DIY Campervan COULD Save You Money

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Building your own Campervan could save thousands over professional campervan converters. BUT a mistake could cost you dearly.....

You dream of getting into the camper van lifestyle, but you're restricted by the high costs involved in buying that brand new van.

Is building your own DIY Campervan an option?

You will see other people waking up in different places incredible views relaxing with beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Having adventures with your friends, paddle boarding, biking, hiking and campfires.

A camper van gives you freedom to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle with everything under one roof. Your kitchen, your living room, your bathroom. You can have everything and you can drive it. Some say that camper vans are the price of houses. Well you can live in a camper van but you can't drive a house. Well that doesn't really make sense does it? In the car world it was true. But in fact, with vans some people do actually drive their houses.

Anyway, brand new professionally converted camper vans do cost a lot of money. Tens of thousands of pounds, which for many of us is just not going to be achievable. That brand new shiny van with all the modern tech, gadgets and all those home comforts isn't the only way of having the lifestyle, though. You can have a staycation or even explore Europe and beyond for much less money.

Well, how can you do it? Well, today I'm going to talk about it, and soon (future videos) I will actually show you some vans which you can actually buy, build a variety of budget vans, and explain the different options along the way. Oh, and I will also be bringing you a BIG Budget van also. You all will be involved in that one.

There's going to be a whole series on useful advice to help you all very soon.

For now, let's talk about some of the benefits that a DIY camper van can bring. Why would you even consider a DIY camper van project yourself? Well, the number one reason that a lot of people choose to do it is cost. You can potentially save thousands compared to a professional conversion, more on that in a minute. You control the budget, choosing where to save, where to spend, and very importantly, when to spend it. This is something that some of you have told me in the past: the fact that you can afford the basic van but you can't afford the conversion that you'd want to do to it once you've got it. Well, with a DIY camper, you can do these things at your own leisure and spend the money on your van when you can actually afford it. Perhaps you can keep it simple to start with and buy all your toys first, instead of the conversion: your surfboards, your paddleboards, your bikes, your kayaks, your new walking boots, maybe a National Trust membership, some books, or whatever it is that you like doing—the reason why you actually wanted a van in the first place. Start getting out and using it even before it's fully built if you can, because depending on your requirements, which we're actually going to discuss next week, you might actually just be able to chuck a mattress in the back and off you go. Even if you have children, that could still be a possibility by purchasing an awning or even a roof tent.

So basically, I'm saying you could buy the van and then either plan for a converter to do the camper van building in stages, or you could do some or all of it yourself.

Over the next few months, I will be showing you exactly what that looks like, the various different stages of conversion, and where you can actually buy the components from. You don't necessarily need to start with just a panel van. You could actually start with a cheaper van that is partially done. Sometimes a van with a pop-top and no other camper components could be found that could turn out to be more cost-effective. Some people have turned the kombis into camper vans and put a pop-up on it. And sometimes, sometimes they can be cheaper. I was actually offered a van, a T5, the other day for £4,800, I think it was. And that would make somebody a very good base van to begin their van life journey.

There are cheap vans of various different makes, models, and differing reasons why they might be budget, like that one that had high mileage. And we're going to investigate some of that in future videos. Some will say that if you're buying a budget van, you can get a cheaper base van than a VW. And perhaps, yes, you can. And that is also something which we'll discuss. But aside from buying the van, there is the camper to create. And DIY isn't for everybody, especially when it comes to building a full camper van with gas, fixed electrics, pop-up top, bed, heating, etc. There are some elements that I would really urge any DIYer to pass on to a professional. You know, a few examples of this are like a pop-top. This involves removing most of your roof, taking away that structural integrity, and it needs to be done properly to make sure that it is actually going to be safe.

Your gas—don't do it unless you're competent. If you're having a hob in your kitchen unit, you're going to have to have fixed pipes, not rubber hoses (check latest regulations).

Electrics—if you feel confident, then do them, but once you've done it, make sure that it's checked afterwards. You know, everybody knows that electrical faults are a major cause of fire. The peace of mind that a few hours' labour by a professional to actually have a look over it—surely that's got to be worth it?

And interestingly, I was having a conversation with somebody the other day when they actually said, "Did you know that some people install seat beds incorrectly using the incorrect fixings and fittings and some even use wood screws?" And laughing, I did say, "Yes, I am aware." And the reason I was actually laughing, not because it's actually funny, because it really isn't, but because he didn't know, that it's something which I talk about quite a lot, and it is far more common than it should be.

