How to Trim Out the Ceiling/Wall Panel Joint Out of Your Van Dwelling

The last installment had me wondering how I was going to create a smooth transition from the wall paneling to the ceiling paneling. The beam structure that ties the wall and ceiling together bumps out about an inch from the wall paneling. To complicate the problem further, the ceiling panel doesn't quite reach all the way to the side either. A simple solution was chosen and an "L" shaped enclosure was constructed to make the transition.

The roof beam is different thickness on the two sides to accommodate the sliding side door. Rather then having one enclosure smaller then the other I chose to make them both the same size so they would match. The vertical piece of paneling is 3" wide and the horizontal piece is 6" wide. I cut down some 1x3 furring strips to 1x1's to join the two pieces together and to create flanges that would allow fastening the "L" structure to the ceiling and wall.

I used an air nail gun with staples to assemble the "L" structure but nails or sheet rock screws would work just as well.

Installation of the enclosures was done with sheet rock screws. If you followed my previous advice and installed additional 1x3 furring strips under your paneling you should have a solid attachment point to screw into when you mount your "L" enclosures. Be careful to choose screws long enough to make a solid attachment but now so long as to protrude into, or puncture the outside sheet metal of the van.

A second person would be valuable to help hold things in place, though I did it by myself with only minor struggling. As nothing is flat or level in a van you may have to apply some pressure here and there, or trim this and that to get things to line up or butt up to the wall and ceiling paneling.

To some degree I will be relying on trim and paint to hide some minor issues in getting things to fit well. At some point you might just have to decide "Good Enough" . Perfection is going to be tough to accomplish. With this simple design you've got some leeway in making things fit. Once trim hides any issues the only person who will ever know will be you.

There is still some finish trim and panel work to do at the rear door area of the van. Installation of a roof vent and fan will come before that last 6" or so of rear corner fit out will be tackled. There is tail light wiring that must be enclosed somehow.

With the front end of the ceiling and wall done I started the wood covering for the bulkhead wall. I attached 7/16 OSB to the steel wall with hex head self drilling screws. Using the cut and test method of developing the correct lines for the panel, before I screwed it in place I used the piece as a pattern for the layer of ¼" luan plywood that I would use as the final surface.

With the OSB secured to the steel bulkhead I used ½" staples to attach the luan painting surface, securing it around the outer edge so the staples will be hidden under trim.

Similar effort will be made to finish the rest of the bulkhead wall then it will be trimmed out with a nice wood door jam to clean up the walk through to the cab of the van.

Before long it will be time to go shopping for laminate flooring.