Planning your van conversion

Start with how you live

A van for two long weekends a month is a different machine from one you live in through a British winter. Be honest about nights away, cooking, working, showers and how often you will be parked off-grid. That answer drives bed size, power, water, heating and how much money you should spend.

Write it down in one short paragraph. When you disagree later about a fridge or a window, come back to that paragraph.

Draw it full size

Tape the layout onto the van floor, or onto a garage floor at the same dimensions. Sit where the seats will be. Lie where the bed goes. Pretend to cook with a cardboard hob. You will change your mind at least twice. Changing your mind now costs masking tape. Changing it after cladding costs weekends.

Four fixed points

1. Where you sleep. Bed length dictates almost everything else. Measure the taller person and add about 100mm.
2. Where the door swings. The sliding door aperture is sacred. Do not block it with a fridge or a tall cupboard.
3. Where the weight sits. Heavy kit low and between the axles. High and rear-heavy vans feel awful and waste payload.
4. Where services run. Decide cable and pipe routes before insulation, not after you have closed the walls.

Order long-lead parts early

Windows, RIB beds, roof racks and swivel bases routinely take four to six weeks. Order them in week one even if you fit them much later. Your schedule will thank you.

Budget for the boring bits

Sealant, screws, cable glands, heat shrink and offcuts eat cash. Keep a float of a few hundred pounds for consumables, and track every line in the cost tracker so the total does not surprise you at the end.

Weight is a plan, not a surprise

Weigh the empty van at a weighbridge before you start. Keep a running log as you buy. If the numbers look tight early, cut weight or look at a payload uprate before you commit to heavy furniture.

Figures on this site are planning estimates, not quotes. Confirm weights and prices against real products before you order.

Figures in this guide are planning estimates. Confirm weights and prices against real products, and have gas and electrical habitation work signed off by a qualified person.