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How Much Did It Cost? Promaster Van Build

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It can be difficult to document these van builds because you start with very clear delineation between types of projects, but as the build goes on, everything starts to bleed together. Electrical blends with kitchen set up, aesthetics and carpentry are one big pile of paint at some point. Consider this the catch-all post for all the little projects and costs that we haven’t been able to cover in the other posts of our van build series.

Kitchen Appliances

We’ve put together a comprehensive kitchen set-up post that covers all of our favorite gear. We recommend checking that out if you’re looking for a deeper dive into our kitchen! We are also not including “household contents” in our budget because this will be drastically different from person to person. That leaves us with kitchen appliances, the stovetop, oven, and refrigerator.

We went with the RecPro 4.4 Cubic Feet 12V Refrigerator. This fridge holds so much food! It keeps really consistent with temperatures in both the fridge and freezer areas and we have packed it full.

For our stovetop and oven, we knew we wanted to go with a fully electric kitchen in this build since we had such a huge battery bank to work with. We went back and forth on one burner or two for our induction cooktop, but ultimately ended up with a single burner for space reasons.

Our oven might be one of my favorite parts of our build. It’s so cute and it fits the space so well. We have the Our Place Wonder Oven, and we love how quickly it heats up! It does a great job doubling at an air fryer too!

I’m also adding our backsplash here. We wanted to have a magnetic backsplash to hold our Gneiss Spice spice rack, but we knew we could add other things as well. The piece of stainless steel we ordered was cut to size and works perfectly!

**All prices in this post are based on our costs in 2024:

The “Office”

It was important to us that, in this van build, we both be able to work at the same time. This meant we needed to create two distinct work stations. We achieved this with a combination of one static “desk” that we built out of scrap from our countertop with a bench seat we built from scrap plywood from cabinets. This desk has a mounted monitor that can swivel and doubles as our TV when we want a movie night.

The second station is made up of swiveling our passenger seat and a lagoon table that we had salvaged from our first van build. We decided to swivel both seats, but to be transparent, we only swivel the driver’s seat maybe once a week. We went with the Scopema swivels as they added the least height and modifications necessary.

  • Scopema Swivel Seats–$768
  • Lagoon Table–$0 (Salvaged from Previous Van Build)
  • Bench Seat Lumber–$0 (Left Overs from Cabinets)
  • Monitor Mount–$39.99
  • Desk Surface–$0 (Scrap from Countertop)

Making the Bed

Our bed is built on a platform and is not a “standard” size. To combat any potential moisture issues caused by the platform we used Hypervent. We have used Hypervent on both of our boats and our previous van build, and it does a fantastic job of keeping air flowing under the mattress and keeping things dry.

The other way we prevent moisture issues is by using latex foam mattress toppers as our mattress. We used this exact setup on our boat Ecola, and the bed was so comfortable, so we knew it would work here too! We use a combination of a 1″ firm topper as our bottom layer and 3″ of medium topper as our second layer. We then cut the toppers to the right size. If you have a more standard mattress size, Sleep on Latex has standard mattresses as well.

Window Covers, Bug Nets, and Seat Covers

I said I wasn’t going to include household contents in our budget, but we really do not think that window covers, bug nets and seat covers fall under household contents and could be considered a requirement for a van build.

We have the VanEssentials window covers for the cab, and they are just about the best thing since sliced bread. For the slider window and our bunk window, Andy made us covers from leftover reflectix and fabric.

We are from New England, and we knew that bug-nets would be in place nearly 100% of the time we were in the northeast, and we have dreams of someday taking our van to Alaska. We decided to go with the Living in a Bubble bug nets for the slider and the back door. We’ve really loved them.

Part of the reason we were able to get such a great deal on our van is that it had already lived a good portion of it’s life as a contractor van. The seats were gross, so we invested in some really nice seat covers that we highly recommend if you have a promaster!

Flooring

We have had great luck with peal and stick vinyl in other projects. It is durable and super easy to install! Unfortunately, in this build, we used a different brand than usual and it hasn’t held up well. I won’t link it here, but you should buy your peel and stick from Home Depot, not Lowes.