I've said before that there are lots of different trades being utilised in building a camper van, and a wide range of knowledge is required. There are aspects to a van conversion that can be done yourself to reduce costs. Sound deadening and insulation being one of them. At least doing it yourself, you know that it's been done and to the standard that you want, using the correct materials. Watch this space. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you haven't, because there's going to be lots more useful information like that.

But it's not just about the money. A DIY conversion means you can do anything with it that you actually wish. You design the layout to suit you perfectly, to suit your needs and your lifestyle. If you need a specific storage solution for your paddleboard, a cupboard perhaps for your fold-away bike (I love ,https://mirider.co.uk ) you want a bigger kitchen area, a coffee machine that pops up when you touch a button, then you can make it. You don't have to have that standard off-the-shelf conversion.

With building your own campervan, there's also that incredible sense of accomplishment, that achievement that you've built your own van, taking that empty metal box and transforming it into a functional home on wheels.

It's incredibly rewarding. And additionally, as you are building the camper van yourself, you'll take pride and care, and you'll know how it's been built. You will no doubt spend way longer than you should do trying to make it absolutely perfect. You know, building a full camper van isn't just a couple of nights' work. Doing it yourself in your spare time could take weeks, months, and even years. Some say that DIY campers are the worst vans out there, but there's certainly an argument to say that it can certainly be better than some of the professional conversions because the DIYer has been meticulous in how it's built, making sure that they've done it to the best of their ability and right exactly as they want it. And this also helps with the maintenance, as the person who's built it knows where everything is and how to get to everything which they need—you know where each wire goes and what's behind each panel, etc. You could be thinking that building a whole camper van sounds like a huge project. But Rome wasn't built in a day. If you don't need that fully built camper van immediately and you have the time to build your own, then it can be a wonderful thing to do. However, if you aren't confident, your DIY skills are severely lacking, then building your own could be very costly and dangerous. I said earlier that building your own could save thousands over professional converters. And yes, it could, as you won't be paying those labor costs, which is a significant cost in any camper van build, as they take many hours, days, weeks to actually build. And doing it yourself can save these labor costs. But if you make a mistake, if you get that wiring wrong, you incorrectly install that diesel heater, use the wrong cables, the wrong wires, incorrect hoses, cheap units, cheap bed wrongs, fixings, then it could all end with a massive bill or even worse, a nasty incident occurring. You could avoid the potential problems.

One way to begin the lifestyle is by starting simple. Buy the van and then chuck a mattress in the back or maybe removable furniture. I'm going to show you various different options in this in the next few months. Various options over a range of budgets. Things you can do yourself without breaking the bank. You can add your cooking facilities too in the form of removable items from your favorite brand. I like using Cadac, but like when we met Tony last year actually in this very location, he built his budget van and had loads of stuff from Temu. I think he said his cooker was about 20 quid.

Your electrical system—Tony didn't need that hardwired system. He ran everything from a portable power station, and that's something which you can do as well. People even use them long term. Prices and sizes vary, as do your requirements. They might not cost the earth like these big heavy units do. You know, you could get a smaller one if you're not going to be needing to run your high wattage items. Your DIY camper could have units to accommodate the removable items such as these. They could include a fridge, but do you need a powered one, or would something like a Yeti cooler do the job for you, and then you can just put it in the aperture? And on that note, I've got something very, very, very cool which I've bought, and it's on its way to me. So DIY doesn't necessarily mean you have to do a lot of work. Some of the essentials can be bought ready to go without any real skills to fit or install them. And this approach lets you start having your adventures sooner, understand how you actually want to use that space, and figure out what you really need before committing to a permanent build. It's a fantastic low-cost entry point into the van life world. And once you've spent some time in your van and you have that clearer vision of what you want, you might decide to move towards a more permanent setup. Or you may even realize that you don't need that full camper van conversion after all. And I'm going to tell you a story next week, and I'll explain how to avoid some of the problems. Nothing wrong with this particular van. This bloke had nothing wrong at all. But there was a big problem. So subscribe if you want to see that and see how you could plan your van better. Whatever you choose, whatever you make your model, whether DIY for a couple of grand or a professional conversion for 100,000, we can all wake up to views such as this.

Look out for the amazing projects I have this year.