Lining

You will of course want to line the inside of your van at some stage and probably finish that lining with some type of wall covering. Although the section on lining is printed here, before the section on ‘services’, many builders will want the electric wiring installed, but not connected, before lining the van. Obviously to do that you will need to know where you will be putting any distribution panels or fuse boxes as well as where each appliance will be situated. Not forgetting lighting, especially if you will be having lights in the ceiling.

It is often possible to reuse any ply lining that was in the van when you bought it, but that obviously depends on its condition and probably on what you might intend to cover that with as a finish. If you need to buy new ply then 6mm thickness is the most commonly used for wall lining as it is thin enough to be a little flexible but thick enough to be fairly rigid to get nice smooth walls in the van. For the floor, thicker ply than this is generally used in conjunction with whatever insulation is chosen.

As you are now into what could be regarded as the ‘build proper’ you will need to be aware that the heaver the materials you use in the process of your conversion, the less weight you will be able to load into the van when you’re off on a trip in it!

Once the walls are lined they can be covered. Some builders will cover the walls at this stage, whilst others prefer to build the furniture units in first and then cover what’s left.
There are many fabrics on the market that can be used as wall covering. Soft flax or vinyl paper from motorhome parts suppliers, very thin carpet from… well, very thin carpet shops, or even good thick wall paper from… yes, you guessed!

DVLA requirements for a van to be classified as a ‘Motor caravan’