Horsebox flooring

[NopocketAces]

At last, after a long cold winter of inaction, we are starting to build our Mercedes 814 horsebox conversion. The composite panels for the sides have arrived, the new roofline is CADed and the new overcab bedroom is ready to be welded. I am now moving onto the floor.. and need you wonderful people's help! I am minded to go for a GRP composite panel purely befcause I can make it to a one piece size which will avoid any chance of moisture coming from the road beneath... and a composite panel with a PET core will give some insulation and noise reduction properties. I am leaning towards a 25mm total thickness panel called Ecofont.

Am I on the right track or is there a simpler solution without a ply/insulation/ply strucure which will have to be bonded and waterproofed .. and may fail at some stage

Many thanks for your thoughts in advance

 

[acropolis22]

I've no idea what you are talking about, but it sounds really good.
Good luck with the conversion.

 

[NopocketAces]

Ha! Thank you! Here are a few images...

 

[tacr2man]

are you thinking along these lines ? https://www.coreprosystems.co.uk/insulated-vehicle-panels
https://www.coldsaverpanels.co.uk/panel-systems.htm ?

 

[NopocketAces]

Hi Tacr2man
I got the side panels from corepro (30mm compsite) but did not order enought for the floor (basic maths error). Quite expensive but should do the job. The floor is trickier as I have no idea about load capability and necessary thermal/ soundproofing material. I have 25mm depth to play with before I have to start changing the doorways, in itself no big deal, but I want to get it right! There would be a floor covering over any composite floor. probably lino or lino tiles..

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[acropolis22]

Lino tiles are quite heavy aren't they?

 

[NopocketAces]

Not too worried about the weight as we have stripped the box to bare bones at 3.5t and will definitely not put 4t back on... tiles might be 100kg but no more

 

[Stealaway]

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[NopocketAces]

Thanks Stealaway - these would do away with a ply sub floor and probably be structurally stronger than ply..if I go with the grp sheet/ insulation/ply/floor option

 

[NopocketAces]

Here is the drawing of what we are planning. we are lifting the roof to accommodate a higher over cab bedroom area, completely removing the current over cab section and hinging a new one in place to allow for the tilt cab to work. One bed will lie on the ceiling above the work surface and the other will fold out onto the seats, Shower and toilet in the back, underslung genny, webasto heater for central heating and water and away we go!

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[TinaLes]

I expect you may have come across this company in your searches,( see link below) but this is the level of insulation strength I would be looking at, its similar to the stuff used on motorhomes, if you could find a GRP sheet for the underside then that would be even better. I did buy a load of GRP lined 8x4 ply panels years back from a Lorry Parts company, cant remeber their name now, but the GRP was very strong, very shiny, its the actual stuff used to build the sides and backs of lorry trailers. They also did the aluminium extrusions sections in various shapes for the roof, sides and floor sections, the GRP ply panels simply slipped inside the extrusions and were bonded & riveted if necessary, very strong water proof result.
Good luck.
LES

Laminate Panels - GM Panels

 

[Googlebot]

Can’t help with the construction, but I can’t wait for this thread to carry on! It’s going to be amazing!

 

[NopocketAces]

Thanks TinaL... I had a chat to Paul at GM this afternoon!! I have given him the options of a composite or just a GRP ply panel and will wait for prices to come back. I have done the calcs and the flooring is going to be around 51mm for a home made sandwich of panel, celotex, chip sub floor and flooring, or 46mm for a 30mm composite panel. The panel will be a lot less work but more expensive and more complicated to run wiring/water etc from underneath where everything is slung on the subframe. A slight concern is the potential for damage and then water ingress to a grp panel facing the road... but i suppose any damage can be repaired...

Googlebot.. thanks for watching - I am sure there will be a point where you can input! Will be grinding off the roof and front cab this weekend so will update on how many fingers are left on Monday

 

[Jamesh]

How about 9mm buffalo board 30mm celotex and 12mm ply floor?

Buffalo board is what truck floors are usually made of....

Cheers James

 

[NopocketAces]

Thanks James... will that give me a waterproof seal to the bottom...? Not heard of it before...

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[Silver-Fox]

If it were me I’d make my own sandwich floor up.
You could also run service ducts through the insulated area if you wanted to.

Cut the lower panels to shape, then grp them and fit to lorry base.
You could use t and g ply and glue the joints.

 

[NopocketAces]

Blimey silver fox... I wouldn't know where to start on GRP ing them myself.. I'll have to look it up.. 11m2 floor..... But I like the idea of ducting all the cabling and pipework. Thanks for the idea

 

[DBK]

Putting pipes in the floor, with insulation above and below them is common practice for vans designed to be used in sub-zero temperatures. If you are going to be fitting a blown hot air heating system also consider where the ducts will go and use them where possible to keep water and waste pipes warm. On a similar vein consider where fresh and waste tanks will go and again putting them somewhere warm will be good.

