Hello!
For those who don’t know me,
my name is Eric.
In this video about minivan conversion,
I will explain how I did my hard floor.
First thing to say…
I simply love it!
Why...?
It is a 100% water proof!
I can spill any drink on it,
and in minutes
there is absolutely no traces of the mess.
There will be no smell, and no stains!
It is so easy to clean!
Just need a small broom.
The realty of van life is that you get sand,
mud and snow in your van all the time.
Living with a carpet floor is really not ideal.
Add to this the possibility of mites
selecting your carpet for their home...
I can put any smelly stuff on it
without being afraid that it will catch the smell,
which is not the case with a carpet...
So anything that comes from the ocean
is not a problem...
bathing suits, wetsuits, etc.
A hard floor is so easy to wash.
I just need a paper towel, or a rag,
dish soap and a few seconds of my time.
It is raining or snowing...
I really don’t care!
I can go in my living space with my shoes,
or boots, without worrying!
...and finally,
I simply love the look!
Honestly, it is a must to me!
There is only one real downside
to installing a hardfloor,
loosing height.
In a minivan you do not want to lose height!
In this video,
I will explain how I did my flooring to be thin,
and also strong.
You don’t want a floor to flex or deform,
and ending up replacing it...
By the way,
I did my minivan conversion without modifying,
or drilling any holes in it.
It is the same for the carpet!
I didn’t removed it, or modify it.
The whole van and its components
are still original, authentic and genuine!
Which is a really good cost saving.
I will transfer every items of my conversion in a similar van,
and will be able to sell my old one without
losing money on the salvage value!
I invite you to my van tour
and my playlist that shows how to do it!
At the end of the video,
you will see that even the flooring is transferable!
First question...
Do you need a full hard floor...?
If you do not want to add unnecessary weight,
and costs,
you do not have to cover the whole floor surface.
Adding useless weight will have consequences on...
speed when turning
braking distances
driving agility
brake costs
and fuel efficiency
Every opportunity to minimize weight is interesting,
but not at the cost of efficiency...
Also,
why reduce storing space under the sofa-bed,
by adding floor thickness...?!
For all those reasons,
I have a hard floor only where my feet step.
There is no hard floor under the sofa-bed.
For the same reason,
in a minivan,
you should avoid adding unnecessary insulation to the floor.
If you do as I did,
and do not remove the carpet and the insulation under it,
for me, it is all set!
What you see here
is the manufacturer’s small carpet cut out
that provides access to the nut,
which is used to lower the spare tire located under the van.
As you can see,
there’s plenty of insulation,
plus the carpet,
and the hard floor!
Simple construction...
My hard floor is really easy to do.
Quickly said,
it is composed of layers of plywood and vinyl flooring.
Now, let’s see how I did it!
The first step is to get the floor footprint
of the area that you want to cover.
It is really important to get the perfect floor footprint.
Otherwise,
your hard floor will move when braking,
and you do not want this to happen.
You want a perfect fit !
To do so,
I used a specific cheap cardboard,
and template technic that I explained in my video
«Stealth insulated window covers DIY (van conversion)».
It is a must see video
to know how to do a perfect template!
I will skip this explanation in this current video,
and let you learn about it in my other video.
For the hard floor,
be sure not to do the template slightly larger.
For window covers,
it is another story,
as explained in the video...
So here’s the end result for the floor footprint ...
The trolleys of the middle row seats...
In the Sienna,
I had the trolleys of the the middle row seats to deal with.
What I did is quite simple…
First,
I moved forward the middle seats,
placing the trolleys furthest up front as possible.
Second,
I then removed those seats.
Finally,
I removed all the mechanisms
that I could easily remove.
Everything else was not removable
without going into a lot of trouble.
Since I hate trouble,
I simply decided to go around it!
I made holes in the template,
to allow those trolleys to go through the hard floor.
You can see here,
a hole that I made in the plywood,
to reach the carpet cut out,
that gives access to the nut to lower the spare tire.
The plywood...
With a pencil,
I simply reproduced the hard floor template
on a 5/8 inch plywood,
which is physically measurable at about half a inch.
With a jigsaw I created the form.
After,
I tested it in the van
and made any required adjustments to have a perfect fit.
Clearly,
it is preferable to have a single piece of plywood
for the desired hard floor surface.
Unfortunately,
the floor of a minivan is usually not flat.
After putting in place my new plywood floor,
I walked on it,
to find any spots not supported
and creating undesired movement on the floor.
My focus was particularly in areas
where I was going to put more pressure,
and full body weight.
This was mainly the door entrance.
This is where you lift yourself in the van with your full weight,
on a single foot, for less than a second but very often.
I simply filled up the empty spaces
between the plywood and the floor of the van,
with the right thickness of plywood.
I added pieces of plywood
until the floor was not flexing anymore.
Then I screwed those pieces to the main plywood floor!
That’s it!
I have been walking on that floor for almost four years,
and it is still perfect and as new!
The thinner the floor covering,
the better it is!
Effectively,
you do not want to reduce the living height of the minivan.
But the floor covering must be waterproof!
I chose a vinyl floor, and I do not regret it!
See how it is easy to install...
Now,
let see how much a vinyl floor can be waterproof...
To keep the planks in place,
I used metallic moldings,
and when not possible I used carpet tape,
which is a double sided adhesive tape.
The guy who sold me the vinyl planks,
told me to keep a gap on the contour of the plywood,
to allow heat expansion and contraction.
The instructions that comes with the plank box,
was mentionning the same thing.
So I left a gap, and it turn out to be a mistake.
This is why...
Firstly,
when braking hard the planks slide in front...
This will double the contour gap at the rear end of the plank.
By giving twice the contour gap at this location,
it will creat such situation...
Secondly,
there is no perceptive heat expansion and contraction,
on such a small length of vinyl plank...
So I would not leave such a gap.
Fixing the hard floor to the van...
My hard floor’s plywood was made to,
perfectly fit the contour of the van’s walls,
doors,
front seat’s anchors,
storage box between seats,
seat trolleys,
etc.
So,
it cannot move horizontally!
My cabinets are over my hard floor,
and those cabinets are strongly anchored
to my van as explained in my video
«How to secure cabinets and bed».
So the hard floor is wedged
between the cabinets and the van’s floor,
so it cannot move.
There is also my fridge,
and its podium,
that block my hard floor to move vertically.
Depending of your van,
and how large will be your hard floor surface,
you can add anchors to it
by using the technics explained in that video...
That’s it!
It is as simple as this.
As explained in my video about
Costs and Steps» of minivan conversion,
this project is one of the first to complete.
In some ways,
it is the foundation of the conversion.
To adjust the bed legs,
and the cabinet height,
it is preferable to have first completed the flooring.
I invite you to watch my video to consider those steps.
On my channel you will find three playlist about
van conversion and van life.
I invite you to subscribe to stay informed of my new videos.
I have plenty of video ideas
as well as suggestions from subscribers...
What subject do you suggest I do first....?
Move back...
Here it is...
Do you want me to insert van life tips videos
or travel tips videos
between DIY van conversion technics videos...?!
Give me your feedback,
and tell me from where you have watched my video.
Your comments are the fuel that keeps me going!
See ya!