Installing interior walls in a van is one of the most important parts of the van conversion process. Taking the time to ensure your walls are done well can help to transform your camper van into a beautiful and cozy tiny home!
In our camper van, we installed plywood walls onto our van’s metal frame and did so in a way that they have remained resilient against the constant vibration from driving on bumpy roads. After 70,000 on the road, we haven’t experienced any loose screws or plywood boards.
In this article, we’ll show you our step-by-step process how we installed plywood walls in our camper van conversion. Specifically, we will talk about:
- Ideal plywood thickness
- How to screw into van walls
- How to paint your walls
- And all required materials
But First! Before installing the walls, ensure you’ve already put in insulation and laid your electrical wires. You don’t want to have to take off your plywood walls because you forgot a step.
Once you’re ready, let’s get to it.
Step 1:
Select Plywood Material For Walls
The first decision to make when installing walls in a van is to decide which plywood boards to get for the van conversion. There are lots of varieties of plywood (wood variety and thickness), but below are our recommendations:
- Best Plywood Material: Birch
- Tip: Look for Baltic Birch if you’re in a wood specialty store. If there is no birch, get a wood that at least medium hardness. Avoid soft woods.
- Ideal Plywood Thickness: 1/4″-1/3″
- Tip: We used 1/3″ thick plywood. 1/4″ plywood felt too thin/flimsy and 1/2″ was too thick/heavy.
Step 2:
Attach Furring Strips To Van Frame
The easiest way to install the plywood walls is to screw the plywood directly to the van’s metal frame. We DO NOT recommend this method, however, because the screws will rattle out over time due to the constant vibrations when driving. Over time, the screws will come out and the plywood walls will fall down.
We recommend a better alternative: Install furring strips first using cross nuts.
What Are Furring Strips?
Narrow strips of wood that attach to a wall or ceiling and are used to help attach flat surface materials, like plywood.
By correctly installing furring strips to the van’s frame and then screwing the plywood onto the furring strips, you will drastically increase the overall pull-out resistance of the plywood boards. This increases the plywood’s resilience against vibration when driving. You can see the white furring strips we installed in the photo below.
For more step-by-step information on how to build furring strips and how to securely attach them to a van’s wall, read our furring strips post.
Building a camper van? Download our free e-Books with intuitive electrical, solar, and plumbing diagrams.
Step 3:
Separate Van Wall Into Sections
Before cutting up the plywood boards, you need to know the dimensions of each section of the van walls. In our van, we divided the van’s frame into three sections:
- Upper Third: Adjacent to the ceiling
- Middle Third: Entire inset middle panel
- Lower Third: Adjacent to the floor
We will be placing plywood panels on top of each third. You can see how we partitioned these three sections in the picture below.
Step 4:
Cut The Plywood Boards
Once you’ve selected and purchased your plywood boards, you need to cut them down to an appropriate size so that they fit along your van’s frame. Each plywood piece will need to be custom sized.
Installation Tip: Large pieces of cardboard make great templates. Size your wall piece with the cardboard, then trace the cardboard template over your plywood board and start cutting.
In the photo below, you can see what we mean when we separated our van walls into top, middle, and bottom thirds. We are in the middle of attaching the top and middle third plywood panels.
Related read: How to install RV windows
Our free eBook can help you set up your electrical system.
Step 5:
Make Cutouts In Plywood For Switches
If you plan to have light switches installed into your walls, now is a good time to cut the appropriate size holes in the plywood to accommodate the switch and gang box. To know the size of the cutout, you will first need to decide WHICH switch/socket you will use.
For example, if you intend to use a traditional “house” style switch (like what we use), you need to install a gang box (aka ‘work box’) behind the plywood. So you need to know the dimensions of the gang box. In the picture above, you can see how a work box is installed through the wall and that the electrical wires are pulled through the wall and box. Later you can install the light switch on top of this box and attach the wires.
For more information gang box installation help, check out this article from The Spruce.
Or, you can use an RV-style light switch and the size of the cutout will need to match the dimensions of the switch.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sigma Engineered Solutions, Gray Sigma Electric 14250 1/2-Inch 3 Hole 1-Gang Box | 646 Reviews |
$4.68 |
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|
Nilight 90106B 2 Gang Rocker Switch Panel 5 Pin On Off Pre-Wired Rocker Switch Aluminum Panel... | 1,734 Reviews |
$16.67 |
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In the picture below, you can see how we made a cutout in our plywood wall to make room for the gang box to be installed behind the wall. Later, we will install the light switch on top of the gang box.
Step 6:
Attach Plywood Walls To Furring Strips
Now that your furring strips are up and plywood boards are cut to the right sizes, you’re ready to put up your new walls. In our camper van, we used bigger #10 wood screws to attach the plywood to the furring strips. The bigger the screw, the more grip it will have in the furring strip and the more pull-out resistance it will have.