  • Vinyl Flooring–$77.60

Ceiling

During this build, we were trying to reuse and recycle as much as we could to keep costs low. We found a ton of whitewashed tongue and groove pine in the loft of my dad’s garage and decided that we could cut the tongue and groove off to make our ceiling! The pieces are backed with fabric that we had left over from another project and screwed into furring strips in the ceiling.

We installed puck lights into the ceiling to give us nice downlights for cooking and working.

  • Pine Lumber–$0 (Recycled from Family)
  • Fabric–$0 (Left overs from another project)
  • Puck Lights–$50.66

Other Misc Costs

There are a few other items that didn’t make it into other posts for this build:

  • Slider Window–$493.60
  • Bunk Lights–$45.42
  • Moon Shade Awning–$500.00
  • Random Assortment of Adhesives–$52.20

Let’s Tally It All Up!

The links below will take you to the post that has a full breakdown of each category! A reminder that our goal was to build this full-time van for less than $30,000.

Grand Total: $27,951.15!!

It is worth noting that we had not originally included an air conditioner unit in our initial $30,000 budget, and we planned to eventually put on when we could save up a little more money. But we were so under budget when we finished that we decided to go back and install one right away.

We are incredibly proud of our build and how well-equipped it is for our budget! We were fortunate that we had a lot of materials that we could repurpose during this project, which helped us stay on budget!

Our Gourmet Van Kitchen Set-Up

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One of the biggest differences between our first and second van builds, besides a toilet, was the van kitchen set-up needed to be ready for full-time living. After two van builds and two boat galley renovations, we’ve learned a lot about small kitchen set-ups, and with this build, we wanted a gourmet kitchen in our tiny home, and we prioritized it in both space and budget allocations!

Drawers Over Cabinets

The first thing we did in this build to make the kitchen space as functional as possible was to primarily use drawers instead of cabinets. When done well, drawers are a much better use of space than cabinets because they allow you to use more vertical space. They also give you a much better visual of what you have, and make it easier to reach things.

In our van, we have five drawers dedicated to the kitchen and two cabinets. We also built our largest drawers so that they could handle the weight of canned and dry goods. The drawers are so much easier to see and retrieve items than the cabinets, and we’ve actually considered adding a slider to our “breadbox” cabinet because it’s such a pain to reach items in the back.

Refrigerator

One of my biggest complaints about our previous van was how small the fridge was. And one of my biggest complaints about our boat kitchens is having top loaded fridge and freezers. So with this build we chose to allot a decent amount of space to have a front load and larger fridge.

We settled on the RecPro 4.4 Cubic Feet 12V Refrigerator. This fridge holds so much food! It is really consistent with temperatures in both the fridge and freezer areas and we have packed it full. We also have had no issues with ice buildup, but I will say that we’ve spent most of our time in drier climates.

We’ve also found that it is pretty efficient. Drawing closer to 5A when the compressor is running vs the 13A listed in the specs as rated current.

Our one complaint about the RecPro 4.4 Cubic Feet refrigerator is that it didn’t come with mounting hardware. Andy was able to 3D print some brackets that hold the feet in place and keep it from sliding. We’ve made the print file for those brackets available in our store.

If you are considering purchasing the RecPro refrigerator, you can use our discount code ABRTRVL to get 5% off your purchase.

Induction Cooktop

When designing this van kitchen we knew that we wanted to go fully electric with our appliances. This meant finding an induction cooktop that would work with our planned 2000W inverter. We originally thought we would want a double burner cooktop, but after measuring, we found that a single burner was going to fit our planned space best.

We went with the Nuwave 8″ Heating Coil Induction Cooktop, and we love it. The precision temperatures are great, and it cools down fast so we are able to store it soon after we finish cooking. It fits in our top drawer, so it is stowed when not in use, and that gives us more counter space when we are prepping to cook.

Oven

We were on a mission to find the smallest, functional toaster oven possible for this build. We were originally set on being able to fit a 9″x13″ pan, but as soon as I saw the Our Place Wonder Oven I was in love. It is just so cute!

It is definitely on the small side and can only fit a 8″x8″ pan. But it makes up for its size with its power usage. Because the interior is so small, it doesn’t take very long to pre-heat (less than 2 minutes for 350), and it doesn’t have to run at full power to maintain those temperatures.

