The Build Beginnings

One week has come and gone so quickly! The first week of our build has flown by and we have so much progress to share, but let's start from the beginning.

Zach purchased the van back in January and drove it from New Jersey to Alabama, so he had already seen it.  It was purchased completely gutted, which was great because we could just get started with the build and didn't have anything to remove (like seats or carpet).  And that is exactly what we did... from afar.  Zach's dad, Jay, has been such a huge help and before we even arrived in AL a little over a week ago, he had already done a ton of prep work to get it to a point where we could just hit the ground running.  This consisted of getting new wheels & all terrain tires installed, spray foam insulation (like a normal residential home) put in, tint on the windows, and flooring insulation. It was a ton of work! And we are so grateful to have had that head start before we got into town to work on the van ourselves. Because of all of the up front work, we've estimated 4-6 weeks to finish building out the rest of the van into a livable space for three. While this is an aggressive timeline considering we have zero experience doing anything like this... we no longer have jobs, so this has become our full time work :)

Our "before" Family Photo

Planning

You could say that we are both planners by nature... it has helped us both to be successful in our professional careers and with this project, we approached it no differently than any other project or product we've managed in the past. We're talking about a Gantt Chart, budget tracker, to-do lists with conditional formatting and data validation... the whole thing. It's excessive... we know :)

One of many runs to home improvement stores.
Pictured: additional insulation for nooks and crannies, vinyl flooring, floor leveler, and butcher block countertops.

Fan

One thing we knew for certain was that we were going to need something to help with air circulation and keeping it cool in our van.  We do not have an AC other than the vehicle AC, so we opted for the well reviewed Maxxair Fan. This temperature sensored fan will help to keep fresh airflow, especially in conjunction with the other windows we are installing.

We had to cut a 14"x14" square in the top of our van in order to install it and it was so nerve-wracking! Here is this new van we just purchased and we were going at it with a jigsaw.... we have never used a jigsaw.  But we did it! Well, Zach did it. Jordyn measured the square.  

Zach on the roof of the van, square cut (thanks to Jordyn's measurements).

Temporary skylight

Fan is installed!

T-Vent Window

When the van was first purchased, the only windows that existed (aside from the cab) were on the rear doors.  We knew we would want additional windows for more natural sunlight and additional ventilation in the van.  C.R. Lawrence makes factory T-Vent windows for a variety of cargo vans that consist of a large window and two smaller windows that open outwards/vent and have screens. This is ideal for us because we can have windows open even when it is raining and will also allow for ventilation when we are cooking since we've decided to place the window directly above where we are placing the kitchen in our layout.

T-Vent Window is installed!

Solar

For our main source of power we opted to put solar panels on the roof of our van.  Based on what others have done, this is the absolute best approach for power.  We will be able to receive all the battery power needed for every day living without having to hook up to shore power like a typical RV. Once we have our entire electrical system installed, we will post more details about the overall system and considerations that were taken.

Solar installed! Pictured: 2 of 3 100W Renogy Monocrystalline Panels.

What's next?

Flares

Our final 2 cuts to remove part of the van walls were for our flares.  These flares are after market fiber glass replacements that are installed just like windows.  Flarespace is the name of the company and their mission is to help van dwellers #sleepsideways to optimize the living space inside the van. By placing our mattress sideways, we are saving about 2 feet of living space and the flares give us 5-7 inches of extra leg room to stretch out on our mattress.  We are going to be installing the flares later today, so will post an update on those next time!

2 more cut outs completed for Flare install.

Flooring

The flooring is so important to get right. It needs to be durable, easy to clean, waterproof, etc. On top of that it needs to be insulated and level which is hard to accomplish in a home on wheels.  Our approach to the flooring was to install 2 layers of foam insulation board to fill in the naturally occurring grooves on the floor of the van. This will help to keep the van temperate in any climate and work in conjunction with the spray foam insulation that was applied to the rest of the van interior. Next up was a layer of plywood to solidify the floor. We also built a box out of plywood on the side entry step to extend our flooring just a tad for additional cabinets that will be installed. At this point, we took others' advice and decided to apply a self-leveler compound over the plywood to smooth out any rough edges in the seams between the plywood and ensure that the entire floor was level. Next up we will be measuring and laying luxury vinyl flooring to give a look the look of a wood floor, but have the durability that vinyl provides. We're excited to get that piece done and post the results!

Measuring square footage for our vinyl flooring.

Self-leveler application. You can also see the box we added to the front entry pictured here.

We feel extremely proud of where we are after the first week and can't wait to continue the progress!

The best helper.