Build out help

[bonvanroulez]

I’ll take the second one!  Looks like a Leisure Travel Van?

Good catch! Yes it is a Leisure Travel Van. They do have some amazing designs.

Both vans pictured are Sprinters.

Bonvanroulez, thanks for that second pic, actually inspired an idea for a future build.

Cool! Just a picture from google. You should check out some other Leisure designs.

 

[travelaround]

I also have no carpentry or electrical skills and plan to learn as I go. I will start with simplicity and will buy some tools. There's no hurry to get a major "build out" before I leave town. I will have to hire some things out, but will expect to pay a fair price for labor when that happens. I expect that most of it, I'll do myself.

 

[Mazer]

You might try taking out a Craigslist add and offering an amount of money for the job that you want done. It can take several days labor to insulate and panel a van. Nothing in a van is square, straight, or level. Just about every cut needs a pattern made to do it. Several more days for electrical work, (install batteries,solar panels, inverters, chargers, lighting circuits, fuse boxes, run wires, etc. , and then several more days to build beds and cabinets. When I built out my van I thought a couple of weeks ought to get it done. It was more like a couple of months working on it when I could, (and I am retired).

Most people want to get paid for their time and effort. They know how to clean a house, but don't go around cleaning houses for free to help the old or disabled.  They somehow feel that others should work for them either for free or dirt cheap. For a couple of hundred you can buy a Ryobi power tool kit and a ruler and watch Youtube videos to learn how to use them. How much money would you work a week or month for?  How much money do you think a skilled craftsman should work a week or month for?

The other option is go basic at first. A good sleeping bag, a cot, cooler, camp stove, water jugs,  some plastic storage boxes, a bucket complete with plastic bags and toilet paper. The money you save not paying rent can go to paying a craftsman. Good luck.

Thank you for taking the time to write this out, it IS very helpful. I am not wild about the CL idea, I was hoping more for a place which actually does van build outs - and yes I realize they take quite a bit of time, heck, just thinking about the layout has taken a couple of months. I will continue my search, and thank you for your input.

 

[Mazer]

The first thing to do is head to youtube and use the keywords "van build" to pull up some videos. Then bookmark the videos that show things you like. Then when you get to a point in the video that has a good image of the feature you like stop the video and use an image capture to turn it into a jpg you can store in a file or print out for a notebook.

If you are going to hire anyone they need to see exactly what it is you want to have built inside your van.

So that means you have some homework to do before you begin shopping for a carpenter or electrician. When you are done with your homework go shopping for the help. They can't give you an estimate if they don't know what it is they are going to build.

"They can't give you an estimate if they don't know what it is they are going to build." on the other side of the coin, I am not going to hope the person I hire knows about solar, electrical work and carpentry.....I shop the person or business FIRST, then work out the details, apparently I have it all backwards from the way you do things

 

[Mazer]

What exactly do you consider a "full build out" and everything "not van".   Some people are happy with a Styrofoam ice chest, a 5 gallon bucket, some plastic drawer shelves, a jug of water, and a camping cot or piece of foam... done!  What exactly do you want to do?  How much do you want to spend?  Good, cheap, quick; pic any two...

Do the words FULL BUILD OUT mean a Styrofoam ice chest and a 5 gallon bucket, with some plastic drawer shelves etc to you???? Because that is not what I have learned it means when discussing it with anyone else outside of this forum.

 

[Mazer]

 
Wow...I've seen 'build-outs' for $500 that took a few days and I've seen 'build-outs' that consumed $25,000 and took six months.

Can you narrow it down just a bit? What is your definition of 'an arm and a leg'?

When people are trying to be helpful it's probably not in your best interest to act dismissive.

I also think you might have some difficulty in your future 'build-out' communicating with your contractor. 

We wish you good luck with it, regardless.

It is so funny, that everywhere else I have posted and everywhere else I have asked people to try and get a good idea of resources, companies etc using the term "full van build out" has turned up actual resources, except for here, were people seem to prefer to point out how much of a lack of information there is, and now I am "acting dismissive"....please, if you do not understand what I am asking, why not just move on??? If you don't get it or are having trouble understanding, then why do you feel the need to be nit picky about the way I am conversing. You can "think" I am going to have difficulty,that is up to you, how you reach those conclusions is mind boggling...people need to start somewhere.  Funny how some people on this thread understood exactly what I was getting at..... thank you for your time. I did not find it helpful. So I will just move on.

 

[Mazer]

Thanks to those who made some great comments, you helped me narrow some things down. When I joined this forum, I read the description about how this was "a safe supportive place to ask questions, and it appears because I was not over loading my post with specific details, for some, they just could not pass up the opportunity to be less than helpful.
For those who posted pics of a cot and minimal gear and defined that as a FULL BUILD OUT. yea, how you thought that was helpful or anywhere near a full build out is beyond me...same to those who nit picked my lack of information and instead of moving on, could not resist the temptation to "school me" on my lack of detailed information. Now I am not "acting" appropriately because I did not agree with the people who just could not resist calling out my lack of detail.
As I have only made one post here and have gotten so much flack about it so it is clear I need to look elsewhere to get the assistance I am looking for.
How are so many of the comments being supportive and safe???
No need to answer any of these questions or reply further. I will not return.
I hope the next new person just looking for SUPPORTIVE information gets a better feeling from everyone.

 

[Almost There]

WARNING!

Enough bickering, and sarcasm!

EVERYONE - Please note that ALL posts must kind, friendly and helpful. If you find that you are unable to be all three, please refrain from posting.

The moderators do not want to have to shut down this thread but if this continues it will be. 

I have already deleted some sarcasm, I don't want to have to go back and find the rest of it!

 

[bullfrog]

I think that most of the long time members here have had to learn to do things for themselves. They came here for the cheap part as well as the rv living part. For many the cheap part meant there was not enough money or avability of already built out vans or even people that would help them do what they needed to do to get into a van so they could see exactly what was necessary to live out of it simply. I think that is the best part of what Bob Wells and this fourm he made and the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR) does. He suggested each person that came here first consider living simply as in a van there isn't much room to do much else. A lot of compromises and living decisions need to be made. People coming to this site need to realize this site is not just about building out a van . It is more about finding freedom. It is about self evaluation . It is accepting everyone is different, and there is not one way for everyone. I think the Original Poster (OP) was not aware that a built out van is a very hard thing to define in a group as individualistic as this group is. I belong to Escapees with is also a group of people that most fulltime live in fully self contained RV's. Most Escapees basically view their RV's the same as their sticks and bricks house with as few compromises as possible while on the road. An apartment on wheels they continue to live as much as possible the same way as they did before going on the road. As it has become more expensive several are looking to "down size" and boondock more often. Most but not all have bugets that allow them to buy or have built what is necessary to do this from a " one size fits all" manufacturer or custom builder. I think the van build out was started with the idea of helping people build what they needed after they went to this site and the RTR to see and learn what worked for them. It takes time and is a process. To assume anyone here would attempt to judge and make decisions without knowing the OP had gone through at least some of this process and openly shared their feeling of what would work for them is considered by many here to be an insult and shows how little the OP knows about what this site is all about. This site is about life change and helping not comercialism or selling a one size fits all RV at least to me. If it were possible for the OP to answer and share rather than object to starting the process by answering the questions they would have probably gotten helpful information. Sorry if we were not able to help you.