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Is our camper van flooring vinyl? Or is it linoleum? We aren’t 100% sure. However, with our research, we think our campervan flooring is vinyl.
With our minivan camper conversion, we took a completely different approach to the van floor than traditional campervan builds. Since we were dealing with a super limited height inside the van, we had to get creative and cut down on any extra thickness of things from floor to ceiling.
This meant that we would not frame out a van floor plan within the actual flooring of the van, and we also would use a really thin insulation and plywood subfloor. This saved us a lot of space, and honestly made for a really simple van floor installation!
Our Minivan Camper Conversion Vinyl Van Flooring
Great Stuff Expanding Foam (1 bottle)
1/2 inch Polyiso Foam Board Insulation (2 sheets)
5 mm Plywood 4 x 8 Sheet (2 sheets)
3M Aluminum Foil Tape (1 roll)
3M 77 Strength Spray Adhesive (1 bottle, though we recommend 2 of 90 Strength)
Campervan Flooring Vinyl (gifted to us from grandparents)
A Closer Look At Our Camper Van Flooring Vinyl
Great Stuff Expanding Foam (1 bottle) | grab it here
Great Stuff Expanding Foam is used as insulation and glue throughout the entire van build. However, in the campervan floor, it’s specifically used to fill in the gaps in the ribs of the flooring. It’s really not that much space, but if you can insulate it, you should! In our van build, we sprayed Great Stuff Expanding Foam in all the ribs of the floor and then used that to secure the sheet Polyiso foam board insulation to the ground.
These bottles of expanding foam are super nice, as they have a little cap on them so you don’t waste any foam when you’re spraying it section by section!
1/2 inch Polyiso Foam Board Insulation (2 sheets) | check prices here
In our minivan camper conversion, we were extremely limited on space. That meant that even very half inch of thickness made all the difference in the entire build. To insulate our van floor, we used 1/2 inch polyiso foam board insulation. To secure it to the campervan floor, we used expanding spray foam (listed above).
If we had more space, we would have used a thicker piece of polyiso for the floor insulation, as the thicker the insulation, the higher the R-value (how well it insulates). If you have space to give, we recommend using at least 1 inch polyiso foam board insulation in your campervan floor.
5 mm Plywood 4 x 8 Sheet (2 sheets) | find some here
Again, with the size of our campervan, we had to use a really thin cut of wood for the plywood subfloor. We ended up buying 5 mm plywood underlayment from Home Depot and it has held up really well. With that said, it doesn’t work as a support for the rest of the van build. Again here, if we had more space to work with, we would have used a thicker plywood subfloor.
In having a thicker subfloor, you can bolt down the framing of the rest of your build to the floor, providing more security. Instead, we used the van walls as support for our framing.
3M Aluminum Foil Tape (1 roll) | check prices here
We used aluminum foil tape to cover any holes in the metal flooring of the van, to help keep water out. We also used it to tape over any connections of foam board and spray foam insulation, really just to protect the insulation. Lastly, we used aluminum foil tape along the entire perimeter of our campervan floor. This in our mind was to help keep water from seeping down underneath the insulation.
We were going to use caulking, but were afraid of it not drying properly and molding like it did in our first campervan conversion. So, in this build the aluminum foil tape will do the trick!
3M 77 Strength Spray Adhesive (1 bottle, though we recommend 2 of 90 Strength) | check current prices here
Spray adhesive is used in the van floor conversion to stick the linoleum roll out flooring to the plywood subfloor. We used 3M 77 Strength spray adhesive because 90 strength was sold out everywhere… thank you COVID! Instead, we suggest using 90 Strength spray adhesive, and getting two of them instead of one, because one bottle wasn’t actually enough for our campervan floor.
We also sprayed this between the foam board insulation and the metal floor frame of the van. Do not do this!! It doesn’t actually stick well, and the spray foam insulation works as a glue instead! Don’t waste the expensive spray adhesive on this extra bit. Only use it to connect the flooring to the plywood subfloor!
Van Flooring (Vinyl) (gifted to us from grandparents) | find yours here
There are loads of different options for campervan flooring. We think our campervan flooring is vinyl, however, it was leftover from a project my grandparents did, so we’re not 100% sure! They gifted us the perfect amount of flooring for our minivan camper van conversion.
Whatever you choose to use for your van flooring, we suggest making sure it’s waterproof. Waterproof flooring is easier to clean and holds up better to wet feet, wet laundry, and spilled drinks! Amazon does sell square peel and stick tile pieces, that click lock together and may be a good idea, we’ve linked them here. However, I’d be worried with these damaging easily with how dirty the van floor will get. Honestly, one big piece of flooring like ours would be much better.
If you’re looking for vinyl flooring for your campervan, before buying new from Amazon, check your local hardware and flooring stores. Heck, even check on Craigslist. With a camper van conversion, you don’t need much flooring to cover your entire van floor, so you can likely use leftovers of someone else’s project for much cheaper than brand new flooring.
Our Minivan Camper Van Flooring Vinyl in Photos
More Details on Our Minivan Camper Van Flooring Vinyl
Step by Step Guide to Installing Your Campervan Floors (with pictures and video)
How to Insulate Your Campervan Floors (with pictures and video)
9 Common Van Floor Mistakes to Watch Out For (pictures and video)
4 Lessons We Learned While Installing Our Campervan Floor (a quick video)
More Details on Van Builds
Campervan Ceiling Materials | this post but all about the ceiling instead
DIY Flexible Solar Panel Kit | every item we used to mount and install our flexible solar panels
Campsite Lighting Ideas | ways to light up your campground at night
How to Make DIY Insulated Window Covers
11 Vanlife Essentials | made after years of being on the road in a van
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