 

[Vipar]

Pheeeeeew I bet it will stink of horse Pi55

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

That is just like my old horse lorry, only mine was a TK.
Good luck with converting it, I look forward to seeing the result.

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[tacr2man]

Pheeeeeew I bet it will stink of horse Pi55

I dont see how as hes removed all the existing body AFAIK ?

 

[Vipar]

I thought that he was going to horse show with a horse in the back?
If not It will smell like roses
Good luck w the build

 

[Jamesh]

Thanks James... will that give me a waterproof seal to the bottom...? Not heard of it before...

Yes it's Waterproof.
I would to the frame work with ebt polymer sealant glue.

It's used in kids playgroup equipment too, sign boards, and form work in mdo form.

Cheers James

 

[NopocketAces]

Thankl you everyone for the inputs--- no horse smell thank God.. but all the wooden flooring had rotted! And DBK, unless I get kicked out of the house for spending all the cash, we wont be using it overwinter. I have had to mount the water tanks underneath so dont think I would be able to insulate them enough for arctic conditions!

Have now stripped put the Luton overcab ready to build and fit the new and improved model. Have decided to go for a GRP 7mm floor with 30mm celotex and topped with a ply subfloor. I can run the electrics and water in the void. Also I have been toying with a wet water heating system but cant justify the danger of having a problem later on down the line and having to strip everything out so will go for a blown air system integrated into the kick panels of the units. Now trying to find a horizontal 40l calorifier for under the seats but with an expansion vessel the space is tight. Everthing will be attached to a webasto/eberspacher and the truck's cooling system.

Picked up a welder today so now need to practise a bit on some scrap before going mad....

 

[NopocketAces]

Update and question!

So I took the roof off and have raised the height to give a 1200 h x 1600 d luton cab for a double bed. The extra roof gives a void space for storage, insulation and wiring etc. The luton is almost complete (just waiting on the angle ring to arrive). The luton itself is a separate unit from the body and will hinge so that the tilt cab can operate for servicing etc
Hopefully I'll get it lifted in place to weld this weekend.

Thoughts now turning to the flooring and have decided to go for a panel with 1mm GRP outside (facing the road) and 7mm ply bonded to the inside. I have a question about joisting that one of you more experienced self builders will be able to answer... I am going to joist lengthways on top of the ply panel (which rests on the frame crossmembers) but I want to keep the height to a bare minimum. Am I right in thinking 30mmx30mm timbers at 250mm centres should offer enough support. I will celotex in between and use a 12mm osb to top the joists and then a lino type floor to finish. This makes my floor height a total of around 50mm from the crossmembers and gives me an internal height of 2090mm floor to ceiling.

Sooo... is the floor going to be strong enough,,, and is the flooring insulation sufficient...?

Would love some views from you lovely people

Fred

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[Silver-Fox]

Blimey silver fox... I wouldn't know where to start on GRP ing them myself.. I'll have to look it up.. 11m2 floor..... But I like the idea of ducting all the cabling and pipework. Thanks for the idea

Don’t be afraid of having a go at grp

It’s really not brain surgery

 

[NopocketAces]

My main worry is not having a single skin floor front to back, side to side. If I took on the GRP job myself, how could I guarantee a complete watertight seal? Could I join all the ply together using timber fixers, GRP the under side, lift as one unit into place and then remove the timbers? What would I use as a topcoat to seal the GRP?

Many thanks

 

[Silver-Fox]

My main worry is not having a single skin floor front to back, side to side. If I took on the GRP job myself, how could I guarantee a complete watertight seal? Could I join all the ply together using timber fixers, GRP the under side, lift as one unit into place and then remove the timbers? What would I use as a topcoat to seal the GRP?

Many thanks

If you can get the floor into place as one item, then no reason not to do as one.

Treat the underside the same as a flat roof and you can top coat in what ever Ral colour that’s available.

you can stabilise the base by screwing 2 x 2 timber to the top so you don’t get movement when putting into place.

You can then fibre glass the top or just treat with say 5 star.
Make sure the edges are well treated.

Then insulate, do your services and then put your top ply surface in place.

Jobs a good un

 

[NopocketAces]

Brilliant - -Silver Fox thanks.. I will have a look and see what I can find in kits.. can I lay the GRP in a thin ply? I dont want to raise the floor height any more than I have to so 7-8mm ply would be ideal - just dont want it to flex too much and crack when lifting the floor into place....

 

[Silver-Fox]

Brilliant - -Silver Fox thanks.. I will have a look and see what I can find in kits.. can I lay the GRP in a thin ply? I dont want to raise the floor height any more than I have to so 7-8mm ply would be ideal - just dont want it to flex too much and crack when lifting the floor into place....

If your using ply take the arris off the edges and use ply as tongues to mating edges.

The resin needs to get in between the joints a bit.

If you get a bit of cracking no reason you couldn’t do small patch repairs upside down

Use 18mm for the base and reduce the top ply in thickness as your putting insulation in as a sandwich

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