Our biggest complaint is with the bakeware that comes with the oven. The finish has worn pretty quickly, but we’ve been able to keep using them by using aluminum foil or parchment paper. Our Place also sells replacement bakeware, and they have a Baker’s Kit that has a muffin pan that fits in this little oven!

Screenshot

Small Appliances

With space at a premium, any additional small appliances must be multifunctional. Over the years we’ve really narrowed down what we use for small appliances and for the van we’ve narrowed it down even further. We use the following small appliances in the van:

  • Breville Immersion Blender–This is the workhorse of our small kitchens. It functions as a blender and a food processor. It also has a hand mixer attachment that doesn’t get used very often but will work in a pinch for things like whipped cream. It doesn’t take up very much space, especially for how useful it is!
  • Instant Pot Duo 7-1–This electric pressure cooker does it all! Pressure cooking, slow cooking and rice making are the primary ways we use it! One of our favorite things about using the Instant Pot is that we can release the heat outside of the van. So we can still cook a big meal, but not release a bunch of hot, moist air into our living space. The instant pot uses a lot of power on start up with pressure cooking but very little once it pressurizes.
  • Blackstone 17inch Griddle–For outdoor cooking our blackstone is our number 1! It’s great for the usual grilling like burgers and hotdogs, but there is so much more you can do with it! Some of our favorites are fried rice, stir-fry, pancakes, and Philly-cheesesteaks!

And that’s it! We’ve found that just those to additional appliances give us a ton of flexibility with recipes that are available to us!

Cookware and Tools

Just like with everything else in the van, when it comes to kitchen cookware and tools, space savings is the name of the game. Our favorite van kitchen cookware and tools:

  • Sensarte 17 Piece Ceramic Pots and Pans–These pans are so great. They are incredibly easy to clean, the neatly stack in one another, and come with pads to set between each pan. My favorite part is how little space the lids take up. They also come with left over lids so you can just pop the whole pot in the fridge instead of dirtying a separate pan. And because of this these pots do double time as mixing bowls for us.
  • Stacking Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons–These sets have tiny little handles that really cut down on how much space they take up. And unlike the collapsible measuring cups they are durable.
  • Magnetic Utensil Holder–This utensil holder stays put on the counter with a strong magnet, and keeps all those cooking utensils out of the drawers!
  • Silicone Cooking Utensils–Silicone utensils don’t rattle when you are on the road and they don’t scratch non-stick surfaces! That’s a win-win in our book!
  • Gneiss Spice Magnetic Spice Rack–This spice rack is one of my favorite kitchen items ever! The jars are magnetic and fit together perfectly with their hexagon design. The jars keep spices super fresh and are just plain old cute!

Dinnerware

The main features we were looking for with our van dinnerware was easy to clean and easy to stack. We were also trying to avoid melamine. And lastly we didn’t want anything that would rattle when we were on the road. I found this Grow Forward dinnerware set that checked all of our boxes! The colors are cute, they are easy to wash, and they stack really small! After a year of everyday use they are starting to show some scratches from knives but are still in great shape!

There isn’t much we would change about out van kitchen, and it has been a pleasure to cook in it over the last year! Like most things with our van we are really happy with how it turned out!

Van Plumbing: This Time With a Toilet!

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Updated on June 11th, 2025

In our first van build, we had a very simple van plumbing set up. It consisted of 5 gallons of water, and a tiny water pump, and that was about it! When we started designing for this second build, we knew we would be spending a lot more time in the van and would need a lot more than just a running water sink! And most especially we were going to need a toilet this time!

In the interest of transparency, please be aware that the following may contain affiliate links and any purchases made through such links may result in a small commission for us at no cost to you. We appreciate you shopping from these links!

Fresh Water

Let’s start with the fresh water side of the plumbing system. We have a 28 gallon fresh water tank from Northwest Conversions. This tank is filled from the outside using a gravity fill. We have chosen a locking water fill so that there is no way anyone can mess with it. Not that we would expect that but just in case.

Fresh water van plumbing set up, including water tank, water filter, outdoor shower mixer and water pump.

