Building a home in a van is kind of like building a home in a metal can. The metal walls, ceiling, and floor surfaces amplify noise from bumps in the road, tire vibration, rumbling trucks driving by, and activities in the van home.

Sound deadening your van can help to keep inside noises in and outside noises out. If you’re going stealth and parking in a city, you probably don’t want passersby to hear your morning alarm. And if you are camped near a posse of Oregon Trail horse-back-riding-enthusiasts you may want to be able to tune out some of the neighing.

If you are starting from a blank van-canvas, the amount of exposed metal surface can be a little intimidating. Fortunately 100% surface coverage is not necessary to achieve a reduction in sound. With quality deadening materials, you can expect a reduction in vibrations with only 25% coverage of the majority of your surfaces. The deadening material is essentially weighing down the metal so it can not vibrate and transmit sound.

The goal here is to limit or reduce the surface area that can vibrate from either sound or motion. Most automotive sound dampening materials address both vibration sources by absorbing and blocking sound. By placing deadening material in the center of a panel, you will significantly reduce transmission.

Sound deadener on the wall panels and cavities of the van. — Sound deadening mat on the wall panels and in the roof cavities.

Materials for Sound Proofing / Sound Deadening

Sprays - Applied through a spray or aerosol directly on a metal surface; often applied professionally but may be applied DIY; can be easier if an even coat on multiple surfaces is needed; fully cleaned metal is required.

Mats - Applied by cutting sections to fit on a metal surface; simple to apply but time consuming due to the need to cut many individually shaped pieces; often adds a layer of thermal insulation simultaneously.

How We Sound Proofed Our Van

For our van, we opted for sound deadening mats made by FatMat. This was a better fit for our DIY budget and DIY build space, a.k.a. curbside in Brooklyn, New York. We read some horror stories about foam insulation and its tendency to eventually detach from the walls due to moisture and vibration.

Something to note about our build is that we were starting with a new van with a completely empty cargo space. We didn’t have to remove chairs, upholstery, deep clean, or do much prep to be ready for our installation.

Materials

The sound deadener mat material. We used 50 millimeter thick FatMat.
A measuring tape.
A roller to flatten the mat. Our kit included a roller but it didn’t last very long. We’d recommend getting a roller that is more sturdy.
A box cutter and/or scissors. And some band-aids, just in case!
A hair dryer or heat gun to help warm the mat. (Optional depending on current climate and mat instructions)

Installation Locations

The floor and wheel wells. We aimed for 100% coverage on these areas because our van was pretty loud when driving on the highway.
The ceiling. We applied the mats on surfaces between the van ribs that are thin and vibrate easily.
The walls and doors. We applied strips of the mat in the cavities of the doors to get to the exterior sheet and on all side panels of the van.

Sound deadener mat between the van ribs on our sheet metal ceiling and sidewalls of our van.

Things to keep in mind: Peel-and-stick mat material can be difficult to manage. Measure before you cut and look before you place the mat on your metal surface. If you incorrectly lay your cut mat, it’s pretty difficult to remove.

Heat can be helpful depending on the brand and climate. For some brands, warming the mat can help it adhere better and be more easily manipulated in tight spots. Other brands may warn against heat use due to their specific material make-up.

Know how much surface area you want to cover. Most soundproofing mats are available in rolls of 25 square feet or more. We purchased 125 square feet and used every inch.

The take away: We are really happy that we included soundproofing in our build and noticed the difference immediately. We live and work from our van and appreciate the sound separation from exterior noises. We travel with our cat and dog in the back of our van and feel better knowing that they have some noise reduction when we drive.

An added benefit of installing the mats in our build is that they have climate insulative benefits too. We still installed additional insulation, but appreciated the head start.