Welcome to part 3 and the reveal of LuLu’s finished floor! I’m beyond ecstatic to share with you. If you haven’t read Part 1 or Part 2, make sure to catch up and see what all went into the final process:
LuLu Gets a New Floor – Part 1
LuLu Gets a New Floor – Part 2
Project LuLu: Rust Bucket
To catch you up on where the process is at this point – rust has been repaired, insulation and subfloor has been laid, and the floor itself has been assembled. All that is left is to finish it (which took much more time and effort than I’d planned or wanted)! Make sure to read to the end to see the final finished floor.
Finishing the Floor
Let me preface this process with a few things that lends us to the final result:
First of all, I did not want to use screws or nails to attach the floor. Second, I wanted something waterproof/resistant. Finally, I needed something that would hold up to average wear. This resulted in a less-than-perfect finish that I’m still very proud of. Keep in mind that what follows is related to these goals – if you choose to do something similar, your choices will change the final look!
Once the floor was laid, I ran into trouble that was two-fold. First, filling the cracks was absolutely nightmarish! I don’t recommend the process that I did at all, so I’m going to include it with the changes that I would recommend.
This video I found was initially really helpful; I think it would have been more helpful if I would’ve went into this process with a touch more experience than I have. I do still recommend watching it! The gist is simple – take a small amount of wood filler on your fingertip, rub it over the crack, clean up the excess, and voila! Done!
I’m now much wiser and I can tell you – if you do not have snug fitting planks, you will become frustrated with this method! I recommend milling the planks first, using a hardier filler first, or allowing the cracks to exist as they are. I tried 4 different wood fillers over the course of this project, and this one by Gorilla Glue was my absolute favorite. Whichever you use, make sure it is warm when applied. It goes on so much easier and smoother and all you need to do is use the body heat from your hands!
Due to the combination of depth and width of each crack, settling would occur so one layer wouldn’t cut it, so I had to go over each one multiple times for a good fill. I don’t have any great pictures, but I also filled larger gaps with wood strips before wood filler. Keep in mind: wood filler says its flexible and doesn’t crack, but it definitely does!
Once I had the entire floor filled and ready to smooth out, I learned the hard way that wood filler is extremely difficult to wipe up with water once its hardened. It seems obvious but based on the video I linked above, I didn’t think it would be an issue. Make sure to wipe up excess before it dries!
If you’ve read Part 1 and 2, you know that I stained the wood before I laid it. With what I know now, I definitely recommend skipping that part because sanding the whole floor is so much easier when you don’t have to worry about the finish. This leads me to the second issue that arose – once I had the floor ready to sand, I discovered there was a slight bend in the floor with a few loose planks.
Each time someone stepped on the floor, the bend would cause the wood filler to crack. More cracks meant more filler and it ended up being a vicious cycle that I had to have my mom prevent me from losing my sanity in! I ended up screwing a few planks down with about 5 screws total in the whole floor. These went into the plywood underlayment and it solved the issue. I love how my floor looks, but I think I’d probably go the screw route if I was to do it again.
Next, I sanded and sanded and sanded some more. This smoothed out any excess wood filler (note the difference in the following picture) and helped make the floor more of an even surface. Don’t use anything more than about a 200 grit sandpaper on the final sand. If your surface is too smooth, the wood won’t absorb the stain you’re using on your finish.
This next process involves a wash (putting the color down then picking it right back up) and a stain (letting the color absorb, then wipe it off). I’m going to list out because its pretty straightforward:
- Stain wash with desired color (I used gray)
- Fill remaining cracks and gaps with a silicon caulk (I used brown)
- Stain with desired color (I used Special Walnut)
This was a combination of wanting a special finish that I couldn’t get with one stain and needing a solution for the wood-filled cracks discussed above. Silicon is much more flexible but I also had a hard time getting it to “disappear” into the cracks, so I really leaned into it with sort of an antique appearance.
Keep reading for Step 3…
If you need to waterproof you have various options – I’ll either be going with an oil or a wax – but you can also use polyurethane or a variety of other things depending on the finish you want.
Last but not least is finishing the raw edge. Classically, the VW bus would have a piece of rubber at the edge of the cab. You can see plastic or rubber pieces as trim in the same places on today’s models. LuLu’s was missing and surprisingly, it was a very expensive piece to replace! So I opted for something different and I used this:
Then, to cover the raw edge so you can’t see the different flooring layers, I used this:
I was originally going to glue it down, but me and adhesive don’t get along very well. Instead, I decided to use some cute (albeit decorative?) nails. I can always change my mind later if I don’t like this part, but for right now, I love the finished floor!
Enjoy the new look! Was it worth all the hard work? Absolutely!
After all is said and done, these are my tips:
- Eliminate cracks if at all possible
- If you can’t or don’t want to eliminate cracks, fill with a construction type adhesive or foam filler first, then finish with wood filler
- Make sure your floor is either fully “settled” or is fully anchored before filling cracks
- Skip staining until the end (unless you are like me and need to pay the ADHD tax)
Most importantly – trust the process!
Did everything go like I’d planned? Absolutely not. I could have stopped at any point and decided I made a bad decision and started over. I had a vision, though, and I saw it through. The end result? I absolute love it! It wasn’t exactly what I envisioned, but I am proud of both the finished product and my hard work. If I’m being completely honest, each step I second guessed really ended up not being a deal breaker in the end.
As always, thanks for reading. If you need any ideas, help, or encouragement on your own van conversion please don’t hesitate to reach out! Video on the process will be up soon!
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