The tank draw is located at the bottom of the tank and runs to a 3 gallon per minute 12v pump. From the pump the water then runs to a household carbon filter. From the filter the system starts to split. The first split sends one pipe to the bathroom area and the other towards the kitchen.

Cold water is then sent to the bathroom bidet, the kitchen faucet, the rear outdoor shower, and to the water heater using pex tubing. Yes, you read that right, our hand held bidet is cold water only, but we primarily use it as to flush the toilet so it’s not as big a deal as you might think. It allows us to use less toilet paper and less water to “flush” than the built in flush option on our cassette toilet.

water pump and water filter in a van plumbing setup

After we spent the first year living on our Alberg 30 without hot water, I said I would never go without it again! We have a 2.5-gallon electric water heater. It runs off the AC side of the electrical system and it draws 1440W so we do need to be a little careful about what else is running on the inverter at the same time, but it is significantly less complicated than some of the other choices for hot water. Two and a half gallons may not seem like much, but we are used to taking “Navy” showers so for both of us to shower only uses about 1.5 gallons of water total.

The output from the water heater goes to both the sink and the shower.

To turn on our shower you turn on the shut off valves, and then set the mixer temp, and set the pressure. Then the water can be turned on and off on the shower head itself. We typically feed the shower head into our little pop-up shower tent so having that control on the shower head is really handy!

Man wearing glasses, poking his head out of a pop-up shower tent in a field.

Our sink faucet is the same faucet we’ve used in both of our boats. It is a pretty low flow faucet, which you want when you are trying to conserve water. BUT my favorite feature is the button on the faucet head that allows you to “hold” the water. It really cuts down on water usage which is important when you only have 28 gallons!

Our faucet flows into a huge sink! I wanted to have the biggest and deepest sink we could fit. This sink is 22″ x 18″ x 9″. My only complaint about it is that the bottom is just a little too flat so we do end up with standing water sometimes. I love the filter cup and the grate at the bottom! The size makes doing dishes super easy, and the sink can double as a basket for items on the counter in a pinch.

Gray Water

The sink drains into a 5 gallon sceptor water tank that we use as a gray water tank. We carry an extra of these tanks so our total gray water capacity is 10 gallons. We have an RV adaptor on the sink drain and then Andy designed an adaptor for the tank so that the tank is fully sealed and the hose has no way of coming off when we are on the road. It also allows us to easily disconnect the grey water tank to dump it! This adaptor is now available in our store, as well as the option for a print your own file if you have access to a 3D printer.

Black Water

For the dreaded black water, we decided to go with a Thetford cassette toilet. The version we have allows for the cassette to be removed from the outside of the van, so it isn’t necessary to drag it through our living area. This Thetford toilet also has a built in flushing system that can be hard plumbed but over the years on the boat we’ve found that a handheld bidet does a much better job in these low-water situations.

The toilet empties into a 5 gallon cassette that can be emptied at any dumping station, or in a pinch a household toilet. We have a back-up cassette that give us a total of 10 gallons of black water capacity. We’ve found that we do not smell the cassette at all until it is very full and yes, we do use it for #2.

We will do a full breakdown and review of this toilet in a future post, as we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to use, dump, and clean! We think it’s a great option for campervan toilets!

Cost Breakdown

Note: All Costs are as of April/May 2024

Previous Costs: $23,587.36

New Costs: $1,122.04

Total Cost: $24,709.40

Check out our other Van Build Posts here!

DIY Roof Rack for Promaster Campervan

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Updated on June 11th, 2025

Roof racks for campervans can be super pricey! Since we are building on a budget, we knew we needed to create a DIY roof rack that was both effective and inexpensive. We managed just that with the roof of our Promaster 157 DIY roof rack.

Maxxair Fan

In a previous post, we talked about how we installed our Maxxair Fan. It’s worth mentioning here that we installed that fan as far to the rear of the van as we could to give us plenty of space for solar panels. Installing it as far back as possible also gave us some flexibility when we had to make some roof layout changes late in the build.

