Research, research and more research....

by Unknown December 05, 2015 0 comments Conversion

So we're picking up the van in a couple of weeks on the 18th December. Initially we thought we'd have around a month to get the insulation and carpeting done before the van goes in to get the windows and bed fitted, but I got word yesterday that I'll be going in for surgery on the 29th December with a minimum two week recovery and six weeks with no heavy lifting, which sort of puts our timing under a bit of pressure. So, rather than a month to do the work, I've got nine days and Christmas is in the middle of that. With a young family, I don't think disappearing out to the van for the whole of the holiday is an option. The plan, at the minute, is to get as much done as possible before I go into hospital and hopefully not leave too much to do, at least nothing that involves heavy lifting, for when I'm recovered. We're still aiming for the van to go back for bed and window fitting at the end of January, which is hopefully achievable.  I was hoping to fit the units myself too. After fitting a couple of kitchens to houses in the past, I was quite keen to give it a go. The operation means that I wouldn't be able to start this until realistically mid February. Giving myself a conservative three or four weekends to complete is already pushing into the end of March, way beyond our original hopes of a trip away in February, so we're starting to think about getting the units fitted by Rockinvans too. We'll have to juggle our finances to meet the extra costs, but that's a job for another day.
So with the tight deadline, Christmas post deadlines and the fact that most places close over the Christmas period, I need to order everything I need in the next week or so and try to pre-empt any issues. Not having the van yet, it's hard to visualise what I'll need and how much I'll need. This means lots and lots of research. My go to place has been the T5 Forum. There is a wealth of information on here and many, many knowledgeable people who have done it before and more than happy to impart their knowledge. From the forum, I've found a number of other blogs that have been a wealth of information. Most notably stone174.blogspot.co.uk and robsvwt5.blogspot.co.uk.
One of the first things I found when I started researching insulating and carpeting was that there are loads of ways to do it and everyone has a different opinion on it. I decided to just do what looked and felt right for me.  It could be completely wrong, but it is what I'm going to do.
First - sound deadening. Panel vans are noisy - very noisy. I found this blog by the Sound Deadening Shop, which looked to be just the ticket. So, first on my list is a bulk pack of 2mm Silent Coat. I wanted to follow the block and use the Dodo Thermo Van Liner, but it is out of stock everywhere. I went back through what Stone174 had used and decided to follow the same approach and use Celotex and Foil wrapped thermal bubble insulation. For the Celotex, a joiner pal of mine had a couple of sheets of 25mm Quinn Therm. For the bubble insulation, I ordered two rolls of ThermaWrap. Here's hoping it's enough!
Carpet wise, I decided to order 12m of mega stretch lining carpet from MegaVanMats, helped by the fact there's a £10 discount for forum members.