Advice for wood effect laminate or oak veneer instead of carpet on the ply panels?

[Amber]

Newbie here.
I'm at the beginning of my van conversion (T6 SWB 2017) and wanting to do some of it myself. I really love the aesthetic of a wood lined van and trying to work out how/ if I can do it rather than carpet lined.

I'm putting in all the windows except the driver side rear, so there won't be too many panels exposed actually.
Obviously I'm planning on putting in sound deadening and insulation where I can.

Then can I cover the factory fitted boards (or new ply better?) with veneer or laminate and clip them in? Is it worth doing hidden carpet lining anywhere?

Would it be ok just to leave the thin fiddly bits bare metal? Or would this be especially noisy? I'm wondering how much difference it makes and if I can mitigate that somehow.
If anyone has experience of doing this it would be great.

I'm getting a Westdubs Pop Top fitted in January, and I'm trying to see if I can fix laminate or veneer to the underside of the bed. Any tips on this? Or would I be better to buy a pice of oak face ply and supply my own bed board? (and save £250 off pop top) I'm not clear how easy that would be to DIY...

Thanks for your patience - I am sure I will have loads of questions and will supply photos as I go along.

 

[drinfinity]

Newbie here.
I'm at the beginning of my van conversion (T6 SWB 2017) and wanting to do some of it myself. I really love the aesthetic of a wood lined van and trying to work out how/ if I can do it rather than carpet lined.

I'm putting in all the windows except the driver side rear, so there won't be too many panels exposed actually.
Obviously I'm planning on putting in sound deadening and insulation where I can.

Then can I cover the factory fitted boards (or new ply better?) with veneer or laminate and clip them in? Is it worth doing hidden carpet lining anywhere?

Would it be ok just to leave the thin fiddly bits bare metal? Or would this be especially noisy? I'm wondering how much difference it makes and if I can mitigate that somehow.
If anyone has experience of doing this it would be great.

I'm getting a Westdubs Pop Top fitted in January, and I'm trying to see if I can fix laminate or veneer to the underside of the bed. Any tips on this? Or would I be better to buy a pice of oak face ply and supply my own bed board? (and save £250 off pop top) I'm not clear how easy that would be to DIY...

Thanks for your patience - I am sure I will have loads of questions and will supply photos as I go along.

I left the kitchen window surround uncarpetted originally, thinking it would be easier to clean. In the end it didn’t match the rest, so I did trim it with carpet. Usually you would trim these bits so they aren’t cold to the touch.

Making your own bed is easy enough. Sheet of ply, I used 12mm poplar ply. Add your own veneer, or get it ready done. I did a bifold bed which makes loads more space.

CandyVan conversion journey

Left roof beam back in and trimmed. Original courtesy light refitted, and it lights up, and no blown fuses!

www.t6forum.com

 

[drinfinity]

Here’s the parts list I used for the fittings. I updated the struts to 220 N later.

fittings for the beds gas struts

the company i bought my van from are choosing to wait out transporter HQs supply issue (8 weeks and counting) rather than adjust their supply chain to any of the uk based gas strut makers. and because its not even the only issue i've got with the vehicle, im going to do it myself. does anyone...

www.t6forum.com

 

[Amber]

I left the kitchen window surround uncarpetted originally, thinking it would be easier to clean. In the end it didn’t match the rest, so I did trim it with carpet. Usually you would trim these bits so they aren’t cold to the touch.

Making your own bed is easy enough. Sheet of ply, I used 12mm poplar ply. Add your own veneer, or get it ready done. I did a bifold bed which makes loads more space.

CandyVan conversion journey

Left roof beam back in and trimmed. Original courtesy light refitted, and it lights up, and no blown fuses!

www.t6forum.com

Oh wow your bifold bed looks fab and I've just gone down a rabbit hole looking at the rest of your conversion. Seriously wanting one of those seats on rails now too...

OK I am going to have a chat with Westdubs and maybe I will make my own bed. Eek. Thanks for this.

And I guess the bare metal struts would attract condensation too... food for thought.

 

[airhoguk]

For the panels on my T5.1 I used oak laminate with an mdf core and it worked well. Just needed to seal all the surfaces and edges to prevent moisture ingress. I’ll probably do the same again on my T6.1 as I liked the finish compared to carpe. Everything was sound deadened and insulated as usual and throughout the year never had any damp spots on the bare metal, it was cold but didn’t condensate

 

[Amber]

For the panels on my T5.1 I used oak laminate with an mdf core and it worked well. Just needed to seal all the surfaces and edges to prevent moisture ingress. I’ll probably do the same again on my T6.1 as I liked the finish compared to carpe. Everything was sound deadened and insulated as usual and throughout the year never had any damp spots on the bare metal, it was cold but didn’t condensate

Very good to know - thanks for this. I will pay attention to sealant.