Follow along with our Toyota Hiace campervan conversion project as we install vinyl flooring! This comprehensive tutorial shows you the proper techniques while also revealing common mistakes that can cost you time and money.
Episode Highlights: Professional vinyl cutting methods for campervan step areas Step-by-step installation process with detailed explanations How to achieve smooth, bubble-free results Essential trimming techniques for professional-looking edges Real-world problem solving when things don't go as planned
We're converting our 2016 Toyota Hiace Super Long Wheelbase High Top 4x4 Japanese Import into the ultimate adventure vehicle. This flooring episode is a crucial step in our build process, setting the foundation for our dream campervan interior.
Perfect for DIY enthusiasts, van life dreamers, and anyone interested in vehicle conversions. We share both successes and failures to help you learn from our experience.
Timestamps: 0:00 Laying Vinyl Floor in a Hiace Campervan - 5 Tips and 1 Huge Fail 0:17 Introduction 0:33 Vinyl Pieces Cut to Fit Installation Area 1:00 Installing Vinyl into Step Area 2:04 The Next Day 4:25 Dressing Up the Face of the Steps 6:43 Working on the Fuel Filter Access Hatch Trim
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00:00Off they go, bags in tow, Matt and Chrissie hit the road, maps unfold, stories told, adventures never getting old.
00:10Matt and Chrissie roam so free, through the city, past the sea, finding joy in every mile.
00:17G'day, it's Matty from Couple of Cities again and today we are moving on to putting the vinyl down on the steps.
00:24So I've already gone to the trouble of measuring all these fiddly little jigsaw puzzle pieces out and I'll give you a quick look at what we've got.
00:33So down here we've got the pieces that are cut to fit to be able to go straight into that section there.
00:40Then we've got these pieces here that are cut to fit to go into the front box and then the last pieces down the back to go into the middle box.
00:49We've already primed the surfaces for those two hatches and I've got our little fuel inspection hatch, bit of laminate to go over the top of that.
00:56So that should look nice once it's in there.
01:01So I'm going to get stuck into it while we've still got a bit of warmth because it's unpredictable, even in Brisbane.
01:08So let's get this glue down.
01:10Okay, so I'm pretty happy that's come out so far.
01:34There's a couple of other little bits of trim that I've put along the edges there.
01:37It's up later.
01:38So I'm just going to leave the van to sit for a couple of hours.
01:42That can cure.
01:43I'll come back in about an hour and give it another roll.
01:46Pull up.
01:47Pretty happy with how that's come out.
01:49Again, first time laying this sort of...
01:52Second if you count the floor that was done.
01:55Yeah, we will see how this comes up and look at the glue.
02:04G'day guys.
02:05Well, we are back.
02:06I'll tell you what, staggering this across afternoons and evenings and working until I'm running out of light is proving to take a little bit longer than what I would hope.
02:16So it's now Saturday and yeah, this is good.
02:22I've got a solid two days to get stuck into what's going on here.
02:27So a bit of an update on where we're at.
02:30We have got the vinyl down, the hatches.
02:33Yesterday I spent some time working on cutting in the hatches and making sure the vinyl was matched for it.
02:41So when that goes back down, that just lines up nicely.
02:45But you can see there's a bit of trimming and cleaning up I need to do on the edges there.
02:50And decided to go for the tread strip stuff.
02:55It normally goes on floor surfaces.
02:57You're shifting from tiles to carpet, vinyl to carpet, as a runner to go around the edges.
03:04So I'm going to clean up this and the timber's all nice and square.
03:10Where there's a variance of about 7mm between the edge from one side to the box that it's recessing into and the edge from the other side.
03:22So it gives us 3.5mm variance all the way around.
03:25Which is just enough for...
03:28Where's the lens? There we go.
03:30So that little tongue there, that, when I cut this, should mean that it sits nicely against the timber there.
03:39And we'll be able to fix that to the cover.
03:42And then that way we'll have a nice soft trim all the way around.
03:47There's no metal edges, nothing to worry about them if they've been scratched up or cooking.
03:51So that's part of today's project.
03:54And then the other thing that I need to deal with today is also tying up the entry step here.
04:02I'll give you a quick view as to what's going on.
04:06Previously I had been flipping the camera view around on the phone.
04:10But the problem with that is in post-production, I tell you what, it's a nightmare.
04:16There's a misalignment with the audio and the video.
04:19So I'm not going to do that anymore. It's just too painful.
04:22So let's have a look at this.
04:25So you can see here, what we've done is we used some marine ply on the face there.
04:31And then I've just glued the vinyl down.
04:33Now that vinyl does need to get trimmed back because the edge of the marine ply is...
04:38Sorry.
04:39The edge of the marine ply is probably about there as a slip.
04:41So given that's had 24 hours to sit, I'm going to cut that back so it's a nice smooth finish.
04:47This one I've already done, so you can see that runs along nicely.
04:50Just going to clean up the top there.
04:52And then what we're going to do on this face, on that corner, that corner and on this face.
04:58And it'll continue all the way along the edge there.
05:02We'll be using this aluminium trim here, which has got a nice groove pattern and a flat side.
05:08So that'll go along there.
05:11And then I'll be putting the original strip down on here.
05:15So the original thread strip guard will go across there.
05:21And then there's the piece that recesses and follows the contour across there.
05:26Once this piece goes in, I will need to actually trim this angle back because that sits back by about another 10 millimetres.
05:35Now that I've added the marine ply along the face and the vinyl, and you can see I've followed it as much as I can.
05:44There probably wasn't quite enough flex in the marine ply to be able to get hard up against the face.
05:50It has sort of pushed away there.
05:54It's stable.
05:55It's not going to be something that has any kind of structural need.
06:01So once the curved version of this goes down the length, it'll act as a guard to just protect that.
06:09So I don't see that as being any particular issue.
06:12I'll backfill that with a bit of silicon just to give it a little bit more adhesion and support.
06:17But it doesn't really need it because there's three or four screws in that footprint that hold it in place,
06:22which structurally it's not going anywhere and it won't be carrying any direct weight either.
06:28So that'll be fine.
06:31I'm going to get stuck into it.
06:34And if you want to watch me work in fast, forward, hyperlapse, whatever you call it, go for it.
