The heart is where the kitchen is
So the cleaning stage is done. I removed the floor which is basically some MDF palettes and a carpet. I got new pallets because the old ones were pretty dirty, and since the carpet fits perfectly, I decided I should just give it a good wash with some soap. So as for now, the carpet is drying, and I need to cut the pallets I got so they will fit as a floor.
The next stage is building the kitchen (not including the kitchen drawer) and the water system.
Since my van has two side doors, it makes sense for me to utilize it and have a sitting area with two entrances (when the bed is folded into a couch). This means that the kitchen will be in the back. Accessing the kitchen only from the outside is not always fun since the weather is not always perfect, but I’ll probably have some sort of a tarp I could put on top of the back door which will cover the kitchen from wind and rain.
The kitchen table will be ~130cm in it’s narrow part and ~150cm in it’s wide part (that’s how the back of the van is shaped). I will talk about the depth and the height soon.
The left part of the kitchen table will be a sink with a tap that pumps water from a 25L fresh water tank. The sink will drain into a 25L grey water tank.
The NZ self-containment standards have certain specifications regarding the water system which I’ll cover further on.
Kitchen Table
- Dimensions: Since the water tanks are 29cm wide each, the sink and water system will take ~60cm. The tanks are 31.5cm deep, so a 40cm deep kitchen table will do the trick. I need to keep in mind that the depth of the kitchen table will take bed space. Regarding the table’s height, it will be ~60cm as the water tanks are 45cm high, and there needs to be room for the sink and the water pipes.
- Structure: The legs of the tables will be the closest I can get them to the sides of the van, and somewhere in the middle, separating the water system from the kitchen drawer. The back of the table will have a thin piece of wood that will separate the kitchen table from the bed, and will also support the back side of the bed (I will cover the bed in a dedicated post).
- Materials: I picked up some plywood which will be the table top, thick pieces of wood that I will use as table legs, and the thin piece of wood I mentioned earlier as the table back. I might use it for separating the two compartments under the table.
In order to attach the legs to the table top I will use metal angles (that I still need to get, along with some screws). I might use these to fix the table to the floor, but I can do it later if the whole thing doesn’t feel stable. - Tools: So since I don’t have any tools, I’m going to use the services of a wonderful local tool library. I will need to cut the table top and the legs using a hand saw (the tool library does not have a skill saw, but maybe I will be able to find someone who has one), but for the edges of the table I will use a Jigsaw. I will use the Jigsaw also for the sink hole, but first I will have to use a hole saw. Needless to say that I will also need a powered screwdriver.
Tap, Sink, and Water System :
- Materials: The second treasures shop is a wonderful place. I managed to find cheap good wood, but also a sink! with the pipes that I need and everything! It was really exciting. Other than that, I got a two brand new 25L water tanks. Regarding the manual tap, I ordered one online.
- Structure: According to the self-containment specifications, the water pipes, as well as the water tanks, need to be opaque to prevent growth of algae. The fresh water tank needs to have at least 25mm diameter wide inlet (got it), the waste pipe from the sink needs to be at least 18mm diameter (got it), and needs to have a water seal of not less than 40mm (got it). Don’t let the dimensions intimidate you (I’m still a bit intimidated myself though), it’s should be pretty straight forward.
Will start working on this stage soon enough, pictures will be added to the next post.
