal off the areas around our cuts as well., and for the most part this worked. We wouldn't recommend waiting until this late in the game to install these fundamental items, but with a tight schedule we did what we could with the part we had on hand at the time. Installation was actually fairly straightforward -- the hole cutting didn't seem so scary after already cutting big holes for the back windows! We first double checked our measurements and laid everything in the garage to make sure the fit was still accurate. We installed the solar panels first and drilled holes for their wires to route inside the van. We applied a generous amount of self-leveling lap sealant to all the roof connection points (that we could get at) where we had drilled thru the roof to attach the panels. We couldn't get at the brackets underneath the panels as the caulk tube was too thick to reach into that area and the way the panels were installed the brackets had to be attached to the panels first, then to the van (lesson #1). Next we cut holes for the fans, attached the adapter plate using butyl tape, and then attached the fans by screwing thru the adapter plate and into the roof with self-taping screws. Again here we used a generous amount of lap sealant (NON-leveling this time-- which we didn't realize at the time) to seal up the outside (lesson #2). We finished up just in time to throw a tarp over the top to wait out a thunderstorm. After a few hours it had cured enough so we took the tarp off and that was that. We checked in after a few rains and no leaks, so called it good without doing a spray test (lesson #3). |
Well, lessons are lessons for a reason, and we found out soon after the ceiling was installed during a particularly heavy thunderstorm that we had leaks! What would we do differently? We purchased a flexible caulk gun extender and plan to seal the parts under the solar panels we could not reach. Due to time constraints we did most of the lap sealant application when it was 30-40F outside, and while you CAN do this, we would try to time it better to do this in higher temperatures to allow the sealant to cure better. Next we would make sure to get the self-leveling sealant (simple mistake on our part, we got a couple tubes of the self leveling and a couple of the non-self leveling). Lastly, we should have done a more thorough test of the seal before we called it good -- so obvious, but it slipped our minds after it held up ok in a few light rains.
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CEILING
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Time: 5 days (including redo1&2)
As soon as we got the fans and solar panels in we turned to finishing off the main parts of the ceiling. We framed out the upper ribs (more riv-nutting) and insulated the panels in between using the same 3M Thinsulate and spray adhesive we used on the walls. For the actual ceiling we wanted something light and easy to work with, and something that ideally we could use on the walls as well. We initially looked at shiplap and reclaimed wood planks, but they were expensive and much heavier than we realized. We ended up going with thin pine tongue and groove planks which were super easy to stain, cut and install. Being so thin, they are also slightly bendy, making our not-perfectly-flush ceiling and wall surfaces connect with ease. We chose a few stain colors and stained and polyurethaned all the boards before installation on one of the last warm and sunny days of the year! We started in the center and worked our way out and after a few rows it became clear that the ceiling was not quite straight. Hoping it would just "get better" we did a few more rows and (obviously) it only got worse....so off with the planks to restart from the middle with a better center line drawn (redo #1). Luckily we could reuse all the pieces we already cut, so after getting over having to take it down and start again, the second install went up quickly. A week or two later during a particularly heavy storm we happened to be doing some layout brainstorming with the fridge and kitchen cabinets in the van. We left the fridge pulled out and when we came back there was a puddle of water on the fridge! We traced the leak to the corner of the front fan and when we took off the cover we found the offending leak and soaking wet insulation. Off came the ceiling for a second time! We couldn't do much that night so we shoved a towel where the leak was and dealt with it when the rain stopped the next morning. After a more thorough inspection of the van roof, we found we had a small hole in the sealant directly over the spot that was leaking (who would have guessed...). Another round of lap sealant (the correct kind this time), and after the insulation and wood had dried out, back on with the ceiling planks (redo #2)! We got lucky we caught it when we did, and although it was super frustrating to have to take it down twice, we definitely learned some lessons we can apply to van 2.0! Tools/supplies:
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CABINETS/CRATES
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Time: A few weeks
