Floor Insulation
Yesterday, Austin framed out the floor with 2x2s, which are actually 1.5″ x 1.5″ (thanks imperial system). There were lots of small cuts of wood because we framed around the wheel wells, the step for the sliding door, and also had to create a space for our bulkhead door to slide into. The bulkhead door will end up being like a pocket door next to our kitchen cabinets.
He used construction adhesive (basically thick wood glue, Liquid Nails brand) to adhere the many small cuts of wood to the floor and each other. Then he secured them to the floor with 2″ wood screws. Since our van came with a floor that we decided to build on top of, he could screw directly into that plywood.
Next, Austin cut and placed the 1.5″ XPS foam board, which was exactly the same height as the 2x2s (see above). In commercial foam board installation, they use a hot wire tool to melt through the foam board. Since we didn’t have one of those, Austin scored it on one side with a razor blade about halfway through and then bent the foam until it broke along the seam. We didn’t use anything to secure the foam board, it was a very snug fit within the wood perimeter.
We decided to cover up our D-Rings because we didn’t think we would use them, and bolts long enough to extend them through our floor are like $5-$10 each.
Subfloor Install
It rained on and off this morning, which put a damper on us cutting the plywood for a little while. But during the rain, we could measure and sketch out the cuts, and once it stopped, we were able to cut the wood to size.
When you’re cutting plywood that was $42 a sheet, you want to measure 4 times and cut once. Especially if you have to make an irregular shape because you have a step, wheel well, and pocket door. We decided to orient the grain of the plywood (the long side) width-wise in the van, that way there wouldn’t be any unsupported corners.
We used 23/32″ exterior plywood, and when we were at the home improvement store we were careful to purchase flat, non-warped sheets. Still, there was a bit of a bend in a few of them, so we secured the plywood to the stock floor through the foam using 3″ screws. Around the edges, we secured the plywood to the frame using 2.5″ screws.
Before placing and screwing the plywood down, we applied construction adhesive to the floor framing and to any van wall areas that would be touching, and adjacent plywood sheets. This will (hopefully) prevent squeaking and make the floor nice and secure.
Our Floor Layers
The floor in our van is made up of several layers. I will list them below from bottom to top.
- metal van floor
- wood slats between the van floor ridges
- unknown insulation
- 1/4 plywood
- (all of the above came with the van, held down with adhesive and bolts through the D-Rings)
- 1.5″ XPS foam board insulation and 2×2 wood perimeter frame
- 23/32″ plywood
In the future, we will add vinyl tongue and groove to the exposed walkway area, and maybe vinyl sheeting to the garage space. The area under the cabinets and furniture will remain plywood. Because of this, we will probably seal the plywood to prevent water damage.
Build Wheel Well Boxes
Austin also measured and framed out boxes for the wheel wells. He made them out of the scraps from the 2x2s, and glued them together with construction adhesive and then screwed them together, and down to the plywood, with wood screws. Tomorrow, he will face them with plywood and fill them with the scraps of the 1.5″ XPS foam board insulation.
P.S. I looked at yesterday’s journal entry and LOLed that I thought we would be on to the ceiling and wall insulation today. Cutting and installing the floor took a long time! We probably won’t start on the walls or ceiling until next week.
Install ScanGauge
The ScanGauge came in the mail, and when Austin opened it up, he looked like a kid on Christmas. The installation and configuring of the gauge was a good task to do while it was raining. A ScanGauge is an electronic gauge that plugs into the On Board Diagnostics (OBD) system and monitors the engine. For example, information the ScanGauge provides includes coolant temperature, manifold pressure, oil pressure, etc. We want one because it will help us catch problems with the vehicle faster, and it gives us MPG calculations which we are excited to have. The one thing we needed it for was an engine temperature gauge because our gauge cluster doesn’t have one. Also, Austin’s a mechanic so he geeks out over the information these things can give you. Austin installed and configured the ScanGauge, and mounted it in front of the gauge cluster behind the steering wheel. He even ran the cord behind the dashboard so it is almost totally hidden!
Install LED cab light
Our Amazon package also included our new LED lights. We decided we would use the existing lights that are in the cargo area of the van as our lighting because they are already wired in and it would save us some money. Two of the lights were burned out, and we wanted them all to match and draw as little energy as possible, so we ordered a pack of 5 LED bulbs. Austin put one in to test it, and while it’s a little less bright than the existing lightbulbs (it’s about 5-watt equivalents less bright than the existing lights), 4 of them should be sufficient to light the space. Besides, we also plan to do LED strips for upwash and downwash lighting in the kitchen and bedroom areas.
9/17/2020
Build Day #19
Hours Worked: 14
- Austin – 10
- Becky – 4
- Total Project Hours: 217
Money Spent: $0
- Total Project Spending: $19,465
Tasks Complete: 3
- Insulate floor
- Install Subfloor
- Install ScanGauge
Questions Googled: 0
- R-value of pine (answer=1.5 per inch)
- Registering a car with out of state title
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