Hi Effie!! You bring up some fantastic points, and issues that I also gave hours and hours of thought to. In my estimation, using a large dollop of adhesive between the van floor and the aluminum rails will serve as a small thermal break. I've been planning on measuring the surface temperature of the flooring once I can reasonably try to heat the interior of the van, paying special attention to the areas directly above the aluminum rails to see if they are in fact acting as thermal bridges, and I'll for sure be making a future video showing the tests. Also, you totally hit on something I plan on addressing in part 2 of this video. Spoiler alert, if I could do it over again, the only real change I think I'd make is I would go up to 1.5" foam board and 1.5" aluminum rails. It's hard to say how critical that .5" is until I get the finished ceiling in, but I suspect at my height of 5'10", I'll probably care more about having warmer flooring. And finally, ***I would so, so strongly advise against running your plumbing through your flooring.*** George at Humble Road used to do exactly that and has moved completely away from the practice citing the risk should any of the plumbing components leak. You'd genuinely have to remove all of your interior build in order to gain full access to plumbing routed through the subfloor.

Effie, I can appreciate the idea around fiberglass rods and heat transfer but wouldn't those be outrageously expensive?

@@ErikJohnson2020 Depending on my van layout I may need to run plumbing under the floor. The plan is to run a PEX pipe inside a square fiberglass tube (aluminum is also an option) from one side of the van to the other, I’ll have an access point at each end (out of sight) so the pipe can be changed if necessary. There will be no fittings down there and my only (small) concern is movement of the pipe inside the tube, maybe some silicon can take care of this. I follow George and I admire the work he is doing but some things I will do different, not necessarily better, just using my knowledge and experience to make it work for me.

@@brianchetelat6601 That's what I thought, did some research and found some reasonable options, more expensive but not outrageously so. (can't write product name, my reply is not being posted ???)

@@effie2206 Understood.

Thank you!! I put a lot of thought into the design of the subfloor, in the efficiency of the layout, the overall strength, and longevity of the system. Time will tell, but it's been absolutely rock solid thus far.

Thank you!!! I really like your detailed feedback! 😉 Hope to see you in the comment section on future videos!

Thanks De! 🥰

Glad it was helpful!

One plywood sheet!? Lol, I think I used something like 90% of the three sheets in my build.

Glad you liked it!

I suspect it certainly transfers a little bit of heat/cold, but that's just one of the trade-offs I chose to ensure I had a rock-solid foundation that wouldn't rust or rot over the years. That said, I've also tried measuring the temperature at the surface of my subfloor to see if the areas directly above the aluminum ribs were noticeably colder than the areas with just foam, and at least with my laser thermal gun, there isn't any difference. Hope that helps!

Hey Brian! Glad to see you're still here!! 🥰 Any ETA on when your van is gonna be delivered?

@@ErikJohnson2020 Some time in February but I'm not holding my breath : )

Currently an electric carving knife is the forerunner of tools I'm planning on using when I get to cutting my custom fit mattress. 😅

LOL! I love the "back of the napkin" math because I can 100% relate to that step. Yeah, the budget for van conversions has a remarkable ability to balloon. I'm already within spitting distance of matching the same budget of our entire 3bd 3ba remodel, and my van build is only something like 80 square feet. 😅 So just hitting the big categories, my budget is as follows: Electrical System: $8,629 Exterior Improvements: $3,905 Temperature Control: $2,920 Kitchen: $3,601 Water/Plumbing: $755 Bathroom/shower: $1,507 Insulation: $2,200 Windows & Flares: $3,210 Lighting: $128 Swivel Seats: $850 Cabinetry & 80/20 Rails: $3,748 Flooring: $504 Specialized Tools: $409 Unexpected/Misc: $3,018 Total: $35,384 So I'm no accountant, but basically my approach was to lump all the consumables or materials that might be used across multiple projects into the "misc" category, and just hope that my "10%" cushion covers it all.

Sadly, my cheap-o caulk gun's clipper does a horrible job of actually cutting. 😢

Well I'm probably about 90-ish % finished with all of the materials acquisitions for the entire build, and including the cost of the vehicle itself the total cost of my conversion is $93,705.75 Hope that helps!

Thank you Mary Anne!! 🥰🥰 And remarkably so far I think I've only gone to Home Depot/Lowes a total of 4 times? But I'm certain that once I get into the cabinetry and the and the finishing woodwork it'll be a very different story.

