Well its been a bit of a slog since the last update, but we’re nearly done with the plywood lining of the van now so thought it was time for a brief update. We did the plywood lining on the ceiling first, then the walls, then the floor. In hindsight, we probably should have done things the other way around, or at least the ceiling then the floor, as it would have made fitting the floor sections easier.
We’re aware that commercial panel vans are fairly “unrefined” in terms of comfort – after all, they’re normally used for hauling building supplies or clothing or whatever around the country and little consideration is likely to have been given to sound proofing. Our van isn’t too noisy although we haven’t tried driving it since we removed the bulkhead separating the cab and load areas, so it probably is quite noisy right now!
We’ve installed a bunch of sound proofing/deadening mats (SilentCoat) which are quite heavy (4m2 = 12kgs?) self adhesive, flexible mats, which we’ve chopped up into small sections and dotted around the roof and wall panels to try and help reduce road noise etc. It seems quite effective, or at least, as far as can be determined by walking along the outside and rapping on the panels to see the difference between treated and untreated areas.
The mats cost about £75 for 4 sq.m which isn’t as bad as some of their competitors like DynaMat. We’ve covered the roof and walls with plenty of mats left over for the floor and wheel arches, and whatever is left will be used in the cab area, under the flooring and/or in the doors.
SilentCoat sound insulation mats being added to the side and roof panels ahead of thermal insulation
Around the World in a Campervan 