Want to hide your screw heads so that they aren’t visible? To do this, you’ll need to drill a conical hole with a countersink drill bit so that the flat head screw heads sit just below the plywood surface. Then you can use spackling to cover the screw heads and hide them from sight.
Materials Needed
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
100 Pack Rok Hardware #10 x 1" Coarse Deep Thread Pan Head Screws Black Phosphate Wood MDF... | 278 Reviews |
$9.89 |
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|
BOSCH CST1 1/2 In. Titanium-Coated Countersink | 545 Reviews |
$9.31 |
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Remember! If you have any dangling wire ends (for the future light switches), make sure to pull the wires through the holes you cut out for the gang boxes (from step 5). You will attach these wire ends to the light switches later on.
Step 7:
Block Future Mold Growth On Walls
With the plywood boards up, now is a good time to go ahead and spray the walls with Concrobium Mold Control. Doing this kills any mold spores that exist in the plywood and, more importantly, blocks any future mold growth in the wood.
Mold is one of the worst enemies for van life, especially when traveling in warm and humid environments. Mold tends to grow in the wood walls and, before you know it, you end up breathing in harmful the spores. Using this mold control spray helps us stay ahead of any potential mold issues in our camper van.
Step 8:
Beautify The Wall Edges & Corners
Once all the plywood boards were mounted, you’ll likely still have lots of rough edges and imperfect corners all throughout the van.
To smooth out these imperfections, we used a combination of Drywall Corner Tape and Spackling.
The corner tape easily wraps around the corners and edges and gives each edge a clean, continuous look.
After applying the corner tape, use the spackling to further adhere the tape to the plywood walls and to smooth out the transition of the wall and tape.
Materials Needed
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
STRAIT FLEX SO-100 2 3/8-Inch X 100-Feet Original Composite Tape | 246 Reviews | $39.95 | Buy on Amazon |
|
Red Devil 0542 ONETIME Lightweight Spackling, 1/2 Pint, White, 8 Ounce |
$2.98 |
Buy on Amazon |
Building a camper van? Download our free e-Books with intuitive electrical, solar, and plumbing diagrams.
Step 9:
Sanding The Walls
The next step is to sand the plywood walls to smooth out all the rough areas and remove any excess spackling. To properly sand the plywood, get an orbital sander and sandpaper (80 & 120 grit).
Safety Tip: Whether you're sanding inside or outside, it's a good idea to wear a proper filtered mask to remove small particles before they enter your lungs.
Materials Needed
For a perfect job, we like to go over our walls twice with 80-grit sandpaper and twice again with 120-grit sandpaper.
Step 10:
Painting The Walls
Once you’ve finished sanding, you are ready to paint the plywood walls. This step is broken down into two parts: color selection & painting instructions
Part 1: Selecting Wall Paint Color
Color is a personal choice and everyone has their own unique style and flavor. Therefore, before painting your camper’s walls, it’s a good idea to create a color scheme for your van.
What’s a color scheme? Check out our post “How To Create A Color Scheme” to learn more.
In our camper van, we knew we wanted to paint our camper van walls white. This would give our camper van a more clean and open feel. A lighter and brighter color would be less claustrophobic. But did you know that there are literally hundreds of different shades of white?
To help us decide, we purchased four different white paint samples and painted them onto a scrap piece of plywood. We then selected the best shade of white for our van.
Paint Selection Tip: Avoid cheap paints. Premium quality paint is thicker and is easier to apply an even coat. We also recommend getting 'egg shell' paint to give your walls a slight sheen. This also makes it easier to clean your walls when they get dirty.
For More Info, Read: Why White Walls Are Best For Your Camper Van
Part 2: Painting Instructions
Once you are ready to paint your van walls, apply two coats of Anti-Mold Primer. The walls should have already received a layer of Mold Control Spray, but this primer helps give an additional layer of mold protection.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rust-Oleum Zinsser 276087 Mold Killing Primer, Quart, White |
$19.97 |
Buy on Amazon |
Once the primer has dried, paint two coats of your selected paint color onto the van walls.
Step 11:
Install Light Switches Onto Wall
To finish off the van walls, attach your light switches to the plywood. You should be able to insert the gang box and switch through the cutout you made in step 5.
For more information on how to wire a LED lights and switch to the battery, check our light installation post.
Was This Post Helpful? We have lots of other useful articles to help you build the foundation of your camper van. Check out our Camper Foundation page to read more great van build content!
Finished! Take A Step Back & Enjoy
As we mentioned in the beginning, we love the way our walls turned out. Most importantly, with over 70,000 miles (and counting…) that we’ve put on our vehicle, our walls continue to hold firm to the frame of our van.
With our camper van walls up and finished, we can now focus on installing our floor and ceiling.
If you enjoyed reading this post, we’re sure you’ll love learning how we built our beautiful cedar plank ceiling.
Happy building!
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