Thermal Insulation, Noise Reduction, Level, Water Resistant

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First Layer

We started by cutting minicel foam to fit between the ribs of the van using double sided tape. The process is time consuming but creates a level surface to work on for the next layers.

You can see in the photo we already installed our custom aluminum rails and secured them to the body of the van. Don’t have a write-up on this one; but needless to say, they are very secure. Whatever we bolt to these rails isn’t going to move.

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Layer 2

The second minicell layer to fit between our aluminum rails. Again, we use double sided tape to keep the layers from moving. We also used Gorilla tape to connect the minicel panels.

Tip: For a perfect fit, we used the plastic floor that came with the van as a template and then measured a dozen times the rails to get our cuts spot on. Use a new knife!

Final Layer

Pick your favorite floor.

We went with a Waterproof Laminate for two reasons:

  1. The laminate is thin enough so that our rails are flush, and doesn’t take much more away from the interior (we are trying to conserve headspace)

  2. The laminate has a little bit of flex which will help avoid problems down the road as the material expands and contracts with changes in temperature.

Hint: Avoid a major mistake — We though it would be smart to seal the 1/16th in. groove between the floor and aluminum rail. We used 3 different products. In the end they all failed or looked terrible. Spent an entire afternoon pealing off the caulking. In the end only we can see the small 1/24th in. groove because we were on our knees staring at it.

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