Preparing the first real and final wall segment inside the van

I wanted to progress at least one short section of the walls, to see if all is feasible what I had planned. Since soon I would want to use the camper again, I would need the bedroom. The windows are in, the solar panels attached, so there is nothing anymore which prevents me to try completing a whole brief section to its final specification.

I had bought Styrofoam in 2 thicknesses: 3cm and 1cm, plus a sack of mineral wool (Knauf product). I also had gotten high-temperature glue for attaching things to the walls, which could get very hot (50 deg C). 

First I removed completely the already rotten boards at the bottom and cleaned the groove as good as I could.

Bedroom, left side.

Bedroom, right side.

My friend and neighbor Bernd Grube has offered me to use his Styrofoam cutter. It cuts through Styrofoam with a hot wire and creates an excellent straight cut.

The first piece of 3cm-thick Styrofoam was then glued onto the first wall segment.

The gaps were filled with the mineral wool.

A second segment was done the same way. All the gaps were filled with the mineral wool, so that there would be no cavity where any air could heat up from the hot metal, when the vehicle stands in the sun.

In top of that Styrofoam, another 1cm cover of Styrofoam was added, to cover also the metal beams which segmented the wall.

And voila, the wall is completely isolated. Near the roof I also had to glue Styrofoam pieces to cover the metal. I also added two boards at the top and at the bottom, to provide a way of attaching the final wall cover and other things.

Before the wall cover could be added, the moisture trap foil needed to be glued. I had some relatively thick plastic foil left over from some packaging, and so I recycled this foil as my moisture trap. The purpose of this is to keep all humidity inside the van and away from the walls. When those walls are cold in winter, the humidity would condense when it hits the walls, and then water droplets would appear. Everyone knows this effect, when sitting in a car in winter without having motor or heating on: the windows fog up very quickly. 

And then finally my first pieces of the GrossFillex wall panels (from Globus Baumarkt) could be attached.

I decided not to glue them onto the wall, because in case I ever would need to remove them, that would destroy the plastic foil and properly also the panels. So I affixed them with thin nails, which easily can be removed if necessary.

The first two panels are in place.

Three panel segments are in place.

Now one can much better imagine who the bedroom will look in the future.

I added the matrasses and bedding again, as it had been before.

I also could not resist to place that little art work photograph to the only wall where it would fit. Is not yet attached, just leans against the not yet finished wall on the right side of the vehicle.

That little yellow lamp has its own history: I had it since the early 1970s in my bedroom. There were two of these, but this is the one that survived. Still works, now with LED bulb.

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