!!!!Thanks Lauren!!!! I'm stoked that you left a comment so that I could know who you were too! 🥰 Hope you're enjoying the content!

Thank you! 😊 And yes, this is the extended length version of the Ford Transit 350, with the single rear-wheel.

Thank you!

I know that FarOutRide made that same recommendation to add a little more insulation to the floor system. However, George at Humble Road suggests, and I agree, that intentionally leaving those channels open allows for increased airflow to minimize the inevitable buildup of water (condensation) and resulting rust or mold growth. Sure it's less insulation, but the tradeoff is worth it in my mind.

cant anchor the floor to vinyl

I also thought the metal would transfer heat, cold. What about the bed liner spray and epoxy self leveling floor. Water couldn't get in and maybe ok for insulation and quiet.

Quit splitting hairs. It’s a van. It’s not like the aluminum completely negates the insulation. And if you believe it does. … you’re the idiot.

I'm planning on waiting until I have the finished flooring installed, then drilling an access hole through all of the layers at the same time and then installing a removable metal cap to gain access on demand.

Also, the access key isn't covered with an aluminum rail. You can see at 18:38 timestamp that first rail is positioned next to, but not above the access key. The camera angle might make it confusing.

If you want to see the spec sheet for the R-tech extruded polystyrene rigid foam boards that I used (including their water resistant properties), you can find that info here: www.insulfoam.com/insulation-panels/

I explain why at the end of part two, so if you haven't watched that yet, I'd recommend it. But the short answer is air flow.

@@ErikJohnson2020 Thank you!!! ❤️❤️❤️

I initially planned to spray expanding foam inside the centers of the aluminum tubing, but at the end of the day it was one more step with questionable impact.

@@ErikJohnson2020 I guess if you were going to do that the best time would be after cutting to length and pre-installation. It'd require a 3' long extension hose so you could guesstimate the foam flow as you withdraw on each piece. That's the unfortunate thing about aluminum, it may be light and quite strong for this purpose but thermally transfers super fast. Your quite thick plywood floor will help slow that transfer. You had quite a few good ideas during this floor project. I'm going to be copying some of them. After a year now are you still squeak free? And, is there a reason I haven't thought of to use below grade basement category pressure treated slats instead of the aluminum? It'd be lighter, cheaper, strong enough if ripped to a full 2" thick, and even easier to work with. I would plan on sealing the cut ripped edge to discourage moisture or ants. I think being well sealed beneath normal plywood would isolate the health risks of having PT in your bedroom. Probably the insulation panels are a greater risk of off gassing. Did you notice one commenter said you were lucky you didn't use iso type? Said it loses its R value and off gases poisonous byproduct within about 10 years. Don't know if true or not? I think there are other factors that might come into play at times in these scenarios. Example, a foam piece glued down to a steel floor which maybe gets too hot from an exhaust location and once the heat shield rusts away, then prone to extreme heat and quite possibly unhealthy off gassing. That sorta thing..

Trex would probably do just fine as a subframe material that's mold and water resistant, but I'm not sure the price savings would actually offset the additional time needed to mill/process the trex down to your exact size requirements. The big advantage to aluminum ready-tube is that you just cut it to length, and you're done. Plus the Hollow core of the aluminum tube probably means it'd be less weight vs the Trex.

My plan....picked up 2x4 last night.

As I mentioned at the start of the video, there are a couple of reasons I didn't take that approach. 1) It would have required one more 4x8 sheet of plywood and rigid foam to allow you to trace out a full template. You can find hundreds of videos of other people doing exactly that. It's a waste of materials and honestly takes longer to do. 2) The padded flooring from the factory isn't actually an exact match to the van's floor. If you buy one, you'll see that it's actually just shy of 1" smaller in every dimension vs the van walls. So if you use the carpet for your template, you'd be losing nearly 2" of extremely valuable floor space when it's all said and done. Hope this helps!

@@ErikJohnson2020 I see. Thanks for the reply.

Aluminum is significantly lighter weight, and is effectively mold/rot-proof. Wood is much less expensive, and is slightly more insulating (though, still isn't a good insulator), but with prolonged exposure to moisture will eventually rot. RVs probably have more in common with boats than they do with houses, so designing everything to be marine grade will almost assuredly save you future headaches. Hope this helps!

