Ply type and thickness for van walls

[Dylan T]

Hi all - I’m converting a van to a camper and about to finish the battening ready to line with ply to form the walls. I’ve got a couple of questions relating to the material and thickness and was hoping some folks could help. Some people seem to use poplar ply to keep it lightweight although it’s harder to get hold of and much more cash and I’ve heard structurally a lot weaker (some places list it as non-structural which I’m not entirely sure what it means). Some also use 9mm thick while others 5.5/6mm to keep it maleable to van contours; keeping in mind that I’ll be giving the sheets a faux cladding look by running 2mm grooves at 10cm intervals along the sheets with a v groove router bit. Although the 5.5mm ply takes this it may not be too strong afterwards. Thoughts appreciated on best material/thickness combo. Thanks!

 

[mikeey84]

I've heard of quite a few people falling foul of weight limits, so I'd go for the lightest possible material.

The requirement for structural grade depends on what you are going to use the ply for- if you will be hanging things off it, you'll need thicker, if it's just for cladding, then I'd go as thin as possible

 

[scbk]

Usually 5.5/6mm cheapest ply you can get, try and avoid battens as much as you can, just screw it straight to the metal

 

[big-all]

as an aside do not be tempted to use mdf/chipboard/ sterling /osb board[heavy and weak]
intersections in cupboards seating areas tend to be 20x20mm softwood to give strength and fixings around all edges often just glue and tack staples [heavy duty] look up staple tack hammer