Solar Layout

We knew we wanted to fit as much solar as possible on this build since we have 900 amp hrs of lithium batteries that will need to stay topped up and a fully electric kitchen. We have had awesome luck with Rich Solar Panels on both of our boats, so we started looking at what Rich Solar formats would fit best. We landed on their 250-watt panels, which fit perfectly width-wise. We knew we could fit 3 panels with all the space we had. This would give us 750 watts of solar, with the potential to squeeze in a smaller panel when we were done.

Man installing solar panels on a DIY roof rack on a white van.

DIY Roof Rack

The next step was figuring out how to mount the panels to the roof without spending an insane amount of money for a roof rack.

The promasters have t-studs on the roof for roof racks from the factory. When Andy started looking at the options on the market for mounts to use the studs, he was really not happy with what was available. Most of the options put pressure down on the sheet metal roof and up on the t-stud. This can cause problems if they are overtightened, and can trap moisture and dirt under them.

Andy ended up designing a brand new mount that we are calling the Penny Promounts. The Penny Promounts sandwich the t-stud between layers of stainless steel and don’t trap dirt or moisture. They make it easy to attach two unistrut rails where we could attach solar panels. The total cost was just over $200.

We wanted to provide the DIY campervan community with a more effective and less expensive alternative to what was on the market. We’ve spent the last year testing and perfecting our roof mounts and we’ve now made our Penny Promounts available for purchase in our store!

Solar Panel Brackets

Now that we had somewhere to attach the solar panels to, we had to tackle the how! Andy also designed up solar panel brackets that made it super easy to attach our metal framed solar panels to the unistrut using unistrut nuts.

We’ve also made these solar brackets available for purchase in our store. They make installing metal-framed solar panels so much easier!

Air Conditioning

We thought we would eventually put in an air conditioner unit, however we didn’t think it was in the budget right away. After our first shakedown trip, I quickly realized that I was having a ton of anxiety around leaving Aiden in the van. Even in just 65 or 70 degrees. We also came in around $5000 under budget initially, so we decided to take some of that money and install an air conditioner.

We picked the Dometic RTX 2000 because it was the only model with good reviews that would fit without us losing any solar. It wasn’t pretty, and the interior of the van looked like a scene from dexter for two days. We had to shift the solar panels around to make space. There were also some real Gwen and Andy shenanigans involved in getting the 70 pound unit on the roof without breaking any solar panels or ourselves.

A man and a woman using a tractor to lift an air conditioner next to a white van.

Installing the AC was one of the best decisions we made in this build. I can’t imagine not having it. We can leave Aiden without worrying and it’s really great for days you’re stuck in the van working when it’s hot.

Starlink Mount

The last item on our roof is starlink. Starlink is a necessary evil in our life. It’s the only form of reliable internet we’ve found for Andy to continue with his job on the move. We knew we wanted to have it mounted to the roof so he could work while I drove, but we also wanted to be able to move it off the roof if we had obstructions like trees.

We have modified our Gen 2 dishy to sit in a wedge mount that was designed by Jason over at Everlanders. That mount has magnets on the bottom, and then additionally is clipped to the unistrut rail. The extra wire is curled under the wedge mount so we can just pop the dishy off the roof, unravel the wire and set the dishy in a more open area. It has worked great for us! We rarely have to remove it from the roof but in places like Shenandoah, or here in New England it’s been incredibly useful to be able to move it around.

Man on a ladder showing a magnetic starlink roof mount.

Ladder Access

The very last roof-related item, is our collapsible ladder. We decided against a mounted ladder. Primarily because of expense, and this collapsible ladder has turned into one of our favorite pieces of gear we carry with us! It is super light, easy to stow, and gets pretty tall! It costs a fraction of what a mounted ladder would have cost and still gives us all the access we need to be able to inspect, clean, and shovel the roof!

Man on a collapsible ladder next to a white campervan.

Cost Breakdown

Note: All Costs are as of April/May 2024

Previous Costs: $20,647.45

New Costs: $2939.91

Total Cost: $23,587.36

Check out our other Van Build Posts here!

Building Camper Van Cabinets | The Van Life Diaries 8

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Updated on June 11th, 2025

Cabinets in a campervan take the build from a mattress in the back of a cargo van to, “oh they meant to live in there!”. In our promaster campervan build we wanted to make sure we had plenty of storage so that we could stay out in the wilderness for long stretches and have everything we needed to stay comfortable on the road.

