Sprinter Plywood Sub-Floor Installation
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- This is how we installed the insulation and sub-floor in our DIY Sprinter camper van conversion. Check out our website for some additional notes about this installation that didn't make it into the video: timshannonltd....
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Great tip the way you mark the hole wirh that conical screw ! Congratulations !
Thanks! Glad you liked that. Thanks for the comment!
Excellent Video Sir!
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Your videos have been such a tremendous help thank you so much from Victoria Australia
You are so welcome! Thanks for the positive feedback! So glad they were helpful!
Whoohoo, nicely executed! Yep great idea to use the tie down holes to screw ply down. Yep think this is a good route to go! Thanks!
Glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment!
@@TimAndShannonLTD Brilliant idea using the existing D ring tie down holes! Since the install have there been any issues with the subfloor buckling?
I'm asking only because years ago, when I was first learning to DIY, I laid a subfloor in my kitchen. Overnight, the floor buckled in between the screws I used to tie the subfloor plywood down to the existing floor. I had to go back and add many more anchor points.
Is having the camper van floor secured only on the prerimeter sufficient? Why is there no issue with buckling? Thank you for anything you can share. Excellent video!
@@sheri4673 It is secured to the van floor at the D-ring tie down holes, but it is secured to the furring strips along all the edges and at some points across the middle where the furring strips are underneath, so no real buckling issues so far, at 2 years after the build...
Thanks guys! Picking up my van tomorrow and have already ordered Havelock wool as the insulation. This is exactly what I’m looking to do with the subfloor. Great tips on using the bolt holes already there and how to mark for where to drill!
Cool - Have fun with it and thanks for your comment!
GREAT VIDEO! Now I might go look for my own rig and get back into VANNING!!! Nice going you guys... very inventive ways of doing this too!!!
Thanks Tom! Yeah hope to see you do a van yourself!
Love this! Thanks for putting it together!
Thanks Ian!
Thank you for sharing. Very informative.
You're welcome! Glad you found it helpful!
Great vid, and detail. As a finish carpenter, I’d suggest FORSTNER bits instead of spade/paddle bits .... if you do a similar ‘recess’ in the future. Be Well .... 👍🏼
Thanks for the tip!
That’s a nice job…
Thanks!
Job well done.
Thanks!
So what I am thinking about when I am watching this is that noise from the outside will transmit through the floor because the wood frame is connected and touching the bed of the van.
Not sure what is best but I think it's best to decouple it by putting something like that noico, kilmatt, rubber or maybe cork between the frame and car. Or maybe another layer between the plywood and the top layer.
Because I think that will also cause a thermal bridge if you don't. That's what I have learned anyways.
You may be right Ian. The way we look at it is it's never gonna be silent and we gotta pick our battles. We're happy with how this turned out. Only thing we might have changed though was we should have waterproofed around the edges to make sure the floor was water tight in case of spills (and we've had plenty of spills).
@@TimAndShannonLTD Interesting. What will you waterproof with?
Well it’s too late now, our interior is already built. But if we were to do it again maybe a combination of expanding foam around the edges and some waterproof paint over that and on the plywood.
Lol...Raceface kneepads...I love it.
LOL I've been waiting for someone to notice that for 3 years now! Thanks for the comment (and your sharp eye!)
@@TimAndShannonLTD I used to own a bike shop.
@@outlaw7x77 Ah well that makes sense!😄
I would love to get a quote from you for installation
Hi Kevin - wow that would be cool if we were in a position to help you in that way. But we are currently away from our home base (and all our tools) so it's not really something we can do right now. But just out of curiosity, what is your location where are you hoping to do this? Thanks!
@@TimAndShannonLTD I’m in Michigan & within the next 3 weeks
@@kevinjernigan8994 Ah OK. Yeah, sorry we can't help. We're on the West Coast, and like I said, without our tools.
Looks great solid job! Could you have still used the provided hooks if you had waited on floor topper?
Hi Mike! I’m sorry but I’m not sure what you mean by that. If you could be more clear I’ll try to answer for you!
great little vid guys. I just got a 144 highroof sprinter and my floor will be the first project. thoughts on gluing some furring strips down then screwing plywood to those and skipping using the existing threaded inserts? 2 were missing on mine and 2 broke the weld holding them in place, the bolts took an enormous amount of elbow grease to remove, i was shocked how tight they were. any worry or thoughts on a vapor barrier?
thanks! cheers!
Hi Skipp - Hmmmm, well that's a tough one. I'm no expert, so it's hard to say. You'd want a super bullet proof adhesive I would think. Also, as Scott commented last week, putting a sealer around the edges would be a good idea and that might help it hold as well. We're wishing we would have done that. As far as a vapor barrier, we went with Havelock Wool's position, that it could be worse with a barrier as it may actually trap moisture in the walls and floor by making it more difficult to "de-sorb" (as opposed to absorb) moisture. So far so good with no barrier, but I know there are a million opposing views. Just my 2 cents... Thanks for the comment!
amazing work , what thickness furring strips did you use ?
Look at the link in the description to our blog post on that. We cut them from 2x4’s at different thicknesses depending on where they were going on the floor. The blog post has more info on them.
Tim and Shannon, What was the sizing on the furring strips for the floor? And is that adhesive liquid nails? Thank you
This is the adhesive we used: www.lowes.com/pd/Sika-Gray-Multi-Purpose-Construction-Adhesive-Actual-Net-Contents-10-1-Fl-Oz/999977082 and our blog post on this build talked more about the furring strips. See that here: timshannonltd.com/sprinter-camper-van-floor-installation/
@@TimAndShannonLTD Thank you very much for the awesome tips. Do you remember what size the bolts where you replace to hold down floor?
this is so helpful, thank you. did you mention what thickness the furring strips are?
