In our 14ft Morgan Box Truck conversion, we worked with our pre-existing hardwood floors. The floors that came with our box are 1-1/8" thick and are fastened to the subframe with countersunk screws.
Given our experience with the Sprinter Van Build, we initially insulated the floor with foam boards, hoping to keep it warm, but didn't notice a significant improvement. The floors always felt chilly. Hence, when it came to our Box Truck Conversion, we decided against adding a subframe floor atop the existing one.
The Process for Floor Installation
With using the floor, we did have put in some extra work to fill the expansion gaps and screw holes in the surface of the floor with epoxy. We did notice that light could shine through some of the cracks, so sealing this up was job number one on the list for our floor installation.
Parts & Tools
Table Top Epoxy Part A
Epoxy Hardener Part B
Handy Paint Pail Liners
220 Grit Sand Paper
Preparing the Floors
To prepare the floors, you'll want to make sure that everything is extremely clean. Remove any dust or rocks that may be around, vacuum it and wipe everything down with a damp rag. This will help ensure that your epoxy won't have any rocks as it the epoxy hardens and seals.
Creating your Epoxy Mixture
We used ProMarine Suppliers Table Top Epoxy (A), Epoxy Hardener (B), some paint pail liners, and paint sticks. Grab solution (A) and (B) and mix them evenly in a paint pail liner. You'll want an even 1:1 ratio. ProMarine Suppliers has rebranded to Promise Epoxy.
After pouring them into the pail, use a paint stick to evenly mix the solution. We also added in some grey spray paint of Rust-Oleum to give a sparkle shine since we already had it on hand. The Rust-Oleum is of course optional.
Applying the Epoxy to your Expansion Gaps and Screws
Once you have a good amount of solution to start the project, grab your paint and hover it over the screw holes and cracks. This is a tedious job, and you want to try to be as "neat" as possible considering you'll be sanding this down once it hardens. It is self-leveling so it will expand where it's poured onto.
We did this at least two times, with a couple hours in between to make sure it filled the gaps properly. After the first coat, we noticed that sometimes it still needed a bit more considering the floor is 1-1/8" thick and some would seep through. There is no golden number of how many times to do this. Go over as many times as you think you need.
Epoxy Cure Time
According to Promise Epoxy, the curing time should be at least 72 hours, but we had tons of other projects to do on the truck once we got to this point in our build such as our shiplap ceiling boards install, 12V puck lights install, and little projects. Because of this, we let our floor cure for about a month before proceeding.
Staining the Surface
As soon as the epoxy has had time to cure, sand all the filled epoxy areas, vacuum the mess, and wipe the floor clean with a damp rag.
Once that is done, we picked a Varathane Classic Wood Stain Special Walnut to stain our floor with. We started with a small 8oz just in case we didn't like it. To test it out, we stained the floor where we will have cabinets cover, and we realized that it was the perfect color for us. Just be sure to mix it well before using or else it may appear darker than you expected.
Pour the stain into a paint mixture holder. Initially, we bought a cheap brush from Home Depot and realized that it wasn't looking good or spreading evenly. We also weren't going with the grain when applying it either. So we sanded it down, went with the grain and reapplied it with a rag which had a smoother look.
Clear Coating the Floor
Once the stain dried over night, we were happy with the one coat of Special Walnut. To finish it off, we used an Oil-Based Polyurethane Floor Finish to give it a clear, shiny and consistent look. Polyurethane also helps provide a scratch resistant floor.
We bought a paint roller & paint tray. Mixed the floor finish, and rolled three to four coats letting them dry in between each time. You can recoat every 12 hours.
We also used 220 grit sand paper in between each coat. We did this because it helped remove bumps and uneven sections of the floor.
Let it dry, then you'll have a nice, even shine and the floor is complete!
