Week 18 - Seat Upholstery 1

This week my mum started upholstering the seats to go in the back of the van. We had picked out the fabric earlier and she got straight to work with making the covers for the seats. I don’t know the details, she is the sewing wizard not me, but I can supply some pictures…

Week 17 - Storage Bench 2

Now the bench storage can be fitted and finished. I wired the plug sockets up and ran the wiring through a hole in the floor back to under the front passenger seats where the electrics will be. The same was done with the 12v cable at the back of the van to the rear light (and later, 2x 12v sockets).

Then the unit was fitted in place and the mains sockets where built-into the hole in the front face. This position can supply both the kitchen area and the seating area easily. There will be a storage area either side of the wheel arch and a space to sit down in between, above the wheel arch, for use when cooking etc.

The lids/seat could now be cut to exact sizes.

Week 16 - Skirting Boards

By this time I am getting a bit bored of staining and varnishing but there is still more to do when it comes to the skirting boards. I plan to access the space under the kitchen units in order to connect/disconnect the waste water hose to the waste container under the van. I will therefore create a removable panel at the front and fix the skirting around the sides. 

It also allows lower positioned gas cylinders and water containers which give more cupboard space.

Some general house skirting board was picked up from B&Q. It was stained and varnished as usual and then affixed to the walls of the van. This skirting board has 3 purposes:

• It will help prevent the threads at the edge of the carpet from fraying and unravelling.
• It covers the edge where the wooden floor meets the wall and the dirt/imperfections of the carpet where it was located on the end of the roll.
• It looks great.

The skirting around the kitchen units was made from 9mm Ply and glued to batons fixed on the bottom of the units.

Week 15 - Table

Week 15 was the creation of the table to fit in between the 2 sets of seats. I was able to make use of a couple of elements out of the old caravan I had earlier dismantled. First, a locking table leg which folds flat to the table for easy storage, and second, the table and wall trim pieces which lock together to secure the table in place.

First things first though, 2 pieces of 9mm ply were glued generously together to form a piece 18mm thick (9mm was a bit too flimsy and not thick enough to fit the table leg to). This was then cut to the shape of the table with a jigsaw and a baton clamped to the table to guide it in a straight line. After checking the size, I then cut out a notch which was required to fit around one of the beams which hold up the bunk bed. The table was stained (3 times) and varnished (twice) just like the other furniture.

I then fitted the leg to the table with screws and Araldite glue to make sure it was secure and then did the same with the table mounting trim. I used a spirit level (take care that the van itself is level when doing this) to check where the opposing trim needed to be fitted to the wall to ensure the table would sit level. Once this was determined, the trim could be screwed to the wall and the table is finished.

Here is a picture (taken later in the build) after I realised I didn't post a picture of the table installed in the seating/dining area.

Week 14 - Book Boxes

After much measuring, I was able to fit the rear seats in the van. The 3-seat unit faces backwards from the cab with the smaller 2-seat unit facing forwards opposite it. A table will go in between. There is a gap between the cab divider and the seats because the non-fixed furniture such as the bunk bed panels and the (soon to be made) table are to be stored behind here. The exact seat locations took a lot of care to position correctly due to avoiding stuff under the van – like the fuel tank! The seats were then firmly bolted in place.

To go with the bench storage, I created two “book-box” units to fit next to the seats. Again, most of the time was taken in staining and varnishing these units but they looked good once finished and I could layout their exact arrangement.