For our cozy interior atmosphere, we decide to fix light wood paneling on the side walls as well as the ceiling of our living room. In order to be able to install the paneling in one big sitting on a Saturday, a little preparatory work is necessary. When we cover all the walls, the cable ducts for all electrical installations including cables must already be laid through the substructure. To install a cable after the wall covering is in place is almost impossible from an aesthetic point of view.

Laying cables in the van

For the various electrical consumers such as refrigerator, LED strips, ceiling lighting, as well as the 230V sockets and the associated switches, electrical cables must be laid in various places in our van. To ensure safety and robustness, we use conventional cable routing tubes made of corrugated plastic. When we lay the cables in them, the cables are protected against chafing on sharp edges and again additionally protected against other external influences. We would continue to carry out an electrical installation only in this way. According to the regulations in Switzerland, electrical installations without such cable conduits can be objected to, which can cause problems during an inspection at the MfK (Motor Vehicle Inspection)!

Thus, the cables are already prepared, now we can cover the substructure with the light wood paneling.

Wooden paneling in the campervan

In our opinion, wooden paneling is ideal for a camper conversion. It is light, other structures can be perfectly anchored in the substructure through the paneling and it allows enough flexibility not to break directly at a light load. Besides, from our point of view, it is a light material. Because of the weight savings, we have also decided accordingly for a continuous wooden paneling. For us, this offers the advantage that all furniture and cabinets do not need an additional back wall, since the wooden paneling also serves as a back wall within the storage spaces.

Attention! In some countries, among others in Germany, paneling is not welcome because of its splinter danger when altering the vehicle registration to a motorhome and can be objected to!
With correct assembly we however see no problem and in Switzerland it is also for the MfK acceptance no issue fortunately.

On a Saturday we get additional help from a good friend of the family. He is used to working with wood and wainscoting in particular and can also help us out with the right tools. We fasten the wainscot mainly with staples from a compressed air gun directly to the substructure. In addition, against loosening under vibrations while driving, we apply a fine layer of glue made of heavy-duty construction adhesive everywhere. With this, our ceiling should certainly not fall on our heads!

Done! From morning till night, we worked on the interior trim, cut out all the necessary holes and led the cable pipes out of the substructure into the interior at the appropriate places. Finally, our Mercedes Sprinter looks a bit homely for the first time. This gives us hope for a successful project completion. The next step is the bed construction. The bed is probably one of the most used places in a campervan. That’s why we don’t let ourselves be deprived of a little luxury, more about that in the next post!