What is the "best" method of doing a floor?

[One Awesome Inch]

I think I know what direction to go but would appreciate other insights. My 'draft' plan is to lay down one inch of rigid foamboard and put 1/2 inch plywood over that. The finish flooring would likely be some sort of dark linoleum that hides dirt.

Thoughts? Any other considerations I should think over?

I want to do this right.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

if I was doing it I would use clip together wood flooring. quick, simple to install, looks great, and easy to keep clean, I have some in my kurbmaster but I went cheap because I had some almost given to me so I used the fake wood type, if I had to redo it I would use the real wood stuff.

 

[Reducto]

In my first van I used stick-on tiles that felt similar to linoleum and they wore down fairly quickly. In my new van I used 1/2" polyiso with cheap thin laminate flooring over that. No plywood involved, not even any screws. I'm extremely happy with it and it cleans up very easy, not that I clean very often. Home Depot always seems to have a few pallets of very cheap stuff by the front door or in the flooring section.

1" insulation is a bit much - If I had height to spare I'd add the extra insulation to the roof.

 

[Matlock]

I think I know what direction to go but would appreciate other insights. My 'draft' plan is to lay down one inch of rigid foamboard and put 1/2 inch plywood over that. The finish flooring would likely be some sort of dark linoleum that hides dirt.

Thoughts? Any other considerations I should think over?

I want to do this right.

I'd say your floor plan is the way to go for northern winters. Rigid foam/plywood/vinyl in the thickness you have in mind. With a couple throw rugs and a Buddy heater you can walk around in your sox in January and be warm.

 

[Almost There]

Unless you're not intending to attach any furniture/cabinets to the floor, I'd use something heavier than 1/2" plywood.

I used the click style vinyl laminate rather than real wood and I am ever so glad I did. I can climb in with wet muddy shoes, drop a wet swimsuit on the floor, spill water, food etc with impunity. It sweeps up with a whisk and washes with a spray bottle of vinegar/water and a couple of blue shop rags.

The vinyl laminate that I got has a texture to it so it looks more like real wood than some wood flooring does.

Having laid vinyl flooring in a van before I think the laminate is much easier to install.

I laid mine after most of the cabinet work was in place but if I had it to do again I would put the flooring in first. Cutting in and around all the cabinets was a pita!

 

[ascii_man]

Most plywood is a bad choice because of the offgassing; put your health first.

 

[myke]

Most plywood is a bad choice because of the offgassing; put your health first.

What else could you use instead of 1/2" plywood?

They do use it to build houses...

 

[ascii_man]

What else could you use instead of 1/2" plywood?

They do use it to build houses...

Houses arguably are not as much of an enclosed space; the ceilings are a lot higher.

That said, I talked with a guy who retired from the wood industry about a large construction project where the plywood fumes where overpowering and they had to remove it and use a different kind, or they had to let it air out for a while or something.

Here's an article to read:
http://www.camperize.com/plywood.html

In addition to what they mention in the article (PureBond), there is also PERGO laminate flooring.

I'm not an expert on this yet, but why spend a lot time in a small box breathing formaldehyde glue if you can help it? One of the benefits of mobile living is that since we are building such a small space, we can afford to use premium materials.

 

[ascii_man]

I haven't looked thoroughly into the PERGO

A question, though: do you plan to use joists?

 

[SaltySeaWitch]

You can buy Formaldehyde free plywood. Costs a little more but Formaldehyde is a known cancer causing agent in treated plywood. Ask for it a Lowes/Home Depot.

 

[ascii_man]

You can buy Formaldehyde free plywood. Costs a little more but Formaldehyde is a known cancer causing agent in treated plywood. Ask for it a Lowes/Home Depot.

Thanks; the "camperize" link that I posted has more details; it's a quick read.

 

[myke]

Cool, that purebond stuff looks like the way to go...

I really want 1/2" but the smallest they have is 23/32"...

I really need to make a floor for my Sienna, I would leave it as is if I could but it is really uneven and has a lot of leftover hardware from the seats...

I'm thinking with the Purebond stuff I can just leave it as is for the floor and just put a rug over it if need be...

 

[masterplumber]

Myke, for your application, if i'm thinking correctly, that you want to just cover and and smooth out the floor, you might check into masonite. It's not very strong, so you can't really build a floor across a span. But if I recall correctly it has no glue at all. It's made by using heat, moisture, and extreme pressure. In a regular van I don't think I'd use it on the floor - I'd probably want something stronger. But I think it would work well on walls and ceilings. I also think it would work well in a 1/4'' thickness across a carpeted minivan floor to smooth it out for a bed.

 

[myke]

Myke, for your application, if i'm thinking correctly, that you want to just cover and and smooth out the floor, you might check into masonite. It's not very strong, so you can't really build a floor across a span. But if I recall correctly it has no glue at all. It's made by using heat, moisture, and extreme pressure. In a regular van I don't think I'd use it on the floor - I'd probably want something stronger. But I think it would work well on walls and ceilings. I also think it would work well in a 1/4'' thickness across a carpeted minivan floor to smooth it out for a bed.

Thanks... actually I do have to cover a span. The 2nd row seats leave behind large tracks that can't be removed. Really annoying. I could leave the tracks as is, and the bed would cover part of them, but they really get in the way so I'm leaning towards covering them completely. The floor would be raised about 4" right behind the front seats and go down to 3/4" where it touches the floor in the back of the van. That is level, and the 2nd row seat hardware is covered up in the front. It sucks though because head space is so small. It would go from ~48" to ~44" at the front. The floor space would then be 48" by ~77", and leave about 18" of space over the deeper space in the back of the van. So probably the 23/32" purebond would be good for this.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Up here in Vancouver Purebond is $68 a sheet for 1/2 inch. Ouch.

 

[myke]

Up here in Vancouver Purebond is $68 a sheet for 1/2 inch. Ouch.

Here it's $40 for 3/4"...

 

[One Awesome Inch]

I'm probably going to bite the bullet and buy it... regardless of price.

 

[amwbox]

Here it's $40 for 3/4"...

Oil price slide hasn't been kind to the Canadian dollar.