We can't put it off any longer... it's time for the van window install! Meaning we need to cut a huge hole in the side of our van conversion! For our van build we wanted a nice sliding window in what will eventually be our kitchen 🙂
We learnt that fitting van bonded windows can be quite a nerve-wracking experience as unlike some of the other parts of the build, you can't really do this one twice! So we tried to spend some time figuring out the process in our minds before we started to install the window, and it went... mostly ok! What's life without a few mishaps along the way?
We cut the window hole fine, filed it down and added a bit of hammerite around the edges. But when we came to put the trim on, we realised it didn't fit snug. It was designed to go over both skins of the van and so when we were trying to put it on, it just fell off. We debated just not using the trim and keeping the smaller sized hole, which would have worked, but in the end decided to enlarge it and continue as before. After a bit of head scratching and detouring to make the hole bigger, we ended up losing the rest of the daylight. (Summer, where are you!?).
Because of that it was pitch black before we were able to get the primer and sealant on, which is not the best of conditions by any means. We would have liked to have stopped at this point and continued on in the morning when it was lighter (and warmer!) but unfortunately there was a huge storm due in the early hours of the morning and we didn't fancy leaving our van with a giant hole in the side of it during that!
Lesson learnt... do not undertake something like a window install unless you've got decent weather ahead of you. It was hard though, as Winter has really slowed things down, and if we didn't put it in at this point we were looking at another almost 2 week delay...
Because it was so cold, it was incredibly hard to get the sealant out of the tube (it's really viscous), and the only way we could get it to flow was to track the gun round with a heatgun to warm it up. We later realised our caulking gun is not very powerful too (we upgraded it for the next windows, big difference!).
Eventually we got the window in and retired for the night exhausted. The next day it was still in place, so passed the first test! Unfortunately, there were a few small drip marks along the top edge, not surprisingly given the conditions we had, but a bit of a let down. Oh well, we'll figure out a way to fix that later. (Now done... ended up being a bit more complicated than we first thought.... but that's for a later video...!).
With thanks to Ian and Pip for holding the lights up for us as we put the sealant around the window :)
Looks great having it installed, looks more like a campervan from the outside now!
Thanks for watching! Leave us a comment if you have any ideas, we'd love to hear them! 🙂
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Products used in this video (includes affiliate links *):
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