The cabinets took a bit of time to come together since we didn't really have set in stone plans from the outset. We knew we wanted larger cabinets over the foot side of the bed and above the larger kitchen counter and we knew we wanted to incorporate dog crates into the lower cabinets, but that was about it. We played around for a while trying to find the right arrangement that would give us enough storage space while also giving the dogs somewhere of their own. We ended up cutting the amount of crate space from 3 to 2 simply to add space for a more convenient toilet. We do lose a lot of storage space by including 2 separate crates in the design, but since bringing the Corgis along on our adventures was a top priority we were able to work around it. It was important to us to give them a safe space to lounge while we were driving as well, as we can't fit them all buckled into the front seat with us. In addition to the dog crates, we built the cabinets with their specific functionality in mind. The larger kitchen cabinet includes a slide out section for easy access to the fridge, while the smaller kitchen cabinet includes a doors on both the front and the back for easy access to take out and empty the greywater tank. Lastly our other bench cabinet was build to fit an Airhead composting toilet (which we don't yet have), and made with a hinging lid to make access to that easy as well. We started with a removable top, but realized quickly after using it for a weekend that it was super annoying to have to lift off the top every time, so we switched it to hinge open instead. We added standard drawer/door catchers to keep the drawers from sliding open, and while those work great on the highway, once we got onto back roads they just weren't strong enough to keep the drawers from sliding out and doors from opening, so we are planning on adding a different locking mechanism for those before our next trip. We are still in the process of finishing up the cabinets with doors, hardware, paint, etc. But since they are usable now, we're using them, and will get to all that "finishing touch" stuff eventually (or maybe never, who knows). Tools/supplies:
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WALL COVERINGS
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Time: A few days, interspersed between other things
We chose to install most of the cabinets first to cut down on the amount of wall material we would need -- and it did! There is relatively little wall space to cover, and we probably used less of the tongue and groove on the walls than we did on the ceiling. Using the same material on both definitely helped cut down on cost as well as installation time, as by the time we got to the walls we were fairly proficient at tongue and groove installation! The only thing that really changed with the walls was in some areas we added a layer of 1/4" underlayment so one section of the wall would line up more evenly with the other sections (part of the never ending framing saga). Initially we were going to keep the random colors going from the ceiling onto the walls but after seeing one section of the wall installed, it felt pretty busy, so we decided to go with all white instead. In the kitchen we wanted a backsplash of sorts but without the use actual ceramic or stone tiles. We found some realistic looking stickable vinyl tiles that look great and were super easy to install -- basically cut, peel, and stick! It was nice in such a small space to be able to have the visual separation between the "kitchen" and the "bedroom" which gives the small space the illusion of more room. |
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COUNTERS
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Time: A couple of days (including time for drying in between coats)
We really liked the butcher block look so we knew from the beginning that's what we were going to go with. We bought one 6ft piece and cut it length-wise to fit size of the 2 counters we would be installing. Next we measured and cut holes for both the sink (and faucet) and the induction cooktop and dry fit those to make sure the size was correct. We sanded the tops and the cut edges and then applied a few coats of natural finish stain. After another light sand we applied several coats of poly on top of that with a light sand in between each layer. It look longer, but we ended up staining and polying both sides of the counter to seal it completely and hopefully prevent excess swelling and shrinking due to to changing temperature and humidity conditions. Before installing the countertops onto the cabinets, we installed the undermount sink with the counter upside-down so we had more room to work and an easier install. We also installed the faucet while it was easy to the underside to tighten it to the counter. Tools/supplies:
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WATER/PLUMBING
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Time: 1 day for install (several weeks thinking about it)
Out of anything in the entire build, I was the least confident in my ability to install a functioning water system. I had done general construction work as a Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps member in a past life, and had general minimum competency in most of the other tasks, but had never done anything with plumbing until this build. I was intimidated to say the least, but thanks to faroutride's detailed installation guide, the process seemed much easier in practice. The hardest part by far for me was figuring out what size adapters we needed to connect different parts of our system together (far to many Home Depot trips were involved trying to mix and match adapters and find exactly what we needed in our system). The water tank we used had 3/8" fittings which seems like a less standard size which added slightly to the challenge in finding adapters that would work. Since we didn't choose to include hot water in the van, our design was fairly simple. I started by drawing out a system that seemed reasonable and laying out all the main parts in the living room to get a feel for the