right well now ive got the welding done tiz time to move on to the next phase me missus keeps nagging and naggin me to fix a seat into the back we have a original engine mounted t25 seat but i dont see the point in putting it in only to have to pull it out again to replace it with r+r bed, just wondering whats the best way to go about putting ply down and insultation the floor,im only gonna panel the floor section for now and carpet it so we can put the rock and roll in with lap belts and then i can have a bit of piece and quiet!!
whats the best insulation to use? how do u stick it down,ive been told it be a good idea to leave a breathing space between the van floor and the ply to stop rot and condenstation, i just cant get me head round what i stick the ply to once the insulation is down,any help would be great thanks in advance
u might have a good point there karl just thought it was the done thing with insulation under the floor, ps didnt relise u were from my neck in the woods mate
what would be the best glue to use to stick the ply to floor? where can i get the right carpet to cover ply and do i need to paint the van floor before covering it ????
ok kewl noted, anther thing i was thinking about ive seen a thread on here bout using toung and groove laminate floor planks but do u need to fit them on top of ply or straight on van floor?
Mine had tanalised chipboard panels down when I bought it, fitted well, so I saw no benefit in removing it, It is cheaper than ply aswell.
I laid laminate flooring over it, on a thin foam underlay, from B&Q, I would never use that in a house, (thicker the better) but it is fine for a van.
Pay a little extra for bathroom quality laminate, it will last longer, I think it only took 5 planks to do from the back of the seats to the engine bulkhead.
Clear silicone around the edges and an ally angle on the side door step, Bob's your uncle!
It may pay to lay your cabling in the `channels' created between the steel floor and the new base boards.
Good luck
Munnyella
My only toy now is a broken T25 and a sack full of BMX bikes. How the mighty have fallen (or got sensibler!!)
tiger seal straight to your floor, a bit
of insulation might help, i've heard of peeps
cutting up one of those thin foam camping
mats and applying the strips between the raised
sections before fixing the board down.
i know a man local to me with a load
of Flotex offcuts if anyone's interested.
got laminate down in my van, and also
used to face my bed base, twas done by
timbertech before i bought it though.
You could first spray the floor with some sound deadening paint, then glue your ply wood or mdf (at least 12mm) and then put some astro turf (lot thicker and resistant than any carpet. That's what i have in my t25 and it makes lot of differnece when you drive (road noise reduction).
Generally, I'd avoid actually fixing the floor to the vehicle at all.
I stripped mine out recently to repair the offside cill and floor which was corroded and build a new set of units. Once the bodywork was done and I'd slapped paint and waxoyl as required, I spent £100 on acoustic matting and sheets of three different types:
1. A self adhesive "rubber" sheet about 2.5mm thick
2. A 3 layer sandwich of acoustic foam between two layers of 1 above
3. A 3 layer sandwich of said acoustic foam with 1 above on one side and a reflective foil on the other
I put a sheet of no 3 on the angled bulkhead over the transmission/engine.
I put a sheet of no 2 on the floor.
I then laid some bog-standard econamy B+Q (run out of money) type laminate flooring over the floor and proceeded to build on top of that.
This has worked well, my only regret is not using a higher grade i.e. kitchen or bathroom of flooring as the inevitable ingress of water into a van is unavoidable, so I have on or two joints beginning to look as if they've expanded from moisture absorption.
There are building principles involved. A floor laid onto a reasonably flexible, but flat and level surface will not move substantially. If you lay directly onto the corrugated metal, you will need to lay perpendicular to the corrugations, otherwise pressure from feet over the gaps will generate uplift at the other side of the boards. A layer of old heavy carpet (make it syntheric to avoid rot risks) followed by some 6 or even 3mm mm ply will create a good acoustic and physical barrier. Remember to make whatever goes on top as waterproof as
possible
Hope this helps
Jim
Cheers
Jim
1985 1900DG wc liesuredrive hitop with small amounts of rust