Van Floor Mats

January 12, 2021 by Ben Leave a Comment

Upgrading our Van Floor Mats. Most Van builds we have seen install some type of hardtop flooring. While this looks great, I personally can’t stand the mess left behind during the winter.

The slushy roadside snow melts, and you’re left with a dirty sandy mess and larger gravel migrating around your van. With a slush type mat, when the snow melts, the sand is trapped in the mat, and the larger gravel stays relatively put.

Keep reading to see how we make some custom fit, Slush Style…

Van Floor Mats

For a start, we have been using offcuts from the install of our Camper Van Carpet. Unfortunately, this particular type of carpet is porous, allowing water and spills to soak through. This and the fact that when it’s not glued down, it doesn’t hold its shape for long means we need a better solution for our Van floor mats.

Rubber Backed Carpet Entrance Mats

When researching the price and availability of durable rubber-backed carpet, we found Rubber Backed Carpet Entrance Mats at a reasonable price. The only problem, they are not quite big enough to cover up the cargo floor area. The best option would be to buy it off the roll in a roll width wide enough to cover the area, too bad this was not available.

What If We Glued Them Together💡?

There is a small strip of rubber around the edge of the mat. We figured we would be able to use rubber adhesive to join two mats together with a relatively seamless join. This making the mat large enough to completely cover the cargo area.

Ok, So How Did We Do It!

Van Floor Mats – The Install

Dinette Stage Area

For the Dinette Stage Area, we trimmed down a piece of rubber-backed carpet runner we picked up from our local Home Depot. This area is narrow enough that it will get full coverage without any extensions.

The mat is held in place by threaded inserts installed in the floor.

Aisle Mat

Again, we used a piece of rubber-backed carpet runner for the aisle section. This portion is secured using the factory tie-down points.

Cargo Area

Do you remember fixing bike tire punctures as a kid? Well gluing these mats together was very similar. We trimmed off the edge strip on one side. Then scuffed the contact area on both mats using a Wire Brush.

Then glued together following the instructions on the package. #ProTip: Use Masking Tape to stop the glue from adhering the mat to your workbench.

Full disclosure, I tried some construction adhesive leftover from a different project. It did not work for rubber, I should have known😤. We ended up using Shoe Goo. This stuff is magic. A little messy, but it sets up strong and flexible. Perfect for this application.