I am constantly amazed at your engineering and attention to detail. When I win the lottery I want you to build my van

Nothing better than working with a team of professionals that care about the quality of their work. Great job team!

George, indeed the holy grail of floor construction. This has been debated on forums to no end. You showed that it could be done.

Nice engineering. And the crew got the floor in pretty fast, including the aligning.

George, you and your team have really got the low down on awesome van builds. This subfloor is cut and placed with exacting precision and synchronization. Beautiful, like smooth jazz. Details, oh my!

The great thing about the team you are building at Humble Road…. Everyone has the same qualities that you have to make perfection the minimum for every step of the build. Congratulations George, you are building something special here. 😎👍✅✅✅✅✅

You are absolutely so precise and attention to detail is exemplary . I so love this show . Tytyty ❤️🙏🏼💜

More awesome ideas. Thanks for sharing them with us! 💖 -Troy & Aimee

George, you are beyond the next level! You are Amazing! What a team!

Many of your videos end in one word - Wow! The perfection is incredible.

Beautiful!!

Thanks again, nice to know about the joists, better late than never. And thanks for the humor. ✌

I think I enjoy reading all the comments almost as much as I enjoy watching your videos😜. Biscuits, dominoes, never knew these terms related to construction😜 More tidbits I’ve learned from you. 👨🏻‍🔧

Hi George Always Enjoy A Humble Road Video .. Thanks

Thank you for dropping more nuggets of wisdom!

Looks a great start. Everything should just fall into place with this accurate foundation. I like how your technique has evolved. Cheers!

Very impressive!

“And then the screwing begins” -Key in reggae outro Great process on the floor. With the cnc, you may not need templates anymore 😉

I'm always happy to see one of your videos. I have 2 dogs and wished we'd fit into a humble rode ride.

Those are the nicest cardboard templates I’ve ever seen lol

Happy Sunday!

Built quality is getting improvised.. 👍

"Mauros Marvels" strike again. 😱 Simple genius. Captivating to watch too. Thank you ! "So many skill sets, so little time."

Though conventional wisdom calls for it, I cannot just stay true to my current location on your Humble Road library of videos (still 2 years back), when notification of your latest video rings. Today is no exception. One cool thing I get to experience here, is the dichotomy which exists between the archive videos and your current Sunday publications. Suddenly, there is a crew that is actually on site to assist you in implementing your ideas, when the time comes to actually schlepp in and out of the van, all of the essential components to your idea. Sure, there is an intimacy aspect that is lost to just you & I (the viewer, calm down ha) being present, when auditing the latest episodes, but, I trust that that is an aspect you have happily retired, when such tasks as moving 85 lb. futons & other bulky, or tedious, chores arise.. Oh well, it’s back to continue the“Humble Road” I was currently traveling…. ***Floor Bscuits, check!*** (I still have the factory floor in on my 2021 ProMaster & “planning” is still the current mantra over here) Prayers to you & yours,

Like a glove.

With a small sharp plane, you could plane a taper angle on four sides of each domino so they would fold in more easily. Or use biscuits if they won't break from extreme angles while bending from harsh angles while assembling.

Hi Noah's (Ark) I am dancing on my ceiling, put another brick in my wall, of joy when I see that how entertaining sub floor laying can be.

Hi George, you are so creative and inspiring, you convinced me I could build my own van. Even with many years of construction experience and a number of years working for architecture firms It is not easy at all. If you want to do it right, you have to really consider all materials and fastening systems is whole new context. Vibration (what I call the perpetual earthquake effect of driving down the road), rust and corrosion from the humidly (human, cooking and the dew point condensation), OMG, my van build has turned into a wake up nightly thinking of new things I should be thinking of or doing deeper dives into. You and your team are doing amazing work, doing it the right way! Okay, enough rambling (I am supposed to be working on the van). I do have a question. I have put in my van floor using the same system as you are using (Plywood over 1" square aluminum tubing glued to the metal deck). I bought stainless steel fasteners and then started to question whether 304 stainless will rust (as it stuck to my magnet). What I am reading says that galvanic corrosion will occur when using stainless steel fasteners into aluminum. Should I worry or just go back to sleep? Galvanized or zinc plated seem like they may not hold up well to moisture. Cadmium plated fasteners maybe. What have I got myself into.

like watching a bespoke suit being made well done team

Well done as usual George. Thanks and keep up the fabulous work! Great team you have assembled there! Have you considered engineered tongue and groove subfloor? The connection is continuous, strong, and designed for expansion and contraction (no glue). I would imagine the cost difference is a factor and I would propose the plywood version not the OSB version.

You have a Myron and a Ron, if I end up working for you, I’m Ron-ron. Then you’ll just need to hire an Aaron.

I just watched a video about one of your builds for "Sam" and his hidden shower.... You are a genius dear sir and I hope if my van life dream ever comes to fruition, that I will have the pleasure of being a client of yours! Thank you for your expertise, business and this video!! And I loved looking at your handsome hands and very clean fingernails!

