Right from the start, we knew we wanted wood paneling finish in our DIY camper van conversion. It is fairly easy to obtain a nice & clean finish with the tongue and groove paneling: each plank will sit flush to the adjacent planks, creating a uniform & continuous surface.
The planks are relatively thin at 5/16” thickness, making them flexible enough to conform to the van funky surfaces. We did not sand the planks, but we finished them with varnish to protect them against a spaghetti incident.
TIME SPENT ON THE JOB
40h approximately (including furring strips installation)
TOTAL COST
TBD$ USD
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MATERIAL
- Knotty Pine Wood Paneling, 5/16″ thick X 4″ wide x 96″ long (We bought them from our local Rona)
- Baltic Birch Plywood Sheet, various thicknesses (We bought them from our local shop in Montreal, Langevin Forest)
- #6 Screws, length 1/2″ and 5/8″. We used brass screws for the aesthetics… (Buy on Amazon)
- Cross Nut (Buy on Amazon)
- Varnish
TOOLS
- Jigsaw & Blades (Buy on Amazon)
- Power drill (Buy on Amazon)
- Drill bits (Buy on Amazon)
- Countersink Drill Bits for Power Drill (Buy on Amazon)
RESSOURCES
- There’s nothing to see here.
PRE-REQUISITE
HERE IS HOW IT GOES!
Furring Strips
The wood paneling is not attached directly to the van; it’s attached to furring strips that we first installed. We installed furring strips every 2 feet or so, depending on what was possible. As usual, we did not use metal screws; we used Cross Nut (Buy on Amazon) to attach the furring strips to the van walls. Not familiar with Cross Nut? That’s fine, we made an article (size guide, how-to, etc) here:
The furring strips are made from Baltic Birch Plywood; it is a high-quality plywood. For the same thickness as regular plywood, there are more layers and the material characteristics are more uniform.
It was super important for us to maximize the living area, therefore we did not want to “overdesign” the furring strips: instead of using typical 2″x 3″ straight stud frames, we used 1/4″ or 3/8″ or 1/2″ thick Baltic birch plywood furring strips that conform to the van curved surfaces. It made the fabrication of the furring strips & the installation of the paneling much more time consuming, but we’re very glad we did it!
The furring strips are generally 4” wide. We used ½” thickness plywood for the ceiling, 3/8” thickness plywood for almost-flat surfaces of the walls and ¼” thickness* plywood where we wanted the paneling to conform to the van curvatures.
*Disclaimer: ¼” Baltic birch plywood is THIN! Will it withstand the test of time? We think so, but if you choose the do the same, do it at your own risks! ¼” “regular” plywood is probably not strong enough (it will probably crack at screw locations). If you’re using the van as a cargo or if you plan on attaching heavy stuff to the wall, ¼” is probably not strong enough.
Wood Paneling
The wood paneling is screwed into the plywood furring strips, every two feet or so. We used #6 countersink screws in brass material, because the brass blends well with the wood color. To avoid the paneling to crack, we pre-drilled and countersunk every hole before screwing into it. This is time consuming, but the pine is quite soft and will crack at installation or later with the cold/hot/vibration.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
Does the wood paneling squeak? It does yeah. We learned to live with it and we don’t really mind it. Music easily covers the squeaks 🙂 To get rid of it, we could probably apply a little of Silicone between plans (and between planks / furring strips), but then it would be difficult to remove them afterward if it’s needed for some reasons.
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ABOUT US
Hello! We’re Isabelle and Antoine 🙂 In 2017 we sold our house (and everything in it), quit our engineering careers and moved into our self built campervan. We’ve been on the road since then and every day is an opportunity for a new adventure; we’re chasing our dreams and hopefully it inspires others to do the same!
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CHEERS!
Hi Antoine, are your ceiling boards connected to anything forward of the furring strip attached to the ceiling rib closest to the cab? Up where it ends above the headliner and you made the nice L shape piece covered in fabric?
Thanks for the help!
It’s the “pressure” that hold them there; because they are curved. There are no screws at the headliner.
Hope that make sense! Cheers!
Hi Antoine, I’ve been getting inspiration from your build and am starting on a similar layout. Thank you for sharing.
I was wondering what you did with the harness of wires that runs above the rear doors and along the driverside wall. It looks like you ran them above the cieling above the rear doors? I was thinking of paneling over them along the wall as well. Thanks again.
Tim
That’s correct, we relocated it (a few inches) higher, on the ceiling and it’s covered by the wood paneling.
Good luck 🙂