Van Subfloor + Floor Insulation with Havelock Wool | Van Build Series

We finished the subfloor! Hey guys, I am back in Austin to work on the van. Last time you saw me working on the van I just finished the roof as well as the ladder and now it's time to work on the inside of the van Which is definitely the most exciting part because that's how we can kind of put our own little spin on it Make it feel like a home But it's also the most daunting because we have so much left to do. So in the next week I'm hoping to insulate the floor, do the subfloor as well, start working on the shower There's just a lot of logistics that go into putting the shower in and the gray water tank and drilling holes and stuff So we want to kind of check that out first and get that done But before I get all that started I get to go to Home Depot! My new favorite place on earth. So This trip to Home Depot is extra special because it is the first time I'm gonna be driving the van all by myself with no one in the car with me and Normally, I have someone in the passenger seat Which is pretty comforting because if someone's in the blind spot because there's not a lot of windows They can help me kind of figure it out, but on my own today. So Cross your fingers that I get there safely. I made it to Home Depot in one piece and so did the van So there's two things I hate about driving the van right now. One, we don't have a radio So it was a very silent ride there because I forgot to turn on music on my phone speakers So I just sat there and just thought about how I did not want to crash the van And then the second thing is I hate not having the back windows right now because I'm so used to looking in the rearview mirror But when you don't have those windows, there's nothing to look at So really excited to get those Windows and hopefully in the next couple months once they get in stock since this is the new van and they don't have the same Windows as the previous years So the main reason I'm at Home Depot today is to get this builders paper Which we're gonna use to make the template for the subfloor So we're basically just gonna cut up a bunch of pieces till we have a perfect template I Survived the drive to and from Home Depot To be honest, I wasn't that worried but this is significantly larger than any vehicle I've ever driven before So it is a little nerve-wracking when you're by yourself and you're on crazy roads and stuff But I'm back and I'm safe and I'm feeling more comfortable driving the van. So it's time to get to work now So here's what I'm gonna work on first So I'm gonna take this paper that I just bought and I'm gonna start rolling it out into different sections and taping part pieces together And making our template so I taped down this end of the paper to the van that way it would stay still when I rolled it on out and There it is at the other end and I taped that in too So now we have a brown carpet a little fashion runway for the van So the next step is to start doing all the smaller areas around the wheel well and all these areas But I still have these cargo rings in so my next step is actually to get those out And then I'll start working on the smaller areas I Just finished putting down all the paper to make our template for our sub floor And this is what it looks like So as you can see, I have a lot of tape So some of that tape is just to attach it to the van so it stayed in place So it's to attach pieces to each other. They couldn't just do one big piece for everything So I cut up quite a few smaller pieces and then in some areas There's a lot more because there's curves and little nooks and crannies That we're just really hard to get a big piece to fit into or to cut pretty well So I cut a lot of smaller pieces So to be a hundred percent honest I'm not sure if this is the best or most efficient way to actually create your sub floor template But this is the best way I could think of and I wanted to share that and you know Maybe someone will learn from my mistakes or get a good idea. I don't really know Despite having to cut up some thinner strips to fill in some gaps that I miss cut I'm also having to fill in the nooks and crannies and use a lot of tape I think this is actually a pretty good outline and pretty accurate to the space So we'll see what happens next step is to basically take this out put it on a big piece of wood Trace it on the wood and then cut the wood to fit this space. So whoo, I Hope it works out well because this was this was easy But it did take a little bit of time and it would kind of sucked after we do all of it All right is Friday evening I worked all day and now it's finally time to work on the van We had to run to Home Depot earlier and it's kind of delayed us a little bit To be honest van building is going a lot slower than I had hoped or envisioned I knew it was gonna be hard But it's just you keep there's all these little things you just have to think of and once you think of them You have to figure out a solution to them and it just takes a lot of time So we're at we have a big disadvantage because we actually live in Seattle, but we're building our van in Austin So we're flying back and forth Which means that we don't get to work on it every day We get to work on it for like a week at a time And so we kind of lose momentum so we get a lot of stuff going when we're here and then we leave we come back and it just feels like all the Momentum is gone. So it takes a little bit to get back in the swing of things Also, we both work full-time, which is why Adams not here. He doesn't have the flexibility I have so I work remote for a fully remote company. So I work all day from like 6 a.m To 3 p.m. And then I come and work on the van from 3 p.m. Till I go to sleep So getting a little bit of a later start today, which kind of sucks, but thankfully tomorrow is the weekend Which means I will have all day to work on the van. So here's the plan for the rest of the night So we bought all these 1x2 prime boards that