Wait a second George!! That was a delicious appetizer finely prepared and presented...yet I'm a bit selfish and seem to want more from Chef Chip and the Humble Road Band!!... Can't you direct a full length feature each week in between busting out three or four vans simultaneously?! Was looking forward to a bit more screwing, but I'm simple that way! ;-) As always, wonderful, thoughtful and full of precision with even artful detail behind the walls, or in this case, below the floors! Stay warm!! Cheers! -Perry

You'll build my van. One day! ☺️

This channel includes nice builds and is good source of inspiration and knowledge. Thank you for that. Keep on raising those standards. Is the subfloor mounted to the aluminium beams with adhesive and self tapping screws?

Idea. Build 2 wooden "handles". Screw them to what will be the upper face, an inch Back from the joint you're installing. That will let you lift, twist and position more easily. When it's in, unscrew.

You’ve got a great team, George!! Happy My Ron (🤣) is doing great work for the builds…your business will be everlasting. And, it’s nice to see the young lady working on the team!! Was she just a helper for the day or is she permanent?

Another nice one! I was thinking, maybe sanding the edges of the dominos a bit can help it centre in the slots a little quicker?

I'll be the second commenter. Was waiting for the right video to ask my question. I commenting before I watch it. Maybe you will mention this. Do you get squeaks from the rigid insulation and plywood?

What about using coosa board (light weight fiberglass composite board) instead of plywood? Coosa board is very expensive but lighter and doesn’t rot or swell.

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Great job as always... question not related to sub-flooring - How are you securing the fabricated Stainless shower pans to the subfloor / van floor?... Or will we have to wait for that episode? Thanks George

Connecting the plywood sections is a good idea, biscuits would have worked much easier. I love working with aluminum but it's one of the worst thermal insulators. I'd use square fiberglass rods under the plywood, a bit more money but worth it in my humble opinion.

Excellent Job George with your A-1 crew. So, when are you going to get a short school bus, 22-24’ long and do a build. They are sturdier and wider to make a roomier RV. Wider roof means more solar panels and vents. I bet it will be a hit, because no company are offering the version. Always thinking......

Have you written the book on this yet? I can't imagine a better teacher.

Simple lap joint is much easier to install the sheets (and easy to execute with that CNC). Use a very strong adhesive (or epoxy) to glue the sheets together - the joint will be stronger than the wood and flat as long as you put lots of weight on top while the epoxy is setting up.

great timing on video! working on subfloor this week. Do you glue the plywood to your square aluminum tubing as well? or just screws? thanks!

George, loving this flooring system. Was wondering if have you considered using ZIP System R-sheathing by Huberwood (like home builders are starting to use on exterior walls) and using your CNC to cut it. The Zip system R- sheathing has a water shedding barrier built onto the outer surface (green in the photos), followed by an advantech layer, and a rigid foam layer. You would just need to use the zip flashing tape for the seams. Just spit-balling.

What are the specs on the square tubing you use for the floor? Material, size, thickness, etc. Thanks!

Build de vans, mon, and day will come. I may even get some for I island, mon...

Really nice subfloor, well done. At 6'4" I am always concerned about robbing my overhead clearance. How could you make that subfloor thinner and just as robust?

Ever heard of an auto feed screw gun? Lots of floor guys/deckbuilders use them. Increased efficiency/ergonics (less bending over, or being on your knees).

George, nice progress. Your shop and your vans will all get exponentially better with that CNC. You can now very easily make any tool or jig you want. Just wait until you start cutting aluminum parts. Magnifico! BTW, what do you think of the idea of filling your aluminum square floor joists with insulating foam?

Firstly, I really enjoy watching Humble Road! I'm building my first van conversion and I have found your channel very useful as well as entertaining. Secondly, a question. Have you considered or tried building the floor in quite opposite order? I mean first plywood (but quite a bit thinner) to smooth the ridges, then the XPS foam boards without aluminum bars and then directly on top of that the final floor. The reason I'm asking is because XPS has good compression strength, so if the floor is smooth, I would guess, it would be strong enough. I'm going to experiment with this approach as I need to save height as much as possible. I already tested without the plywood, but the ridges caused some sqweeking.

George, I was rewatching the subfloor video and I think you should abandon the domino (dowel type) mating system you used. I think it might be better to create an edge on one side of each plywood that mates with the next edge like a tongue and groove planks. You could design it so that all you need to do is drop the plywood in, your CNC can cut the edges with the right tolerance built in (for wood to expand/contract) and they easily mate with the next one. More like a half lap and less like a dowel system. No lining up dowels. You could make the mating edges as wide or as narrow as you want, and even line them up so that the screws go through both mating edges and then into the aluminum joists. The big plus is that they just get dropped into place.

