DIY Van Conversion | Sound Deadening + Floor Install

Van Conversion
12.18.19
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.

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