Insulation and flooring

[PersianG]

i just took most of my 71 camper apart, and its down to the metal for the most part (the damn sink cabinet is sooo hard to get out). I plan on buying some nice insulation for it and then putting in some hardwood floor, maybe a sweet bambo pattern i saw. Has anyone tried hardwood floor in one of these? is it even worth it?

any tips or suggestions on how to go about this or what i should use?

thanks

[vwsrus]

Don't use anything that will hold moisture.

[[email protected]]

If I were going to do this, I would cut plywood to size for the floor and then put down a vapor barrier (roofing felt will work) and then nail (using brads) some premade flooring down. I can't say how well this would work as I haven't tried it, but obviously you want something that can take the vibration of a vehicle.

[PersianG]

yeah i was gunna do something like dynomat (not sure bout this yet), plywood, then carpet cusion or Ab-sorb, and then some kind of flooring, maybe tounge hardwood floor.

[Adventurewagen]

I have bad flooring in mine too and need to take out the sink, stove and fridge. How bad was it to get the sink and closet out. Any tips or tricks. How long did it take.

As for flooring I would put down a linoleum like in your kitchen. I replaced the old carpet in mine for now with a tight weave Burbur, but it collects dirt, dust, and anything from outside really well. I figure a couple of small area rugs will work well.

[travisstephens77@hotmail.]

Hey guys, I just installed some insulation and a vapor barrier under my subfloor (MDF) yesterday and I'm planning on glueing down some parkay <-sp? flooring next weekend. It's kinda just cheap hardwood. Hopefully that will work out well and then I'm building all new cabinets for the camper out of 3/4 birch plywood.

The only part I'm even half way concerned about is by the sliding door, I want to find a good peice of something to cover the gap/ ake a good transition from the flooring to the bus floor.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[whip618]

This is the best site I've found for what
you guys are doing.

www.bulley-hewlett.com/VWindex/intrir1.html

This guy has his act together.

[travisstephens77@hotmail.]

I'll stick to the reflective bubble insulation, less trouble and absolutely no chance that it will ever hold water and rust out my panels.

I do like his soundproofing though.it just seems very very expensive. Those q-pads he's talking about are rediculously priced

[[email protected]]

i had a problem with the stock flooring on mine ripped and curling. i decided to rip it all out.i cut it all out with a razor bade around back seat etc. i went and bought a box of pergo from a flooring store.went in pretty well did'nt have to do any major sealing.its a snap fit floating floor the only problem i had was not a power saw.after i got the floor layed down trimed off with i think 1/4 trim that i stained to matched.now for the problems i've encountered so far...its been in for about 4 months or so.i have'nt noticed any shrinkage of any sort.if you have a stereo and want to put speakers in the back seat do it before you lay the floor,i've had to lay the wires under the trim and hollow those out a bit with a dremel.i really like the look. its very classy looking but they kinda scratch easy ,hauling stuff around etc. so just lay down a blanket.so now thats its done i don't advise it for people who camp alot because of the scratching. i'm actually thinking of laying shag carpet over it already...sorry for the short story hope this helps...good luck....

[Mark]

I recently finished coating the entire cargo floor with Hippo liner - from the walkthrough floor vent to the rear cargo door. That stuff is the s#@!, and it looks great. Tough for hauling anything. It's actually knocked down the noise factor a bit.

[PersianG]

hey sorry 71adventureWagen, i didnt read this post for a while cause i was outta town.

Actually, the sink/closet unit was incredibaly hard to get out. lots of unseen screws/bolts and some seemed to almost come from under the car. Also make sure that you disconnect all the plumbing, that was a source of trouble too.

other than that, id just say pull realllly hard and replace what you break =)

(im my situation at least, most screws were so rusted and stripped i couldnt even take em off.)

[Richard]

I once pulled all the camper gear out of a 71 bus that was stacked on top of two other cars at the local wrecking yard. I had to pull everything out the rear hatch. It was a very interesting project. the only part that was really difficult was lowering the cabinets down to the ground without them getting all beat up...If I ever try something like that again i will be sure to take some help along...