Awesome job and great videos. Are you worried about thermal bridging from the van floor through to the aluminum floor struts? Could you also have a subfloor without any framing struts by just gluing larger insulation sheets directly to the van floor and then glue your plywood to foam board insultaion? Is there a benefit to framing the subfloor in this manner?

If anyone could do it and do it with aplomb it would be George and his new crew. I hope a customer comes along to give him the challenge. A cargo van fitted out with scaled back mechanicals that can work during the week and adventure during the weekend or vacation. Roll'in-Roll'out modules with quick connect mechanicals and quick clamp style connectors to secure the modules. Obviously compromises on both cargo and adventure modes. The existing module style 80\20 setup he uses would lend itself beautifully to this. I'm sure his head is exploding with ideas he has not got the opportunity to use yet.

What size of aluminium bars did you use, how much of a weight savings would you make vs wood? 10%, 30% or...? Thanks again

Someday you may sell “piece parts” or kits - here is your cnc cut subfloor pieces for your model, shipping extra! …. Or the template program for folks to contract with a local cnc operator…..

Why not mark the screw holes using the CNC? Just a 16th deep "dot" which the screwhead will cover? . And a 1/2" gap on the sheet at the front of the wheel arch will let it drop without struggle(?) I'm assuming that will be covered by cabinets? . Maybe a finger hole in a convenient spot on the sheet to allow easy handling? (CNC a plug to fill it in the scrap area of the sheet?) Would save a few minutes per van, but it adds up. Edit. It may be easier to install the dominoes on the sheet you're dropping in, rather than the one that's pre-installed? Easier to "aim"?

What kind of crew for 5/8 plywood?

Thanks for sharing. Like 274. View 1770

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KUDOS

Hi George, I was wondering how your going to cover the ugly metal on rear doors, I hope you come up with something good. Im at a lost what to do with mine

Does the alum transfer a lot of cold from van floor to ply?

George, for heated floors, would a heating element go beneath or above the subfloor?

Is that 3/4" marine plywood?

Those dominos seem to be great once they're in but a bit of a pain to install. I'd be tempted to not use the dominos but instead use some backing underneath the joint so the joint can be screwed down to it.

Aluminum joists is better than wood? (Under the floor)

Is there a certain brand of water tank you recommend?

What's the minimum thickness of the ply to make use of these dominos? And what's the difference between dominos and biscuits? Looks like these are just generally beefier than biscuits.

Have you thought about gluing the entire floor together adding some pocket hole screws, then once dried take the whole subfloor in on an angle and slide and drop it into place?

aluminum and foam are glued to van floor, then wood is glued and screwed to aluminum?

George- Quick one here. I'm seeing some insulation with the vapor barrier to the inside and some lacking the barrier. What gives? ps-much snow?

Where do you get all of your cardboard from?

I do not understand why you are using such deep thick biscuits. The thin oval ones do the same job of preventing the two pieces of plywood from flexing independently. I also use wood glue in the plywood seams and you would need to saw a new seem to separate the panels. I also paint both sides to protect the floor from absorbing any moisture **when** there are water leaks or spills. I had a water heater freeze six years ago and I have had no flooring issues. Also I have a mesh membrane under the floor to allow air under the wood floor. I would be interested on your thoughts, maybe I'm missing a potential problem.

Are you using marine grade plywood?

So I guess my question is why not biscuits instead of the dominos? I she been using them for decades in cabinet work. They allow for just a little bit of alignment room.

George, i see you are using a Loctite adhesive now instead of the 3m 5200 to attach your alum. tubing to the floor, which Loctite do you use?

Tong and groove plywood maybe?

First

why not reduce the first 1/4" of the dominoes so they have more wiggle room?

You could have splined that ply super easy, glue one side of spline. A router and a spline bit…..Flooring supply sells spline if you don’t want to make it. Spline won’t affect overall dimensions of pieces like cutting a tongue with a router would. Dominos are great but not in this application. Beautiful work you do on these vans.

Ah youth. No need for knee cushions/pads. My knees don't like kneeling on hard surfaces anymore.

Do you have a contact or website to contact you?

That aluminum beams under the floor? Never saw a more irritating assembly of thermal bridges (yes, frying pans are made of aluminum for that exact same reason - perfect heat/temperature transfer). Here you should definitely go with wood in this place. JFTR, in case there is something squeaking in that Van, unglued dominoes might be a reason for that, like on old staircases a "rubbing" wooden joint…

Aluminum bracing under the subfloor seems like a terrible idea. Aluminum creates a huge thermal bridge as it conducts heat much more efficiently than most materials. The XPS should be able to handle most loads, but if more is needed wood would be better.

I love you! But my god you make the easiest installs so unnecessarily complicated. instead of using one 3/4- 1&1/8 inch thick plywood sheet with dominoes use 2 sheets of 1/2 inch plywood. stager the seams so you have 2 foot overlaps and glue the 2 sheets of 1/2 inch sheets together (plus screws) to create a 1 inch thick solid substrate when finished