In the interest of transparency, please be aware that the following may contain affiliate links and any purchases made through such links may result in a small commission for us at no cost to you.   We appreciate you shopping from these links!

Floor-to-Ceiling Cabinets

Andy built our floor-to-ceiling cabinets “in situ” which means in place. He constructed the floor to ceiling cabinets by scribing the verticle pieces to the van walls and securing them to the floor with cleats screwed to the floor and to the ceiling using brackets that attached to furring strips on the ceiling.

The horizontal shelves stiffened up the whole assemble and those were installed using either cleats for the shelves that would hold a lot of weight, or pocket holes for those that wouldn’t have as much weight.

Floating Upper Cabinets

We knew that we needed our upper cabinets to hold a lot of weight. We planned to use 2/3 of them to hold the majority of our clothing and I can pack a lot of clothes in a small space. So we knew we needed to attach them to more than just ceiling furring strips in order to have the weight capacity we needed.

Andy designed the upper cabinets to hang over the metal horizontal van rib. That means that the structural rib would be supporting most of the weight and the ceiling furring strips were there for stability and additional strength.

To install the dividers for the upper cabinets, we used pocket holes. We built the entire assembly outside of the van and installed as one piece.

Kitchen Lower Cabinets

The lower kitchen cabinets are the most “traditional” cabinets in our van. The cabinets were built outside of the van and brought in as one piece. The cabinets were attached to the floor using cleats and the wall using the massive furring strip we had run on the lower horizontal rib. The butcher block countertop provides alot of stability to keep everything from rocking side to side.

Building Drawers

We had never built drawers before! This was the only major skill for this build that we had no experience with, so off to YouTube University we went! We found an awesome series of videos that Shara Woodshop Diaries put together on how to make drawers without any super specialized equipment! These videos were incredibly helpful! We were able to build all 9 drawer boxes for this build in just 6 hours with her awesome tips!

Drawer and Door Fronts

We originally thought we would be making our door and drawer fronts. I had my heart set on shaker style and when we started looking into making them we realized that it was going to be a massive undertaking. Since we only had a few weeks left to build, we ran some numbers and figured out it would actually only be about $100 more expensive to order our drawer and door fronts than we would have just spent in materials. We decided Andy’s time would be better spent putting in hours with his consulting job and we ordered all the drawers and doors from Fast Cabinet Doors.

Fast Cabinet Doors allowed us to have 14 pieces in custom sizes made in just 2 weeks. They arrived on pallet, and were already sanded and ready for their first coat of paint. We could have even had them bore the holes for hinges but since we already had the Kreg Cabinet Hinge Jig we did them ourselves. We were really impressed with the quality and the speed!

14 van cabinet door and drawer fronts laid out on tables ready to be painted

Painting Cabinets

There are a few key tips we can pass on about painting cabinets:

  1. Sanding is the most important part! Be sure you are sanding between every coat if you want that smooth finish! If you don’t sand between coats, or at the very least before your final coat, you will probably end up with that orange peel texture on your cabinets. Also that first coat of paint on bare wood is going to raise the grain and you’ll def want to knock that down with some sanding before moving to the next coat!
  2. Read the paint can! All that text on the back of the paint can? It has a ton of important information, like what temperatures/humidity the paint needs to cure properly. How long you should wait before sanding (see number 1). What should you use for solvents to wipe down your surface after sanding? All that good stuff! The paint company wants their product to look beautiful and last a long time, so they give you all the information to do a good job!
  3. Use good-quality brushes and rollers. I know it’s tempting to buy those $0.25 chip brushes by the bag but I promise you will regret it. Buy one or two of the nicer brushes and you won’t be pulling out your hair trying to remove 8234 bristles from your paint. My personal favorites are the Wooster Shortcut 2″ Angle Brushes. I use them for everything!

More than anything else painting is what is going to elevate the look of your cabinets from “homemade” to “professional” so it is definitely worth time and attention!

woman painting a camper van cabinet white with a paint crush
woman painting a camper van cabinet white with a roller

Van Cabinet Closures

Keeping your stuff where you left it while bouncing around on bumpy and rocky roads is a super important part of van cabinets. We used strong magnet closures for most of our cabinet doors but when it came to our drawers we needed something a little more robust because some of our drawers are heavy. Andy designed and 3D printed use the perfect closures which have been keeping our doors shut for over 20,000 miles. We are now offering those closures for purchase in our store!

