We went to our friends’ home in the Pyrenees, complete with a huge metal and wood workshop. Thomas, an accomplished builder, who recently finished building their home, has started a business doing van conversions and building tiny houses. He encourages the owners to help out with their builds, and we got to play with a lot of power tools! So much fun and very fulfilling!
– On the way to our friend’s we stopped at a camper van supply store in Toulouse to get the materials we’d need. –
– Once there, the first step was to install thick foam insulation on the floor. –
– …While Thomas started on the electrical system upgrades: an auxiliary battery for charging devices and powering small appliances as well as the van’s fancy interior lights. –
The electrical system was the most complicated part of this conversion, and Thomas masterminded all of that aspect.
– Meanwhile, I got to use this cool drill bit to put holes in the next layer of flooring. As a part of the debacle registering the van, we had to have D-rings installed in the floor for safety, this flooring would cover them, so we drilled these holes to make sure the d-rings were available for future inspections! –
– Then we finished with a layer of grey vinyl flooring to cover the plywood… and next came the bed! Yippee! I learned how to use this miter saw to cut the legs to the correct lengths. FUN! –– “Are you sure you want to interrupt me now?!”
Luckily, among his many skills, Thomas knows how to design and install electrical systems.
– Meanwhile, Thomas set up Benoit to cut the hole for the vent. Benoit had never used a jig saw before, much less cut a hole in the roof of a vehicle… –
– …moment of truth. –
– Et voila! Success! –
– Next, Benoit saws out the plywood from the ceiling, and Thomas finishes screwing the bed legs into the plywood flooring. –
– This chicken supervised for the entire build. I’m not sure who had more fun watching who. –
As you can see, the bed is a simple, normal bed frame. In order to fit inside the van, it rests upon the wheel wells. Additional support comes from the legs. This raises it off of the floor, providing much needed storage space below.
This makes an enormous difference in two very important ways. First, it gets us off of the cold, cold floor when we’re sleeping, which is life changing in winter. And second, it means that our things are stored under the bed so that we don’t have to move them off of it every time we want to sleep on it! Life got better and better by the minute!
– Measuring. You can see the new auxiliary battery box behind Thomas. It, too, is bolted to the floor. Also, the light switch for the roof lights has been installed (white square on far left). –– Making sure that the wiring for the lights stays intact. –– Testing out the size of the vent hole. –– I got to use the miter saw again to cut struts for the vent. I think I’m remembering that correctly. Sounds good anyway. – – Prepping the vent hole for installation. –– “It must be clean, Elena, clean! Even over here where there is no vent!” LOL –
Thomas has a great sense of humor, and we laughed a lot during this conversion. He’s a great builder and a gifted teacher. He enjoys teaching people how to use the tools, is patient to explain the details, and is wonderful at helping each person find their own confidence to do the tasks involved. It was amazing to work with him.
– Putting the silicone calking around the vent to make it water proof. Very important on a roof! –– Enjoying dangling my feet thru the roof hole. Thomas is preparing another gun as the one I’m using is jamming a bit. –– Watch out world! I’m doubled barreled! –– Seating the vent. – – Finishing touches: Thomas putting moulding around the inside of the vent. –– Et voila! All three upgrades complete: electrical (battery installed, lights & switch wired to it), bed frame, flooring (insulation, & plywood, vinyl) and vent installed! A very successful 2 days. –
This was so much fun to do together. Thomas had all of the skills, equipment and joie de vivre to make it all so smooth and beautiful. We were chuffed. We’ve been thanking him every day since then. So much gratitude.
Home is where the heart is. And our hearts are often in this lovely van.
“While I am not a brain surgeon, psychologist, or any other kind of brain expert, I have had an extensive subjective education on the matter of what goes on inside my head. So have you. It may all be anecdotal, but I believe some of the best knowledge out there is the kind we discover through our own experience.” – Robin Rice
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