process. We then started by attaching the tank to the pump using braided clear tubing, and from the pump added a main on/off value which lead into a "T" to split the output between the front sink and the back sprayer. We ran PEX to both the front and the back of the van off that T. We added a switch to our pump as well so we could easily shut it off should our tank ever get too low. In the front our incoming PEX connected to another valve, off of which we attached a line going to our under-cabinet water filter. From there we attached into a "T" where we tied both the hot and cold sink lines to. Since we don't have hot water we had to tie the hot water line and cold water lines to the same input so no matter which way the faucet turned, we would still get water! Directly under the sink we connected the drain thru another value to our greywater tank via a quick connect fitting to so we could easily disconnect and empty the greywater tank. We did not install a direct-to-ground drain system which we may consider at a future time depending on our use. In the back we ran our incoming PEX thru one more valve and then directly into a hose/sprayer combo -- our shower! Since most of our van experiences will involve some sort of run or hike, we wanted somewhere to spray off after we were done, but didn't want an actual shower to take up valuable space in the van. This is definitely a challenge for colder climate adventuring, but our thought is that it will mostly act as a shoulder season shower for us, the dogs, our bikes and our gear. In the back we also added a hose to vent the tank which we routed up toward the ceiling, as well as another valve and a hose to act as our drain. I have a (perhaps irrational) fear of the valve opening itself on a bumpy road somehow, so we hold it shut with a tie-down just in case! One part of the process we also had to consider was winterization. Since we do not live in the van full time and live in a place that regularly is below freezing for pat of the year, we needed to be able to easily winterize our van. For us, its fairly simple and encompasses 2 principles: getting rid of the excess water left in the lines and inserting antifreeze into the system. Our order of operations typically goes like this: drain the tank, disconnect the tank from the pump, run the faucet and sprayer until no more water comes out, take out the filter, replace it with the antifreeze filter (more on this later), connect the pump to a bottle of anti freeze, run the front faucet until antifreeze comes out, run the back sprayer until antifreeze comes out, disconnect bottle of antifreeze, then run both the front and back until nothing else comes out, and turn off the pump. I can't say that what we did would get two thumbs up from someone in the profession, but we have running water and have remedied the minor leaks we have had thus far, so I'm counting it as a wild success! |
With all that said there are definitely things that we would do differently.
(1) As of right now, there is no way to get the water tank out without also taking one of the bed supports out. This was initially by design and was meant to both support the bed and help keep the tank in place (it was a good thought at the time), but we realized quickly on our first winterization attempt that it would be really nice to be able to easily remove the tank itself for easier cleaning and draining in the winter. We are planning to update this design later this summer when its warmer :) (2) Staying on the winterization theme, we would also install a bypass for the undersink filter so we could run avoid running the antifreeze thru the water filter (we learned this the hard way and now we have two filters: a dedicated antifreeze filter which we use solely for this and a regular filter that we cycle in before a trip after flushing the antifreeze out of the system. A bypass would just be easier and we wouldn't have to deal with switching filters. Tools/supplies:
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EXTRAS
Curtains, cushions, and covers, OH MY!
I had ZERO experience with a sewing machine prior to getting the van but was determined to learn at least the basics so we could get some insulated window covers complete before our first trip.
I had ZERO experience with a sewing machine prior to getting the van but was determined to learn at least the basics so we could get some insulated window covers complete before our first trip.
INSULATED WINDOW COVERS:
This was the my first sewing project ever, and all in all it went very well. Would I choose different black fabric that didn't fray so easily? Yes. Would I choose to redo some of the seams to make them more straight? Yep. Would I re-measure/cut some of the material to make them just a touch smaller? You bet. Do they work and serve their purpose as they are now? Heck ya (and I'm proud of that)! Will I ever likely redo them. Nope! I learned so much making these from how to thread a sewing machine, to how important the choice of fabric can be, to how not ideal EZCool is to sew thru, and after all the mistakes they still turned out functional. I choose a quilted cotton fabric for the back just cause I think the puffy-coat looks pretty cool, EZCool for the outer-facing reflective layer, and a black utility fabric to join the two together. Each cover is filled with a piece of Thinsulate for extra insulation. I also glued magnets in key areas (on the side and back covers) to they would stick to the doors and hold themselves in place. There is no exposed metal for the windshield cover to attach to so the front cover is held in place by some spring loaded rods.
