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Here at Ventura Van Builds we offer standard and premium flooring options for our customers because we know that some people enjoy hobbies that revolve around cold weather and require more insulation while for others, additional insulation would be overkill. We’ll use this blog post to describe our process for both options and give an idea of why certain practices we do are so important for vans specifically.
1. Our first step is to lay down a pressure-treated wood structured frame on the bare metal floors of the van. This wooden frame will be the only thing drilled directly into the vehicle and each of the 12 holes we drill will be glued and sprayed with a sealing paint to prevent water from coming in. These wood structures are an essential part of the van building process because they are what we will be attaching other furniture like your bed or kitchen to. Installing this frame allows us and our customers to continue to securely drill furniture into place without having to drill into the vehicle itself, further devaluing it and causing potential issues in the future (we’ve had some clients come to us with a countless amount of holes drilled into their vehicle and subsequent water damage because of that). Another important note about the pressure-treated wood is that most van flooring structures contain strips of regular plywood or 2x4's. The reason we use pressure-treated wood is because moisture can get trapped in your flooring and grow mold with regular plywood or 2x4's (seen in the first image below of a demo we recently did that revealed a huge mold infestation because of improper wood treatment). Our method (seen in the second image) prevents this from happening.
2. Because we create the wooden frame with 20-24 inch gaps, we insert foam board insulation in between these gaps wherever there would be empty space so the entire floor is covered by either wood or insulation. The reason we use foam board and not foam itself is because in the event that you get in a car crash and a mechanic needs to work on your vehicle, they will turn you away if your van is covered in foam insulation that they will have to manually scrape out. The boards we use are easily removable and fuss-free.
3. Next, we apply a finish onto each of the pieces of pressure-treated wood that were cut to make sure that it is safe from water buildup and is mold-resistant.
4. For our premium option only we insert a thermal-shielding layer. This radiant layer provides additional insulation for our winter-hobby customers.
5. Next, we lay down a sheet of plywood.
6. Again for the premium option only, we then add a layer of cork subfloor insulation sheets. The reason for so much additional insulation in our premium options is first, so the warmth within the van can persist longer and our customers can maintain a comfortable temperature, but also because a lot of electrical systems and batteries specifically have a lower-limit temperature level (usually around 30 degrees F or so) where they automatically shut down to prevent damage and freezing. No one wants to be stranded in a snowstorm with no electricity so it is vital that insulation and temperature maintenance is on point in our winter-sport-bound vans.
7. Finally for our last step, we lay down laminate flooring! A vital part of this step that we take and that a lot of van companies overlook is that we glue the outer pieces of the flooring together so that the consistent shaking from driving does not slide the flooring pieces apart. You’ll notice in a lot of older build outs that laminate flooring pieces have slowly shifted apart and left huge gaps - this step is to prevent this from happening.
And that is a high-level summary of our flooring process at Ventura Van Builds! Please share our content if you found it helpful in any way! We love educating and sharing our knowledge and expertise!