EDIT - Whoops, my mistake, the Furring Strips were made from 2x4's ripped down to 1" and 1-3/4" - see the webpage linked above for more clarity on that. My apologies for the incorrect answer earlier - we were getting many questions about the furring strips in our walls at that time and I didn't notice your question was about the floor...
@@TimAndShannonLTD Due to the uneven gullies and raised ribs and beveled on the sides and where the steps is. What did you use for that to make it even?
@@melissag7071 Hi Melissa, we made furring strips at 2 different thicknesses - see the webpage linked in the description.
@@TimAndShannonLTD thank you.
great video super helpful! What adhesive did you use to attach the furring strips?
Hi Hailey - thanks for the comment and glad this was helpful. We used Sikaflex Construction adhesive: www.lowes.com/pd/Sika-Gray-Multi-Purpose-Construction-Adhesive-Actual-Net-Contents-10-1-Fl-Oz/999977082
Nice video Thanks. Questions: what type and thickness plywood did you use?
Hello and thanks for the comment. We used 5/8" A/C plywood. I think if we were to do it again we would use 3/4" A/C.
What kind of glue did you use? Liquid nail?
JC - disregard my earlier comment - I actually think it was Sikaflex: www.lowes.com/pd/Sika-Gray-Multi-Purpose-Construction-Adhesive-Actual-Net-Contents-10-1-Fl-Oz/999977082
www.lowes.com/pd/Sika-Gray-Multi-Purpose-Construction-Adhesive-Actual-Net-Contents-10-1-Fl-Oz/999977082
@@TimAndShannonLTD Thanks
it seems from the photos that lots of bare van areas which are exposed with no insulation. Did you guys do anything about the bare areas in between each covered area??
We used sheep's wool insulation wherever we could stuff it.
Thanks for the quick response. So you left the areas in between uncovered?
Does the sheeps wool have a superior R value rating than the floam block? I thought the wool would soak up moisture?
Wool can absorb moisture when the air is humid and it can "desorb" moisture when the air is drier. Read about it on the manufacturer's website here: havelockwool.com/van-insulation-products/#why And thanks for the comment!
Does the sheeps wool have any odor once you've finished the install?
No, we don’t smell it at all.
What sizes screws were you using to hold the floor to the frame???
We used 1-1/4" Self-tapping wood screws.
Can someone tell me why everyone seems to put furring strips onto the floor first. You are loosing all the heat through the wood. Use a phenolic board insulation
For the climates where we usually find ourselves, that small amount of heat loss is negligible the way we did it.
Tim and Shannon, Did you put anything around the outside of the floor to seal it?
Hi Scott, no we did not but that is probably a good idea. Maybe some heavy duty caulking or something that's flexible with vibration and temperature changes. Good thinking!
hi Tim & Shannon, could you please tell me (best guesstimate), what the total weight of completed floor is. thanks
OK, here's an estimate - 140 lbs for the plywood; 60 lbs for the furring strips; and the wool insulation - proably 20 - 30 lbs max. So about 230 lbs total I guess.
Cool video, what is the furring strips size you use and the brand glue? I hope you reply to this.
Hi Reo, look at the blog post linked in the description for the wood size. The adhesive was Sikaflex construction adhesive, I think it was 221 or something like that, sorry I don’t remember exactly but the hardware store should be able tell you what would adhere wood to metal. Thanks for the comment and enjoy your build!
@@TimAndShannonLTD I subscribed bc you are very helpful, the truth about Van build is to educate other and when I saw your website i was so happy with all the layout and details you put it in there. also i read all the benefits of Sheep wool and surely this will be my insulation, thanks a lot.
@@zupp.social awesome! So glad you find our stuff helpful - thanks for the sub!!!
Why do you need to add the furring strips under the floor?
A couple of reasons at least - 1, we need space under the floor for insulation, and 2, at the seam where 2 pieces of plywood meet we want a very solid base holding them even with one another.
After installing and using the van, do you have any recommendations or advice on what you’d do differently about the subfloor? I’m about to do the same thing and was wondering if kilmat on the floor or vinyl underlay etc would be beneficial?
Good question Elsa and yes - if we were to do this over again, we would totally come up with a way to make the floor more water tight. Can't even count how many times we've accidentally overflowed our grey water under the sink and we HOPE it doesn't ever run under the floor and soak the sheep's wool insulation. So - whatever you can do to keep it watertight would be a good thing. I don't know anything about kilmat or vinyl underlay though.
What thickness on floor wood ?
We used 5/8" AC Plywood. If we were to do it all over again, we would waterproof all the seams and edges to keep spills out of the insulation below.
Tim & Shannon thank you
Hey genius so what happened to the cut out on the plywood that you made? You didn’t make a extended video about that…🤨anyway guys you can use a white linen bed sheet and a marker to trace around the wheel guard. (Stencil) You are more than welcomed.
I'm not sure what you're referring to exactly, but maybe our blog post with additional information (linked in the description) will shed some light. And sorry, but it seems a waste of a good bed sheet to make a stencil out of it. Thanks for your comment!
Did you drill into the van floor for the plywood?
We bolted into 10 pre-existing threaded holes where the cargo tie downs were mounted, but yes - 2 of the panels did not have those holes near the edge so we did drill 4 holes into the van. See the webpage linked in the description for more info on that.
@@TimAndShannonLTD thanks for the reply. I hear that all sprinters rust. Is this true? Are you at all concerned about this and what are you doing to remedy this? Thanks!!
We sure don’t want rust. We painted over all bare metal from window/fan cutouts and also painted & sealed all drill holes.
Your van will get fleas lol
Oh, fleas from the sheep's wool?? LOL, seems very plausible, but so far, 3-1/2 yrs later still no fleas!