we're gonna use to basically create a frame on the van floor and then in the gaps We're gonna place all the have lock wool insulation If you missed our installation video go check that out We explained why we chose have lock wool all the benefits of have lock wool There are so many options when it comes to insulating your van, but for our needs and priorities It was the best option for us So we explained all about it in that other video But the only downside about it is since it's wool and it's very soft You can't just place the subfloor on top of it So that's why we're creating the frame that way the subfloor has something to attach to and it's nice and sturdy to walk on and We're not like bouncing all over the van So we actually got the idea to do the subfloor this way from a couple We follow on Instagram called finding fresh air They also have a sprinter van and they also have have lock wool and they have a really really informative Instagram story highlight about all their sub flooring that I watched to get all these ideas So big shout out to them because they made it so much easier to figure out what to do And I highly recommend everyone goes and checks them out I'll link to them below so you can check out their story highlight and just see everything else They're doing with their van. They're farther along than we are and they seem to be doing some pretty awesome stuff Step number one cut up all the pieces I'm cleaning all the spots where we're going to glue down the boards with acetone just to make sure everything's very clean And then we add the Loctite marine adhesive, which is what we're using to glue the boards down to the floor We're trying to eliminate screwing in a bunch of holes to the floor. So that's why we're choosing this You've heard from other people that this is extremely sturdy and if we need to screw in a few spots We'll do that And then we place some heavy objects on the ends and on the middle just to hold it down and secure it while it dries We made sure that the area from the end of this black area where the seats are To the middle of the board is 48 inches because our subfloor panel that we bought will lay right on there And then the other one will meet it right in the middle on that one as well So we're trying to make sure that all the seams are on one of these boards. I made a huge rookie mistake today. I Wore my nice pants and I ruined them So I changed my shirt to a shirt that I don't care about as much so in case I ruin this I will not be As sad as I am about the pants, but now I have pants I can wear every time I build the van that are okay if they get messed up because they already are Making some good progress. We have all of the boards in some of them We still have some weights on just to hold them down and let them dry So just let them set for a little bit longer and then we're gonna start filling in with insulation So my next step is to measure all the spaces that the insulation will need to go So we cut the correct size I made this nice little homemade diagram to keep track of all of the measurements And then we'll start placing that in and our floor is insulated Now painting the subfloor wood with primer to protect it from any moisture We lay out all the plywood with the prime side down and then put the template on top of it Getting it all lined up the way we want it So we have as many straight edges as possible to work with and then we'll start tracing it and then we'll cut it out If you remember those cargo rings, I took out the other day We are gonna use those holes that are left to screw this down into the van since they're existing holes And we don't have to drill any new ones And so we used a pencil to just poke through the template into where that hole is So we know where to drill some existing holes. So we've marked all the cuts we need to make on the plywood Now it's time to get her done The subfloor pieces are in They aren't attached yet though So what we're gonna do is we're going to biscuit them together and then we're gonna wait until tomorrow to actually Screw them into the framing that we made because we want to make sure the framing glue is fully settled So we got the front to attach and the back to attach and we're using this clamp to hold these two together And we're gonna let them sit overnight and then we'll attach the final ones tomorrow and then screw them in to the framing that we Did and then we'll be done So our first task this morning was to attach the center pieces of the subfloor together with the biscuits and some glue So that is all good to go now And then if you remember those dots that we marked on the wood That would correspond with the cargo ring holes that are already in the floor of the van We basically just drill the holes for that in the wood this morning put some bolts in and some washers To make sure that the van floor is extra secure And then our final step is to draw some lines on this wood that match up with the framing underneath that way we can screw Everything together and everything is nice and secure so we can have dance parties without worrying about moving the floor So we screwed in the subfloor to the framing below We put in quite a few screws. Just trying to make sure that everything's super secure and nothing bounces when we walk We finished the subfloor So if you couldn't tell I'm really excited to finally have a subfloor in this thing Dealing with like the bare van floor with all like the ribs and everything was kind of a pain So it's nice to have like a solid foundation in the van now that we can use to build everything So this is the end of our subfloor vlog because the rest of my days here gonna be spent more in the shower So I will do a separate video for that and then when Adam comes in a couple of weeks He will also be working on the shower. So Out of breath having a dance party in this van was exhausting and even just like screwing and everything was a workout So I'm gonna go take a break. I will see you guys next time