2021 Sprinter Van Floor Tips and Tricks...Do's and Don'ts.

A few things I left out of this video is how I made my template...my Do's and Don'ts. Go to Costco and see if a manager will give you permission to take some big sheets of cardboard...my daughter works there and she brought me home some carboard sheets. They weren't exact, but they were pretty close to 4 x 4 ft sheets but all different sizes and thickness. Make sure they are perfectly square and tape them all together making a nice and square 8 x 16 foot sheet all one piece. Don't overlap the cardboard...that just complicates cutting and fitting to get a nice even pencil mark and then cutting it all out. Tape the 4x16ft sheet on both sides and make sure it all is nice and square. The Sprinter Vans walls are straight and square to the rear and sides and front. So you just have to find the places that are not straight...I started along the rear doors, then the fender wells...(The fender wells are a mirror image of one another.) Just go around each wall and very carefully (after you figure out how you will finish the front, side door, and rear doors edge) figure out where to terminate the edges for your finished floor. A 4ft Level tool is easy to hold by yourself for marking long straight lines. When cutting through Rigid Core Insulation, USE A BRAND NEW BLADE ( I went through 4 blades and should have perhaps used 8) The fender wells are easy if you measure them out with a large carpenter square and then use the lid end of a FIVE GALLON BUCKET to scribe around the rounded portion. The bucket isn't perfect, but if you line it up even with each corner, and then walk it over halfway between each corner, it comes out just about perfect. Another way is to cut it out square and lay it down inside the van and use a bunch of strips of tape to give you that same circle...I did this first and then realized a five gallon bucket worked WAY better. Unless your Circular Saw skills are up to par...DON'T use a plunge cut in-between the circled part of your wheel wells...(Ask me how I know) I used a circular saw to cut straight lines on the plywood and I thought I'd be cool and plunge cut like a pro...BUT...I managed to veer off course the last 6 inches and so that'll be interesting to see how bad I damaged a $68 piece of plywood. So for the next wheel well, I used the Jigsaw for the whole thing. ALSO: the reason I had the van up on mechanics ramps is because my driveway isn't flat. It is about 8 inches in 170" at an angle...the ramps make it nice and flat. But I didn't know it would matter when I glued down my fir strips. I borrowed from a neighbors pile of big construction bricks, maybe 16 of them...plus 1 gallon cans of paint, and motor oil, a 20 ton Jack, and a piece of railroad tie for weights to clamp down on my glued down fir strips which all worked great...BUT...what I didn't account for was Gravity. Because my driveway isn't flat, gravity forced my strips to wander downhill about 1/4" in a few places, and too they walked off to the side a bit making them just a tiny bit not flat. It isn't going to be seen or it won't affect the solidness of the floor, but start out flat like you see here at the beginning of the video and you won't be disappointed that way. Above all, just take your time, and do as good a job as you can. I know that all the cuts around the edges will be covered up by cabinets, trim, etc...don't allow your OCD to sway getting it done...the hardest part is getting out of this chair I'm in and going outside to do it. I know I'm leaving some of it out, as there is a lot to learn...If I was going into business, I'd make a more permanent template and I'd improve on it each time...I know that in manufacturing the tooling make them all pretty much the same within factory tolerances...but doing it just one time, you just need to make it as close as you can and it'll prolly be just fine. Keep reminding yourself, most of it around the edges will be covered up.

[@zambotv8150]

Great stuff, great video

[@NickMcEntee]

Thanks for the tips. Getting ready to do mine here soon. Just picked up a new sprinter on Monday.

[@outlaw7x77]

I got the tongue and groove screwed down yesterday. Need to buy vinyl sheet roll and then install finish with trim. The tongue and groove is SOLID!!!

[@infiniteintelligence5626]

ripper job mate..! thanks for sharing.

[@outlaw7x77]

Thanks 👍 Tip: when gluing down the boards with adhesive, be sure the vans floor is flat...I put as much weights on the boards as I could...in my sloped driveway...over night they did slip down a bit following the path of gravity...The adhesive is very thick...just be sure it's level. My driveway is only sloping maybe 1 degree...no big deal but just beware.