Diary: 8. The Van Conversion - Part 2


So, we now have a kitchen unit screwed into place, a kitchen counter which still needs to be fixed down, and 2 toilet cubicle walls made of ply wood. We’ve also got our deadline. April 14th 2018 ( It was only after booking the tickets that we realised that’s actually the month and day that the Titanic sank. We hoped and prayed that it wasn’t a bad omen!)

We needed to get a move on, and so, as well as having Jamie (the dad of Matt’s half brothers) help us out, we roped in our friend Alfie on a Saturday he had off work. With Alfie’s help, Matt managed to get the toilet walls feeling a little more permanent, and Jenna busily cut marble PVC cladding and silver edging to size and affixed it to the ply. Finally, a room was nearly finished. 


That afternoon, another friend, Alex, came over to have a look at the van and have a little catch up with us all. As Matt and Alfie struggled to find an easy solution for making the toilet door, Alex suggested we just use a shower curtain. Bam. Genius idea. That meant no more man-hours on cutting bits of ply wonky to match the wonky walls and ceiling of the van. All it needed was for us to go and buy a nice shower curtain and a flexible curtain rail and we’d have a door perfect for the two of us. 

With Alex’s input a success, it was time for he and Alfie to leave for the day, while we carried on banging out jobs. The high point of the day was that Matt had started to make a frame for some storage cupboards that we wanted to mount high on the wall. As we said, the walls and ceiling in the van are all wonky, all at different angles, and all just hell to deal with. Despite this, magic Matt managed to create a perfect fit first time with his new found skills in carpentry. Matt’s smile said it all that evening. 




We spent the rest of the evening finishing the cupboard off with a base and some doors made from old scrap wood. We were so busy painting the cupboard unit and being proud of ourselves, that we completely lost track of time. That night we ended up having our first meal in the van! Granted it was a pizza from Papa Johns (best garlic sauce in my opinion), and it was half past 9 at night, but with a slice in one hand, and a paint brush in the other, we got the cupboard finished and painted. The feeling of achievement was so good. Finally we could see the van coming together. 




Over the next couple of days we were either working non-stop all day on the van, or out all day buying supplies and fixings we figured we would need. It was a rough week, with exhaustion setting in and tempers becoming a little frayed, but every so often we would finish a job and the pride took over and we would use it to make the next job a little more fun.  

Jenna x
Location: Canvey Island SS8, UK

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