5 things to consider before attempting to build your own camper van

Your New Zealand holiday has begun. You know that van life is the best way to truly experience New Zealand and after seeing so many beautiful builds on the internet you decide to do your own. Because you want to do it your way. Your layout for your toys and needs. 

You buy the Biggest van you can afford and wishing you had a proper tool collection and a place to sleep, while your van is a construction nightmare you hastily proceed so that you can hit the road and live the dream asap. 

That jigsaw you thought could do everything makes your handy work look like you did it with a chainsaw on drugs. That 25mm pellet wood you scored and lined your van with has  blown the fuel economy way out of proportion. She’s riding low, drives like a whale and billows black smoke up the hills.

You struggled to get it certified for being self contained because you didn’t leave enough room for the toilet. No matter how much silicone you use, your grey water keeps leaking out of the tank connections if you don’t empty it every time you drive! 

What is that smell!? 

Your cheese is still warm. That’s an issue! That cheap fridge you got only drains your lead acid “leisure” battery faster than your undersized solar panel can charge it. Surely that battery used to work better…  Why do I have to start the engine to run the water pump?

Summers over.

The mice got in. They roam freely between the miss aligned cupboard panels and you wish there were less gaps in the cabinets to keep them out. It’s getting dark early and poor lighting makes finding anything hard. It’s cold, ya want to do the dishes inside but the sink is too small to fit your plate in it. You can’t even wash your hands properly at the same time as pumping that tap and it’s even too low to fill your water bottle under.

I WISH EVERYTHING JUST WORKED!

It doesn’t have to be like that. Building your own home on wheels can be an immensely satisfying challenge that lots will be learned from! It’s almost painful to see people having the above experience again and again and again. The common excuse for failure is of course budget, nearly always, followed by poor planning.

With all that in mind here are 5 things you should consider before deciding to build your own interior:

1. Firstly you must realize that you need time and patience!

Time for research, learning new skills, getting the things you need and time for actually building it. If you don’t have any experience using tools you’ll need more time and patients while you learn how to use tools. You’ll also need access to tools, somewhere to make a mess and somewhere to sleep while the project is happening. 

Once you’ve accepted all this then compile a list of features that you want your van to have and draw some pictures of the location of those features in your desired layout. By features I mean things like: Plumbing, heating, insulation, refrigeration, solar, inverter, charging ports, lights etc. 

It is only by doing this that you can then go about researching the cost and compatibility of the components used to accomplish that list of features. Create a folder on your computer or phone to store the ideas and products that you come across that you think will suit your needs. Dream big, why not. You can always drop features off the list that you can’t afford or add them later if you plan for it well.

Don’t forget to consider your actual cabinet building material, cabinet hardware requirements, bedding, curtains, cooking equipment and utensils etc  when going over this stuff and safety essentials like fuse boxes and carbon monoxide detectors.

The research will give you a good idea of the value of things when comparing to second hand already built vans on the market which is another good exercise for understanding your resale value and in general giving you a good idea of what you can afford to build versus what’s already out there and the level of features and workmanship they have.

2. Now you have an idea of what things seem to cost you should make a decision on what level of luxury you are shooting for based on your budget.

If you can only afford the most basic stuff then keep it that way and do the basic stuff well! If you can afford more then still do the basic stuff well! Particularly plumbing and things that relate to getting your self contained cert. There’s no point having a sink just for looks you may as well use it. 

Depending on how patient you are and how much time you have you might even be better off looking for a complete self containment kitset that includes ALL required components needed to put into your cabinets and have a successful, simple, reliable water system. I can’t stress this enough. A poor system will disappoint you every time it leaks and fails.

There’s lots of kitsets out there for lots of different systems like solar, plumbing, heating and cabinets

Figuring out what parts work best together to create a reliable easy to use system can be a time consuming exercise of trial and error on its own but if going for a kitset be careful what people are selling you.

There’s a lot of so-called “kit sets” out there that in reality are far from a complete kit and often are cheap for a reason. Don’t be fooled into running around town trying to match plumbing threads on incompatible stuff from some “kit” you brought that is far from a kit that finishes the job completely.

I’ve personally been through three different pump manufacturers before finding a pump I feel comfortable to put my name against for resale so please avoid the cheapest water pumps they’ll make a mess of your home and your’l have a nightmare connecting to them!

The same principle applies to all kit sets like for solar systems and even cabinets.

And so again research is important so that you know your kit is complete and your components compatible.

Now you should have an idea of the total build and component cost and where you will get the things from based on the above research. Give yourself an extra 30% for unforeseen items and potentially freight charges. 

You should also have a list of your chosen product data sheets, showing their sizes and compatibility information, to see how much space you need in your cabinets and your van in order to actually fit all this stuff in and plan your layout. You need to be able to open the cupboard doors / fridge and remove water tanks etc.

3. Now it’s important to ask yourself how long do you expect to own the van.

If it’s a new van you’re safe. You should have good resale value but I warn you if it’s an older van be very careful about adding too much value to the interior you might have trouble selling it depending on your workmanship, the overall finished look and functionality of the final product.

If you are sure that you can deliver a top quality job that stands apart from other vans on the market you could put more value into the interior than the cost of the actual van and still recoup your costs when selling it (though probably not the labor time). But only if the van is reliable and can pass a pre purchase inspection as buyers will be skeptical. Always. 

If you love your van and it will be yours for a long time then and you just want the best interior then buy all means enjoy the project and pack it full of features to whatever value you want. It’s yours! Just make sure you insure the value of the build on top of the value of the van itself!

I generally would recommend the interior value be equal or less to the value of the van for ease of resale and you’re about to spend a lot of time and energy on it so you want to be sure the vehicle will last a good few years so that all your time and energy becomes worthwhile even if it gets sold.

4. Perhaps you have a van or truck already or maybe some second hand components that you’re hoping to use.

I have seen this go wrong many times including for myself once when trying to use an old fridge that my client got for free. Be very careful about building your cabinets around second hand stuff that might not work as well as you hope. You may run into trouble when the time comes to replace those things and you can’t find a replacement or there’s just better more efficient products out there that now won’t fit in your custom built cabinets!!

Perhaps the van you have now isn’t really big enough or new enough to really be worth doing all the things that you want to do to it. Seriously it’s always worth looking around for a more appropriate vehicle or appliance / equipment. Spend some time switching your stuff up, or even saving up some extra cash until you can do it well. What you have kicking around might be useful but it could also be too heavy and cost you more in fuel later on. Maybe it could help someone else out you don’t HAVE to use it.
The right Recycled stuff can also work very well. All I’m saying is, make a logical decision whether or not it’s a good option!

It’s also worth thinking about what bags, backpacks, crates, trays and food storage containers you’ll be using so you can size your cupboards and shelves fit. Your stuff. You might get a new set of containers to make things uniform or some containers from the second hand shop. Snap lock containers are great for mouse proof food storage!

5. Now ask yourself, Is it all going to be worthwhile, when and where can I do all this and will I have the tools I need? 

Think about the actual process of completing each task and what equipment you will need to achieve it? What about the curtains and upholstery if any? If you don’t have the tools are you able to borrow them or outsource a task? At this stage you may have already committed a lot of time to research probably but that’s just the start. Do you have enough spare time to complete the project by summer so that you can enjoy the fruits of  your labor in a well functioning camper van that you built yourself?

I hope so!

We hope you found this helpful.
If ya know what’s up, then you’ll check out our website for helpful relevant good stuff!

Warm regards, Zone 2

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