My Conversion van.....conversion

[waverider1987]

The van I bought is a 2005 Chevy E-1500 Conversion van.  I have set up a facebook page for anyone who wants to follow along on there.  I will be posting in here as well probably more direct van-build questions.  The facebook will act more like a "this is what's happening now" sort of thing.  I can't figure out how to do pics on here but if you are on facebook (or even if not, i don't think it matters), you can see some pics here: https://www.facebook.com/Womans-Walden-1110729108988070/

The first plan is to take out the seats and rip up the carpeting, as well as take all the fabric off that's covering all the side paneling.  I'm probably going to put some sort of insulation down on the floor before replacing the flooring with wood panels (yes?), then just leave the fabric off of the side and top panel and coat the wood with a sealant.  Also want to add some more insulation under the roof.  I was thinking about reflectix?  Or what's another good mold resistant/cheap option?  I'm afraid there may already be a bit of a mold issue in one spot.  I suspect a small leak in the back corner.  I'm hoping once I rip everything out I'll be able to figure out where it's coming from and seal it up.  

So my specific questions are this...

1.  How do I rip up carpet?  Meaning, what tools are good for that?  As well as for taking the fabric off of the wood panelings on the sides and roof...
2.  Once all the carpet and fabric are off, what is a good material for the floor?  And what should I paint the side and roof panels with to act as a mildew/mold resistant sealant? 
3.  Any ideas for good insulation?  Was thinking of just doing relfectix on the floor before replacing the floor as well as for under the roof.
4.  Any suggestions for tools for all of this.

Thank you!

 

[BradKW]

Nice looking van, congrats!

 

[waverider1987]

Oh! Where can I get replacement shades? Someone took all of them out except for 2!

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

Yes I would be interested about ripping up the carpet, as I'm planning to do this today after work, wondering if it's just as simple as ripping up

 

[PatsyG]

So my specific questions are this...

1.  How do I rip up carpet?  Meaning, what tools are good for that?  As well as for taking the fabric off of the wood panelings on the sides and roof...
2.  Once all the carpet and fabric are off, what is a good material for the floor?  And what should I paint the side and roof panels with to act as a mildew/mold resistant sealant? 
3.  Any ideas for good insulation?  Was thinking of just doing relfectix on the floor before replacing the floor as well as for under the roof.
4.  Any suggestions for tools for all of this.

Thank you!

I have a conversion van, too, that I ripped the carpet out of.  You can buy a tool just for that for a few bucks at any HD or other building store.  It is like a utilty knife but it has a hook on one end.  Having tried the utility knife first, I know the carpet ripper works much better.  It will make short work of the carpet.  If you discover rust underneath the carpet pad, contact me, and I can tell you what the easiest fix for me was.  I got a lot of advice from the forum about the best and easiest way to attack it.
I am interested too, in taking the fabric off the paneling and roof.  So I will wait to see what your answers are about that.

there have been lots of posts and articles about insulation.  If you click on the heading "Heat and Cold" or go to that forum, you will find that most people use and recommend polyviso, which comes in 4' x 8' sheets, one inch thick and sometimes 1/2 inch thick.  Buy at any Lowes or HD.

Congrats and have fun.  Hope to meet you sometimes so we can swap ideas.

 

[waverider1987]

Been ripping it up all day. My arms are killling me...

 

[PatsyG]

Been ripping it up all day.  My arms are killling me...

Once you get it started, it is easier to rip the carpet from its' underside.  The mesh is much easier to cut than the carpet pile on the top.

 

[ViaVacavi]

I've recently started converting my 2000 Dodge 1500 conversion van, and just did what you are just now starting.  I may even start a build thread here in just a little bit.

I can't speak for your van, but on mine here is what I found removing the carpet, and installing a subfloor:
- Before doing the floor, I did my complete tearout of the ceiling and walls so that I wouldn't mess up my new floor doing the tearout after the floor is installed.  This included removing the seats, as well as baseplates for the removable seats.

- I used a regular razor knife and cut a clean straight line across the van just behind the driver/passenger seats and started ripping the carpet up from the front to the rear.

- Beneath my carpet was a pretty dense black foam material about 1/2" thick.  I found that the carpet was very lightly adhered to this foam and I took care to remove the carpet without damaging the foam, as I am leaving it in place below the new subfloor as both a light insulation and sound deadener.

