Insulating The Floor: DIY Sprinter Van Conversion

This week it was back to our old favourite job – insulation! I’ve been looking forward to getting rid of the bare metal floor for a long time now, so to see it gradually disappear this week was wonderful. The wet weather finally lifted too, giving our bodies some much-needed vitamin D. We started the week by battening out the floor with some treated wood. We then stuck our Celotex insulation board in between the battens, before finishing with some aluminium tape to vapour seal the floor.

Battening the Floor

We chose 25mm battens for our flooring, simply because we were using 25mm Celotex foamboard on the floor. We found treated wood battens from Wickes which were perfect, arriving in a lovely shade of blue. We took our time measuring out where we wanted battens, which meant going back to our original furniture and floor plan. Double checking that we had battens in the right place for the kitchen cabinets, the bed etc, we laid the horizontal battens first. We used Sikoflex EBT adhesive to glue the wood down. It’s a flexible adhesive and sealant, bonding everything from concrete and metal to wood and glass. We want to screw as little into the van as possible, so this was an excellent solution for us. After we’d laid all the horizontal battens, we then added in some vertical battens to create a square grid on the floor. This should provide a solid base for our flooring and furniture.

Laying out the battens before securing them to the floor

Securing the vertical battens to the floor

Insulating the Floor

Measuring out the empty squares between the battens, we then cut the 25mm Celotex board down to size. It was like a jigsaw puzzle! We originally intended to secure it down with spray adhesive. However, once we placed the boards in, they held in by themselves perfectly. We worked our way down the van until we couldn’t see the floor anymore – wahoo! Using aluminium tape, we sealed the Celotex in, creating a vapour seal that will prevent any moisture from getting through. The floor is now ready for the plywood and vinyl flooring, and we couldn’t be more excited!