The Well Behaved Dingo

MODIFYING:

Once you’ve bought your van you’re gonna wanna modify it. Think about what you’re going to be doing in your van, what type of climate you’ll be in, what special things you’ll need to make room for etc.

Climate:

We’re planning on living in our van in the winter in Montana so it has to be well insulated. If you’re spending the summer in Southern California you might need to be thinking about fans rather than insulation. A conversion van will usually come with fiberglass insulation , the same stuff they use in houses. If you do the insulation yourself on a cargo van I would recommend extruded styrofoam. insert info???

Flooring:
If you have purchased a conversion van it almost certainly came with carpet. Our van came with a nice purple color carpet to match the pink interior.
There are a couple reasons you might want to rip out the carpet and put something else in.

1. The carpet might smell, have mold or just be really nasty.You won’t really realize the amount of nasty or extent of mold until you rip that carpet out.
2. Carpet is a haven for moisture and thus mold,dust, hair, dirt, fleas, insects etc and can aggravate asthma, especially in such a small space. If you’re getting into your van with damp shoes on the carpet will stay wet.
3. Cleaning a smooth floor is insanely easier than cleaning carpet. not having a house means no housework! Battling fleas when you have carpet and no vacuum or clothes washer is futile!

The rubber flooring dries quickly,won’t house fleas and can be swept clean easily.

When we ripped out the carpet in our van we found that the insulation/padding didn’t extend the full length of the van. Good to know. Now is the time to decide if you need to buy insulation for the floor and the amount of flooring you need.

Because its such a small space you may be able to buy higher quality stuff, depending on your budget. These days rubber, easy to clean flooring often comes in tiles that snap together or interlock somehow. This is very convenient to install because it requires no glue or other treatment. This type of flooring is often called gym flooring, garage flooring, livestock flooring, rubber tile etc. Ofcourse if you already spent your life savings on the van you may want to go the cheapest route possible. This would mean buying “garage anti-fatigue expandable flooring” from Sears. It is more foamy and soft and less durable I’m sure. Some advantages are that it is light, easy to cut, and cheap at $20 for 24 square feet. We bought 72 sq. ft for $60. Our little quality tester scratched all over it and it was fine: dingo tested and approved!

So, now tear that carpet out!

and put in the new flooring. Its really self explanatory, just grab a carpet cutter and remember that when you are cutting the flooring to size start off cutting small rather than big that way things will fit tightly and if you mess up you hopefully won’t ruin anything. We had to cut a square out for the metal plate the chair hooks into.

Finished floor with Scherzo’s den/shelf and a chair installed.