- The worse areas were the rear wheel wells, where they used a very thick, sticky carpet glue.  The glue was so tough that the only way to get the carpet off was to pull the carpet away from the wheel well with one hand, while using a razor blade in the other hand to continually cut at the glue as I pulled the carpet slowly away.

- Most conversions that I've seen use some really thick subfloor material, up to 3/4" thick!  Keeping things very light was very important to me so I did some tests by installing a section of laminate flooring directly on the dense foam underlayment that was already on the floor.  The results were quite impressive, and the floor actually had very little deflection.  In the end, I ended up doing a 1/4" layer of Luan board directly over the foam, then topped with my laminate flooring.  This combination is surprisingly solid and sturdy, very light weight and the cost was very low (it only took two full sheets of Luan @ about $12 each, the foam was already in place, and the laminate flooring was leftovers from a remodel).  I would suggest that you also do some tests yourself to see if something similar is feasible.  In fact, if I could go back and do this part all over again I would do some tests of a thin layer of Luan followed by laminate directly over the carpeting - I'm thinking it would have offered even more insulation and noise deadening properties.  I guess at this point, I'm not completely convinced that the carpet actually needs to even come out!

- It took me 4 hours to rip out all of the carpet due to complications removing some seat bases and working with getting the carpet away from that terrible carpet glue on the wheel wells.  It only took me 2 hours to have a complete Luan subfloor, including all measuring and cutting


Good luck!

 

[waverider1987]

I've recently started converting my 2000 Dodge 1500 conversion van, and just did what you are just now starting.  I may even start a build thread here in just a little bit.

I can't speak for your van, but on mine here is what I found removing the carpet, and installing a subfloor:
- Before doing the floor, I did my complete tearout of the ceiling and walls so that I wouldn't mess up my new floor doing the tearout after the floor is installed.  This included removing the seats, as well as baseplates for the removable seats.

- I used a regular razor knife and cut a clean straight line across the van just behind the driver/passenger seats and started ripping the carpet up from the front to the rear.

- Beneath my carpet was a pretty dense black foam material about 1/2" thick.  I found that the carpet was very lightly adhered to this foam and I took care to remove the carpet without damaging the foam, as I am leaving it in place below the new subfloor as both a light insulation and sound deadener.

- The worse areas were the rear wheel wells, where they used a very thick, sticky carpet glue.  The glue was so tough that the only way to get the carpet off was to pull the carpet away from the wheel well with one hand, while using a razor blade in the other hand to continually cut at the glue as I pulled the carpet slowly away.

- Most conversions that I've seen use some really thick subfloor material, up to 3/4" thick!  Keeping things very light was very important to me so I did some tests by installing a section of laminate flooring directly on the dense foam underlayment that was already on the floor.  The results were quite impressive, and the floor actually had very little deflection.  In the end, I ended up doing a 1/4" layer of Luan board directly over the foam, then topped with my laminate flooring.  This combination is surprisingly solid and sturdy, very light weight and the cost was very low (it only took two full sheets of Luan @ about $12 each, the foam was already in place, and the laminate flooring was leftovers from a remodel).  I would suggest that you also do some tests yourself to see if something similar is feasible.  In fact, if I could go back and do this part all over again I would do some tests of a thin layer of Luan followed by laminate directly over the carpeting - I'm thinking it would have offered even more insulation and noise deadening properties.  I guess at this point, I'm not completely convinced that the carpet actually needs to even come out!

- It took me 4 hours to rip out all of the carpet due to complications removing some seat bases and working with getting the carpet away from that terrible carpet glue on the wheel wells.  It only took me 2 hours to have a complete Luan subfloor, including all measuring and cutting


Good luck!

Thanks

Ya my van has that black foam stuff too.  It's getting torn up though because the carpet is glued to it, seems like.  So everything is coming up.

 

[Yogidog]

Congratulations, you worked hard, did your research, you deserve it! Yay for u!

 

[Reno]

Oh!  Where can I get replacement shades?  Someone took all of them out except for 2!

Chevy/GMC Blinds/Shades

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Oh!  Where can I get replacement shades?  Someone took all of them out except for 2!

Congrats on the Van and enjoy the remodel, can't wait to start mine.  Just need the house to sell first!

