I’m completely recovered from Covid and today I’m working with Artie to install the linoleum floor in the van. I’m excited about this project, as it is a major milestone in the van build. The flooring is holding up several other tasks in the van build, so with this completed today it will open up several additional tasks.
It is another scorching hot day with temperatures into the 90’s by noon. So, I started at 7:00 to prep the van for the linoleum install. I vacuumed out the floor of the van with the shop van, then I masked off anything that I needed to protect from getting sprayed with adhesive (e.g., wrapped columns, steps, seats, etc.). After everything was prepped, I enlisted Artie’s help to install the linoleum.
The basic process we were following was from the AVC Rig YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIJkgnfU77A
We started with unpackaging the role of linoleum. The stock size is just over 8′ wide, and my van is just under 6′ wide, so there was almost a foot and a half of extra material on each side. The stock length was over 15′ long, which was also about a foot and a half too long. Better too long, than too short, but it gave us more material to wrestle with. Looking back, we probably should have trimmed down the sheet outside the van instead of doing it inside the van later.
After we unrolled it, we folded it in half length-wise to find the middle of the sheet of linoleum. We marked that middle point with a marker. Then we hoisted the linoleum into the van and wrestled it around until we got the center line of the van sub-floor to align with the center line of the linoleum sheet. Once we had it centered, we screwed down the two ends of the linoleum to the subfloor, so it wouldn’t move around. These two screw holes will eventually be under the stair nosing, so they won’t be seen.
We glued down the linoleum in two steps, with one half of the length of the van in each step. We folded back the linoleum along the center line of the van, using the two screws to ensure the linoleum didn’t move. Then Artie did one last vacuum of the floor and the bottom of the linoleum sheet to ensure that everything was as clean as it could be. Then we used some 3M spray adhesive to coat both the subfloor and the linoleum backing. It took two full cans of spray adhesive to do half of the van. After we let the adhesive set up for a few minuts, we rolled the linoleum into place. I had a roller that we used to avoid any air bubbles under the linoleum. When we got to the wheel wells and pillars, we used utility knifes to make cuts in the linoleum to get it to fit. It was quite a process.
After the first half was done, we folded the other side of the linoleum sheet back and glued the other half down using the same process. After removing the masking materials, I am very happy with the result. I think I’ll go back and use some of the extra linoleum to better wrap the wheel wells. Even though no one is going to see the wheel wells after I put the cabinets in, I think the extra linoleum will help keep the road noise down. Here are some pictures of the final product.
The instructions from the linoleum manufacturer was VERY clear that I need to let the linoleum set after installation for best results. That plus that the temperature was almost 90 degrees already caused me to shut down van build for the day by 11:00. The total project for me was about 3 1/2 hours with 2 1/2 hours of help from Artie. We probably could have used a third person to help wrestle the linoleum (if we were to do it again).
In the afternoon, I contacted Thunderbolt Locks to talk about my problems with the install on the passenger’s side door. Thunderbolt is an awesome company to work with. I spent 15 minutes on the phone with their service tech, Jim, who does many of their YouTube videos. We geeked out on locks! He gave me the best drill bits to buy to make the hole that I was struggling with and he straightened me out on the wiring of the lock. We shared pictures back and forth via text to confirm things. Very informative and helpful. Once I receive the new drill bits, I’ll finish that project.
With the floor completed, there are lots of tasks to work on. I’m looking forward to a big day tomorrow.
The floor looks great. Nice job.