Days #15 & 16 Van Build – 6/6/25 & 6/8/25

I’m combining two days onto this blog post, because they were both short days

On Friday night (the 6th), I removed the weights from the first seven joists that we had glued down the night before. I saw that they had slid around a little. Not much, about a 1/4″ to a 1/2″. The joists were still securely glued down, and I had no issues with a little slippage. But, it was not ideal for them to slip from their original position. Here is an image of the joists having moved off of the purple line.

For the back seven joists, I didn’t want them to slide at all, because I am screwing L-Track through the floor and into the aluminum joists. I really want the L-Track to be in the correct spot, so I can obtain the strongest bond of the L-Track to the floor. So, I decided to use the 1″ foam insulation board to ensure that the remaining joists stay where I want them to be glued down. So, I placed the last seven joists in the van and cut out the foam insulation board between each of the joists. One board was a little harder to cut, because I had to cut around the wheel well. Another board was harder because I had to cut around the back van supports near the rear doors, and I needed to cut out a hole in that foam board for the access to the spare tire. At that point, it was getting dark, so I stopped for the day after less than two hours of work.

On the 7th, I didn’t work on the van at all. Instead a did a 64 mile supported bike ride. After getting home from the bike ride and showering, I didn’t have it in me to get all sweaty working on the van. So, I took the rest of the day off.

On the 8th, in the morning, I got Artie and Elizabeth to help me glue down the last seven joists along with the insulation that went inbetween each joist. Here are a few pictures of the process.

Here is what the floor of the van looked like with all the back joists glued down, but before adding the weights to sit on the joists while they cure.

Artie and Elizabeth only needed to help out for about 15 minutes, as it was a quick process since I had prepped everying in advance.

I then worked to cut out the five remaining strips of foam board insulation for the front of the van (I had cut out one piece on Friday night). I was making good progress and had three of the five cut out, but then my utility knife blade broke and I cut myself when the blade broke loose. It was just a minor cut, but after cleaning it up and bandaging it up, I decided to call it a day to give the cut time to heal. I should have been wearing gloves when working with the utility knife, and will in the future.

I’ll finish cutting the last two pieces of foam board tomorrow. Also tomorrow, we’ll do a final fit and start gluing down the subfloor.