Friday, June 8, 2012

New Eurovan floor

I completed the new floor for my 1993 Eurovan Weekender. Here is a photo (I've since put back the thresholds and added pinstripes (black silicone caulking in the seams):

Nearly complete

Starting the project
I will post more photos soon. As far as the work, I started by ripping/removing the old carpet. I required that I use pliers, my hands, a scraper/chisel, a utility knife and a belt sander. I first pulled up the carpet in large pieces trying to peel it off. I'd use the scraper/chisel to get started. Then use pliers and my hand to peel it back. Once the piece was too big/unwieldy, I'd cut it with the utility knife. Then start again. Once I had the wood floor mostly exposed, I used the belt sander to remove the rest of the carpet remnants and adhesive.

Carpet nearly all removed.  Ready to belt sand with heavy grit.
Next, I used large sheets/roll of paper to create a template for each side piece. I did a fair job, but the more care you take here... the better your end result will be. With the long strips (3) of oak veneer 1/8" that I used, it is important to align your wood pieces because just a little offset can make a big difference.  I started with (2) 4' x 8' sheets of the 1/8" oak veneer, pretty inexpensive at a local hardwood shop.  I ended up with extra, but one sheet simply wasn't enough.

Next, I rough cut the wood. Then I placed the side pieces in and adjusted as needed. It really helps to have a Dremel/rotary tool to trim/sand the edges. A better template will minimize this effort.

Once the side pieces were in, I measured the for the center piece width. I anticipated leaving a gap between the wood pieces to give it a nice look that I filled in with black silicone caulking (not show in this photo). It give a pinstripe look at the seams between the 3 pieces of wood.

Then I finished with some cleanup and three coats of a floor grade clear varnish. The rear plastic threshold fit right on the wood nicely. But the side door is somewhat unfinished, as the threshold is curved. I intend to cover it with some rubber/plastic at some point.

5 comments:

  1. Very nice! Do you have more pictures? More details? I am planning to do the same! Thanks. Andrea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I updated the blog post with some more info.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you have any thoughts of putting insulation / sound barrier under there first? Not sure that even makes sense, just thought I'd ask. Thx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, there was already a 3/4" plywood floor that was securely attached with the carpet glued on top (not sure how the wood is attached to metal). If I did it again, I would probably investigate just to see if a layer of insulation/sound deadening would be possible. I guess I still could since the floor is attached to the plywood... but I've got some other tasks to handle first. Might revisit in the future.

    ReplyDelete