@@ErikJohnson2020 Typical DIY, overkilled, no engineering.

@@AZRockRunner Thanks for sharing :-(.

You could, but the mat was about 1" (2cm) smaller than the wheel wells, and I wanted a tighter fitting floorboard so I made the template. Hope that helps!

Correct. For several reasons: 1) Rigidity. The entire build is going to sit on top of this foundation, and I want it to be as solid of a connection as possible, with zero room for compression/movement. 2) Mold/rot. Water is going to condense, and then collect on the floor of the van, and this is unavoidable. I didn't want any material near the floor of the van that can rot, mold, or break down over time. Even if the material is impervious, I don't want anything that might inhibit airflow for moisture evaporation. 3) It's not needed. All the insulation and plywood layers, plus the finished flooring and rugs all add to the noise absorption of the entire floor system. I promise you, the shit inside your van rattling around is 10x louder than any road noise.

@@ErikJohnson2020 very good explanation and just the elements I was pondering for mine. Your build is the best I’ve seen and made the most sense for the moisture issue. Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge and insight. Now that you’ve been using it for a couple years, how has it held up?

Light weight, won't rot or rust, and extremely strong foundation for the entire van build.

The foam will collapse with weight.

@@sonofrobert It's been 18 months, I've loaded thousands of pounds of tools onto my flooring numerous times, and the foam isn't compressing whatsoever. The entire point of the aluminum joists/studs spaced at 18" with a 3/4" thick plywood sub-floor is to distribute all the weight to the aluminum and not the foam.

Stuff is overused. There is no real reason for it on the floor.

Correct, once the finished floor is installed, I plan to drill an access hole and install a removable metal cover for it. But good eye!

he explained in the video and comments

I think foam is a mistake because you have to joist it and it still could sag.

If you don't want to have to rip it up in 4-5 years because it is rotting out from under you, than yes, it does. Sincerely, go look at videos of vanlifers who've been in their van for a few years, and the prevalence of mold and rot issues they have under their floors. Moisture + no air flow + wood = rot.

@@ErikJohnson2020 who the hell lives in a van for 5 years? Also, why is there water in the van in the first place? Good thing there is pressure treated plywood out there for those driving thru rivers.

🤦‍♂️I shouldn't, but I will attempt to explain. Anytime you create a temperature controlled environment, meaning the temperature inside your awesome adventure van is different from the temperature outside, you will create condensation. Think of the condensation that collects on the outside of a cold glass of water on a hot summer day. You will have that exact same condensation effect taking place on the metal walls, ceiling, floors, and even glass windows of your van, but because the total surface area in a van is about 1000x larger than a drinking glass, you're going to be creating about 1000x more condensation within your van. The only way to avoid this would be keeping the temperature inside your van the exact same as the temperature outside, and that sounds like a pretty shit idea on a cold winter night or a hot summer day. So, once you understand that you are going to be creating condensation within your van, and that gravity is going to pull ALL of that moisture to the bottom of your van, underneath your floors... Are you starting to understand the problem? Who wants to invest tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours of their time into building a van that is going to rot out from underneath them? But if that's your goal, by all means, knock yourself out.

@@ErikJohnson2020 yea you really shouldn’t have put in all that effort. I don’t even care to read all that, I’m building mine now, vapor barrier and 3/4 ply on top. Good enough for me. 🤷‍♂️

I already have tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools. I sincerely do not want, or need, yet another tool that only serves one purpose, and would only be used once in my lifetime. Others might appreciate the input though.

How much thought did you put into this comment before posting? Obviously not much.

Jack ass

Oh Theo, my sweet Summer Child. While you're correct that some thermal bridging does take place through the aluminum tubes, it's not even remotely close to enough to negate the insulation of the entire subfloor system. I've measured the temperatures of my floor using a lazer thermometer, and the widest temperature swing is 2° between the fasteners and the dead center of the rigid foam boards. Now the part that actually matters, and what you seem incapable of comprehending, is that aluminum won't rot, mold, or rust. And given condensation inside a temperature controlled RV is absolutely unavoidable, any other material that you might choose for better "insulation" properties WILL ABSOLUTELY ROT out from under your entire RV build. Go look at old RV renovations and see how extensive rot damage is in every single one of them. Also, learn how to research an idea before you go vomit your ignorance onto someone else's comment section.