Specialized Tools for Campervan Cabinets

Budget Breakdown

Previous Costs: $15,587.84

Note: All costs are as of April/May 2024

  • Countertop: $219
  • Paint: $102.94
  • Paint Supplies: $62.88
  • Edge Banding: $51.67
  • Drawer Slides: $78.58
  • Pocket Hole Plugs: $7.97
  • Door and Drawer Fronts: $991.06
  • Door Hinges: $43.29
  • Additional Lumber (We used some left overs from other projects): $277.31
  • Total Cost of Hardware (We didn’t separate hardware by area of the van but most of it was used in cabinets so I’m including it all here): $114.57

New Costs: $1,949.27

TOTAL RUNNING COST: $17,537.11

Check out our other Van Build Posts here!

Framing Our Campervan | The Van Life Diaries 7

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Updated on June 11th, 2025

Framing is the foundation of all the other parts of a campervan build. You must have a way to connect your cabinets, bed, and appliances to the body of the van so that your build will be structurally sound. Without solid framing things will wiggle, rattle, flex, and potentially fall over while you drive!

In the interest of transparency, please be aware that the following may contain affiliate links and any purchases made through such links may result in a small commission for us at no cost to you.   We appreciate you shopping from these links!

Key Reminders About Framing a Campervan

Before we get started, there are a few key reminders about framing a campervan. The whole point of framing a campervan is to attach the interior to the body of the van. That means that you will be working with the structural components of the body while framing!

  1. It is always a good idea to reference your vehicle’s build-out manual. This will include what you can and cannot remove, any important weight information, etc. For the Promaster, you can find it here.
  2. Before using any screws, double-check that the screw can’t go into the exterior panels of the van.You absolutely do not want to put holes in the van exterior!
  3. If you choose to use RivNuts like we have below, we highly recommend a step drill instead of a regular drill bit to make your holes. You are less likely to accidentally go too far and hit an exterior panel.
  4. This is the last step in a van build before your layout is cemented. Now is the time to double-check any measurement and make sure you don’t have any last changes you want to make.

Should We Skin It?

Many people choose to skin their vans on the outside of the ribs to make walls. While this does make for beautiful-looking walls, it adds a lot of weight and you will also lose inches in the width of your van. As much as 6 inches in some places! Yikes!

We are choosing not to skin the entire interior with paneling for both weight and width savings. So all of our framing is done with that in mind. We will add wall paneling in those places that are still exposed after the cabinets are installed.

Ceiling Furring Strips

We started framing our campervan on the ceiling. We used 1/2″ furring strips that are rivnutted to the ceiling ribs. This will give us plenty of places to screw our ceiling into and get a great “bite”. Each strip had three rivnuts that helped us get the furring strips to sit flush with the slight curve of the roof.

Later we will run screws through our ceiling wood and into these furring strips to keep everything nice and secure.

Cabinet and Bed Framing

We decided to do horizontal cleats around the middle rib as our framing for both our bed and our cabinets. Our original plan was to use rivet nuts here as well but when we realized that my (Gwen’s) fingers were small enough to reach inside the rib we opted for the easier option of bolting through the rib cutouts and using large washers to spread the load.

It worked well, but if you decide to do something similar we highly recommend wearing gloves while you do it because the openings can be sharp and my knuckles were pretty scrapped up in the end!

The last thing we needed to consider was how would we secure our upper cabinets and the tops of our floor-to-ceiling cabinets. For our floor-to-ceiling cabinets, we were able to use the ceiling furring strips and some angle brackets. And for the upper cabinets that will be going over our bed, we will be using a combination of the ceiling strips and a pretty ingenious way of hooking the cabinets onto the upper horizontal rib. But more on both of these when we talk about building cabinets!

Tools for Campervan Framing

Budget Breakdown

Previous Costs: $15,152.96

Note: All costs are as of April/May 2024

New Costs: $434.88

TOTAL COST: $15,5387.84

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