This was the my first sewing project ever, and all in all it went very well. Would I choose different black fabric that didn't fray so easily? Yes. Would I choose to redo some of the seams to make them more straight? Yep. Would I re-measure/cut some of the material to make them just a touch smaller? You bet. Do they work and serve their purpose as they are now? Heck ya (and I'm proud of that)! Will I ever likely redo them. Nope! I learned so much making these from how to thread a sewing machine, to how important the choice of fabric can be, to how not ideal EZCool is to sew thru, and after all the mistakes they still turned out functional. I choose a quilted cotton fabric for the back just cause I think the puffy-coat looks pretty cool, EZCool for the outer-facing reflective layer, and a black utility fabric to join the two together. Each cover is filled with a piece of Thinsulate for extra insulation. I also glued magnets in key areas (on the side and back covers) to they would stick to the doors and hold themselves in place. There is no exposed metal for the windshield cover to attach to so the front cover is held in place by some spring loaded rods.
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DOG BEDS:
REAR/SIDE/GARAGE CURTAINS:
After spending a few nights in van during winter, we theorized that we might be loosing an excess amount of heat thru the exposed metal on the rear and sliding doors. Our walls insulated and the metal underneath our wall coverings is covered with EZCool, but the doors don't have any sort of wall coverings and the metal remains exposed (mostly because we are just not sure what to do with those areas yet). Although the doors are insulated, the metal gets super cold during winter and that cold seems to creep into van quite easily. To combat this we added quilted fabric curtains to cover the back and side doors to create a barrier between the warm area in our living space and the exposed metal. For the back doors we created two separate pieces -- one from the ceiling to the bed frame, and the other from the bed frame to the floor. Separating them horizontally gave us the ability to individually roll up each section for easy access to garage, and for visibility when driving. Similarly we created the side door curtains with a vertical separation meaning we could still get in and out of the side door with the curtain remaining in place (and hopefully helping to keep in some heat if when we opened the side door. Lastly, we added a curtain to separate the living space from the garage. Since we weren't too worried about keeping the garage as warm as the rest of the space, the garage curtain helps to keep the warmer air in the living space and the cooler air in back.
After spending a few nights in van during winter, we theorized that we might be loosing an excess amount of heat thru the exposed metal on the rear and sliding doors. Our walls insulated and the metal underneath our wall coverings is covered with EZCool, but the doors don't have any sort of wall coverings and the metal remains exposed (mostly because we are just not sure what to do with those areas yet). Although the doors are insulated, the metal gets super cold during winter and that cold seems to creep into van quite easily. To combat this we added quilted fabric curtains to cover the back and side doors to create a barrier between the warm area in our living space and the exposed metal. For the back doors we created two separate pieces -- one from the ceiling to the bed frame, and the other from the bed frame to the floor. Separating them horizontally gave us the ability to individually roll up each section for easy access to garage, and for visibility when driving. Similarly we created the side door curtains with a vertical separation meaning we could still get in and out of the side door with the curtain remaining in place (and hopefully helping to keep in some heat if when we opened the side door. Lastly, we added a curtain to separate the living space from the garage. Since we weren't too worried about keeping the garage as warm as the rest of the space, the garage curtain helps to keep the warmer air in the living space and the cooler air in back.
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POT/PAN SEPARATORS:
Another thing we noticed after our first outing the van was the amount of rattling we had in the cupboards from loose items: cups/plates/pots etc. that had room to move when we hit bumps or curves in the road. I had some extra material left over and made some pot separators (which also act as our pot holders) to cut down on the amount of rattling when we drive! They were quick and easy and do help with extraneous cupboard noise, especially since we nest many of our cooking items to save on space.
Another thing we noticed after our first outing the van was the amount of rattling we had in the cupboards from loose items: cups/plates/pots etc. that had room to move when we hit bumps or curves in the road. I had some extra material left over and made some pot separators (which also act as our pot holders) to cut down on the amount of rattling when we drive! They were quick and easy and do help with extraneous cupboard noise, especially since we nest many of our cooking items to save on space.
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SEAT CUSHIONS:
The last sewing project was seat cushions for out bench-style seats. I wanted material that would be easy to wipe off muddy paw prints so went with a material similar to a gym mat (but a little softer, kind of like a soft marine vinyl material). I added a zipper to the side for easy removal of the cover should it need to be washed or if the cushion ever needs to be replaced.
The last sewing project was seat cushions for out bench-style seats. I wanted material that would be easy to wipe off muddy paw prints so went with a material similar to a gym mat (but a little softer, kind of like a soft marine vinyl material). I added a zipper to the side for easy removal of the cover should it need to be washed or if the cushion ever needs to be replaced.
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