This website is a great source for van related items.  Here's there link to the pleated shades found in most conversion vans.

http://www.discountvantruck.com/rvvanpleatedshades/vanshades.htm

 

[iplayguitarintheshower]

I just started ripping out the carpet on mine too! It had some polyiso style padding under the carpet with a very very thin layer of padding (maybe 1/8'' thick). There was no sub floor at all under my carpet.

My plan is to lay down some of that jean material insultation you can get super cheap at Home depot. From there, put down a 1/4'' luan on top of it. I need to buy a jigsaw though to cut it, which i dont have, nor is it easy trying to figure out in an apartment complex

Anyone have any tips for me here? can home depot cut it for me if i pay/give dimensions?

Regardless, I'll either use adhesive on both the insulation and luan board to stick to the rib frame, or ill use sheetmetal flush screws.

Peel and stick vinyl will go on top with added adhesive so they dont peel up in the summer.

My main question though, is my front seats do not come out. I try unbolting them and they just spin and spin. Do I have to get under the van or drill them out or something? or are these front seats bolted in a special way that im not seeing? Looks like 4 main normal bolts, but they just loosen up and spin and spin..

 

[Almost There]

Home Depot will do straight cuts only. I had them cut a lot of my plywood sheets, mostly in to 2' x 8' pieces. I did my planning layout such that I could get most of everything out of the 2' width sheets and I could handle them.

They won't do any fancy cutting like the multiple cut outs that one needs to do down the outside edges of the flooring in a van.

I lived in the ground floor apartment so I did all the build in the apartment parking lot, but it is only a 4plex so I could get away with stuff that you can't in a large complex.

Those seat bolts, yes, it usually takes 2 people to get them out, there's nuts on the bottom side that aren't locked in to place so they're just turning with the bolt. Depending on the make and model they might not even be visible from underneath, as in up tucked away under other components. Sometimes it's easier just to cut them off and let the bottom end fall out somewhere down the road.

 

[iplayguitarintheshower]

Cutting them off might be more work than simply cutting out the carpet around them =\

 

[waverider1987]

Is it enough to just put in reflectix for insulation or should i put in something else in addition to that?

 

[Almost There]

Is it enough to just put in reflectix for insulation or should i put in something else in addition to that?

That depends!!

First, reflectix isn't a true insulation on it's own. It is a radiant heat barrier. Perhaps it's wise to go to here and do some reading on the technology.

http://www.reflectixinc.com/basepage.asp?Page=All+About+Reflectix%AE&PageIndex=382

Whether only reflectix (with a proper dead air space included) is the right solution for you will depend on what you want to have happen with heat and cold outside as compared to inside.

I installed reflectix and a bubble wrap air space because I was only intent on keeping the van cool in hot weather. It was my intention not to ever have to be in cold weather again. I say this sarcastically because it's 37 outside at noon while I'm stuck in northern Ontario for the summer. Heck summer, I'd be happy with spring right now... It's okay though because I'm hooked up to the grid and the little electric heater works just fine although steadily....

If you expect to have to deal with both hot and cold temperatures then both a radiant heat barrier to keep the heat out and some insulation to keep created heat in would be a better plan.

 

[waverider1987]

Ok thanks. I'm going with the "be prepared for it all" plan, so would you say reflectix plus a foam sheeting type of insulation?

 

[Almost There]

Ok thanks.  I'm going with the "be prepared for it all" plan, so would you say reflectix plus a foam sheeting type of insulation?

Don't forget the bubble wrap or the reflectix will be a waste of time and money.

Layer as follows: van wall >bubble wrap>reflectix>polyiso insulation sheets.

The thinner the insulation sheets, the easier they are to bend to conform to the walls. If you're layering them it's worthwhile alternating the seams so that you overlap the panels.

How much insulation you put in there will depend not only on your budget but also by how much room you're willing to lose widthwise across the van for insulation. Some prefer to just fill to the point where the ribs of the van are so that they're only losing the depth of the finished wall.

Some people will tell you just to insulate and forget the reflectix. Having had just the reflectix/bubble wrap through a winter in AZ, I can testify that the reflectix keeps things much cooler in the heat. I parked in full sun (duh, there were no trees!!) and with cross ventilation and a roof vent, it stayed much cooler in the van than it was outside.

 

[waverider1987]

Hmm...what about JUST reflectix and then the polyiso? The extra bubble wrap seems like overkill...but i don't know about these things.