Van Flooring

Updated on December 28th, 2020

When we started planning for the van, we did not budget anything for van flooring.  We had a lot of leftover hardwood from our house that we thought we would just repurpose in the van.  About thirty seconds before starting to measure and cut for this hardwood we decided it was a terrible idea.  This hardwood has been junk. It scratches, chips, and does not handle humidity changes well. All things that are a pretty bad idea for van flooring.

We decided to go with peel and stick vinyl tile and all we have to say is, do it.  These tiles were the easiest van project we have tackled so far.  They look great and have held up great to the wear and tear so far.  Andy even dragged a 2×4 across it while working on the van bed. Not a scratch!  They are also super easy to clean. So if you want our opinion vinyl is the way to go!

Disclaimer:  In the interest of transparency, please be aware that this post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links may result in a small commission for us at no cost to you.

Tools Needed:

• Shop-Vac or Broom
• Utility Knife
• Industrial Scissors–The ones in our video are actually Bonsai Shears.  We have absolutely no idea where they came from.  Any good pair of scissors would probably do.
• Socks
• Straight Edge

Materials Needed:

• (2) Boxes of Vinyl Tile Flooring

Before You Start

You’ll want to check out our post/video on installing subflooring.  You need something to stick your tiles to!

Planning

You’ll want to take rough measurements to figure out how much flooring you will need.  We only needed 40 sq feet for our Chevy Express. You will also want to take a couple of minutes to lay out the tile with the backing still on.  This gave us an idea about whether we wanted to offset the tiles or line them up. It also let us know that we could start by abutting the cabinets and wouldn’t end up with weird slivers of pieces.

Read the manufacturer instructions for the flooring, ours had specific temperature requirements for installation.  We promptly ignored them and installed the van flooring anyway.

Cleaning the Surface

Get out the vacuum and get rid of as much dust, dirt and sawdust off the van floor as you possibly can.  These vinyl tiles are sticky, and you want them sticking to your subfloor, not all the dust on top of your subfloor.

Lay Down the Tile

This part is super hard so pay close attention.

1. Pick a spot to start with a full tile.
2. Pull the backing off the tile.
3. Place the sticky part down in the spot you chose in step 1.
4. Using yours hands or socked feet apply pressure to remove any air bubbles from under the sticky stuff.

Repeat steps 1-4 will all full tiles.  Yup, that’s it.

Once you have all your full tiles placed work through all of the partial pieces.  For straight parts of the van flooring, we used a straight edge and utility knife. For the curvy bits, we used scissors.  Repeat above steps 2-4 for all partial tiles until your whole floor is covered. Congratulations! You now have van flooring!

Active Time–1 Hour

Total Time–1 Hour

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Next Van Build Step: How to Install a Van Bed Frame

For more posts related to the van build check out our Van Build Page.