The Goldilocks Project: Van Buildout: Subflooring and Stable Structures

I'll admit, Cameron is doing at least 80% of the work on this van buildout. I tell myself that's because he's enjoying it so much, but it's equally because of my many insecurities about my ability to plan and execute any significant parts of this. Cameron is the one who has designed a virtual floorpan; calculated the sizes, quantities, and materials of all of the hardware; and done the bulk of the construction. I am the second set of hands that is needed for hauling builds between the garage and the van and I'm the second set of eyes for gauging how livable the space is. That said, I will try to be as detailed as possible with the buildout descriptions.

Subfloor Assembly

Under our feet will be a layer of foam insulation, cork cushion, plywood stabilizer, and then final flooring (likely laminate). Striped between the sheets of foam are 1.5" aluminum crossbars which will be the primary anchoring system for any structures that get added in later on. We're also adding radiant heat, so we'll need to cut out channels for that tubing to run through.

Measuring out the shapes for each of those layers is a little tricky since the walls of the van are not perfect right angles. Quite the contrary – there are lots of curves and kinks to navigate, so to fit everything snugly requires a lot of practice on cardboard sheets. You basically cut out a rough, but conservative, shape in a sheet of cardboard, and then slowly slice away inch by inch, then centimeter by centimeter, and finally millimeter by millimeter until the cardboard fits precisely. The cardboard sample then gets traced onto each permanent sheet.

You do that process separately for each layer, and the tools needed vary depending on the material; a foam knife, a box cutter, and a jigsaw are all called into use. The tricky trick, which I probably would have missed if this were my solo project, is to offset each layer. So, even though the foam and the plywood come in the same sized 6'x4' sheets, you don't want the ends of each sheet to line up in a single column of gap space.

Bed Frame and Layout

Because the bed is the largest single structure, everything else is getting planned off of that. Using the same aluminum bars (80/20 brand), Cameron has fully built our double bed. Our bed is parallel to the car length and will be flush with the passenger side. (Typically, you only can have a full-length perpendicular bed if you add extension inserts into both sides of the van.) The 1' gap on the driver side will eventually be built into floor-to-ceiling shelving. The bed hinges at both the head and the feet to allow for easier access into the garage (the space underneath the bed) and also for more comfortable lounging.

The bed plan has been a staple from our earliest mock ups, but everything else has been in flux. Having the bed frame in there has helped solidify some plans and change some others. The big change – we're not going to have a permanent shower structure. Hurray! I didn't think we needed it, but Cameron was pretty insistent since he expects to need regular post-run showers. We'll still have an option for an interior shower, but it will be deconstructed when not in use.

Going from the bed to the front cabin, on the passenger side we will have a five foot counter that will be our primary counter top space and also our cooktop. On the end of the counter will be a collapsable desk so that will be accessible as a workspace when sitting in a turned-around passenger seat.

On the other side (the driver side) the bedside storage will extend into upper cabinets and a more counters. Embedded in these counters will be our refrigerator and sink. Our composting toilet will be next to that, but will be covered by a bench that sits across from the driver's seat most of the time. Between the two chairs will be our fold down dinner table. When we get to that point, and if we're feeling fancy, we can probably find a way to extend the table and add an extra seat, in case we ever have guests for a meal.

Radiant Heat

The radiant heat tubing will be routed from the water heater, which will sit behind the sink/toilet area. In preparation for that step, Cameron spent a full Sunday drilling two dozen holes into the aluminum bars in the flooring. He's also started to test the best methods to drill out the channels in the foam and cork that everything will eventually need to run through. There are a lot of specific small pieces that need to be purchased and precisely places for this to work correctly. We've made regular trips to various hardware stores, often hitting two or three in a day. Some things can't be found in person so we're a bit at a stand still until our ordered tubing and heat plate arrive. Unfortunately, since the radiant heat is embedded in the subfloor, there's not much else that can be committed to until this step is finalized.

Batteries

We've bought four big 100-amp hour batteries that will need to be strung together and then hooked up to the van's diesel and the future solar panels. I never could wrap my head around electricity in school, so Cameron is definatley taking the lead. He's been tinkering with a fuse box and laying out the connection plan. I've helped put together battery cables, which involved stripping the ends of the cables (which are about 1" thick), adding a metal connection piece (sorry I don't know technical terms), covering that with rubber, and securing it all together with a clamp and heat gun. It was fun!

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The whole process requires a lot of in-and-out (hence my usefulness as a second set of hands). We're constantly putting something into the van to test our placement or to make it feel like we're accomplishing more than we really have, and then having to remove it to access those many layers of subfloor. Although there are days were I am too cold and unmotivated to go work in the van, I'm really impressed with our (read: Cameron's) progress so far. There is an element of "hurry up and wait" since often there are a series of steps that need to be accomplished simultaneously, but I think it's pretty likely that we'll have a semi-livable structure by mid-January and will be able to take it out for some practice overnights.

I'm starting to learn that power tools are fun! They take a lot of concentration, though, especially when there are only small margins for mistakes.

The workspace (our garage) has a nice view, especially when wild turkeys cross by.

This is what it looks like under our feet right now. You can see Cameron's drill holes and his clever markings to make sure we keep everything in order...

...Which is important since we're regularly taking the flooring out and piling it up to test something or to work on a lower layer.

The 80/20 came in the specific dimensions Cameron ordered, but everything else is DIY.

Tape and plywood are our friends. Daylight is limited so we're often still putting things together after the sun goes down.

This is our model layout: bed in the back that feeds into the kitchen. Cameron is sitting in the drivers seat, which will double as one of the "dining room" chairs.

Our bed is pretty cool, but there are a lot of pieces that need to fit together!

Anything electric is in Cameron's sole domain. I know this will connect to the batteries somehow, but trying to explain more than that is far out of my abilities.

Creating battery cables and making sure to not burn the house down. You can see two of the four mega batteries that we have in the bottom right corner.