I need help not shore how or what's need to do floor of van ready for lino or tiles and any pics would really be of help thanks anybody for help on this
I have this to do soon, have been told two layers both 9mm ply. Inner layer undersize to fit between the sills....
Nope...... thats the sum total of my acquired knowledge regarding flooring all used up in one post ...... Give me a few weeks and there will be more experienced based updates...... but I'm stripping and repainting my floor first.
I'm going to be doing this soon too but going to put a load of silentcoat and possibly some old camp mats under it first so not sure I will be able to use two layers of 9mm ply although I thought it was 6mm ply in the recess with 6mm over the top?
@womball , @CandyCamper , @geordieandy This may help: Chip pg4 How many sheets depends on how far you want to go under the R&R bed. Ours just runs under the bed box (coz that type of Westy bed frame has a floor section for strength) which also tilts the bed base back ever so slightly, allowing a bit more strength when deployed. Therefore 1 was enough. Be wary of putting anything absorbent under the wood, & treat it with floor varnish (cheap waterbased stuff from Screwfix etc) before hand to seal it, esp the cut edges. I opted not to put anything else timber wise on top of the 9mm. It just got covered with the vinyl floor. There's loads of speculation re insulation but TBH, just look at all the metal surfaces inside the bus. The ply is a reasonable insulator in itself & we've never had a problem, esp with the propex! You could put a sheet of hardboard over I suppose but watch the thickness around the slider entry. For any filling or imperfections in the floor, use 2 part car body filler. It sets rock hard quickly and is easy to sand
WBP (water, boil proof) exterior ply is quite sufficient so long as you seal the edges. Look for quality birch sheets for 35 to 40 quid a pop. Genuine Marine ply is quite hard to get in anywhere near the old standards since the resins used for ply bonding have gone all 'environmental'. Plus it's daftly expensive & not really necessary unless you're going sailing... Try your local timber merchants
I got mine from Devon Hardwoods in Sidmouth, but any 'proper' timber yard will be able to get it for you. I was suprised how cheap the Marine ply was (£35/sheet) until I saw it, it was not the nice European stuff you build a boat with, but looked like all the ply that comes in from Malaysia. When I mentioned it to the dealer, he told me that they don't bother to import the northern European product as nobody can afford it anymore. Main thing is that the glue is water proof and it doesn't matter what it looks like under the floor covering. Tony
Yeah sorry Tony, I was rushing my earlier reply. What I should have said is that the marketing of marine ply is open to abuse by some suppliers. BS 1088 is the highest standard but it has been known for merchants to label their FEP exterior stuff as 'marine'. There is a lower standard BS 6... something (it's been a long time since I was involved in the bonding resins for plywoods) which allows the use of 'not so pretty' face layers, but still insists on the WBP and no void spec of BS 1088. Sounds like your yard know their stuff, but you'd expect that for a coastal merchant... Just saying to the lads to be aware of being sold something less than they expected...
The 'Marine Ply' I bought was six ply I think, and I did not notice any voids in it when I cut it. Having expounded the virtues of Marine ply, my original floor, fitted in 1976 was made of standard grade 'African timber and Plywood Co., Sapele mahogany plywood purchased in the market in Lagos. When I took the floor up in 2012 prior to the resto. it was in perfect condition. Tony
Me, my sis & bro were in Liberia as kids in the mid 70's. My parents still have some bits of a mahogany outdoor table they brought back that's lived at the bottom of the garden for the last 30 years. It's still perfect! Sustainable, modern timber is just not as good but we used all the good stuff years ago
two 9mm sheets is a lot of ply IMO.....provided the board is adequately supported underneath one 9mm will be more than enough for a van floor. Personally, I'd use phenolic coated board (diamond board) . Search for a local Flight case manufacturer....they'll be able to supply you with a full sheet...ask them nicely and they'll probably cut it for you as well. There are two types commonly used: Diamond Board and Hexa board...the diamond stuff is better quality...often used (18mm!) for HGV trailer flooring..tough stuff As the bus floor is corrugated and slightly below the level of the threshold, you need to 'fill' the corrugations so that the board sits flush with the threshold when fitted....I used closed cell LD foam, but you acn used strips of silent coat, ply or whatever...thin sheet Celotex (kingspan) would be a good bet as this can be compressed sufficiently to fill the corrugations, and will also provide good insulation....
I have been to Liberia very briefly, while ferry flying a helicopter from UK to Nigeria back in '68. After that we were in Warri, Nigeria. We had friends working for African Timber and plywood Ltd. (ATP) in Sapele. At the end their contracts, they would purchase Sapele Mahogany in 8''x 4'' planks from the company and have it sliced into 8x2's and then glued back together with the grain reversed to make 2 ply planks. (stops warping) These were then used to make large packing cases for sea freighting their personal effects home. Once home the crates were deconstructed and the wood taken to a furniture manufacturer to turn it into dining room table and chairs. We still have a Mahogany reclining deck chair, hand made in Sapele from 1970 down in our shed. I cleaned it up and oiled it a couple of years ago, and its as good as new!
And mine! I have 9mm between the sills in the low bits then 3.6 and lino on top. It looks gash to have a thick chunk of wood on the sill / threshold and hard to cover the end tidily. Devon Moonrakers have polystyrene between the sills with thin hardboard/lino on top and that copes (ish). I use the cheapest ply I can get.
