if your van is like mine or most RV's i've owned....the carpet was laid over the carpet padding and wood sub floor and before any of the RV cabinets were installed. to completely remove the carpet means removing the interior. its a big job.
see if your carpet is salvageable. it will save you $$$$. try going to the hardware store and renting a rug doctor first. get the model with the rotating head and purchase oxy type cleaner. give it a real good vacuum first. If you can save what you have it may be the best option. you can also fill your tub with oxy cleaner and soak your curtains/rugs in there all day.
if your going to go all the way like i have,(do to major water damage) i would do the driver cab also. you will be a carpet pro by the time you cut the last piece. the driver cab ended up being not that hard. i actually did that piece first. came out good. i just reinstalled the seat swivel base' over the carpet.
I did change some things on mine, such as the center recessed tunnel(not sure if your model has that?) i put the epdm padding(harbor freight garage floor pad/exercise pad) under the wood and did not screw it back down. i did not carpet over it. i left it exposed wood and put a leather pull handle(ikea) on it at the front. it is now a sacrificial part that can be easily removed.if there are any major leaks or spills the center piece can be easily removed and cleaned, etc. i also now have a place i can easily clean for kitchen spills or place a floor mat from coming out of wet/bath.
i also did a similar thing with the step for entering the van house. i built a sacrificial piece of wood/epdm and plan to wrap it in sical like a door mat. i will be able to easily recover it as needed. the rest is carpeted which really isnt a lot when you think about it as its more decorative around the edges. the cabinets cover the majority of it. i did not carpet behind the rear wheel wells as thats where my bed platform is behind the rear partitions and i have a "garage" below it. so its just exposed wood. every piece of wood is poly'd to prevent water damage.
I used .5" wood with Min-wax FASTDRY poly-urethane. i have used 5 cans so far. i tried different varieties. This one is by far the best i've tried. it penetrates the wood nicely and spreads good. i tried an expensive 3x coverage one and it sucked. just sat on the surface. i'll prolly use another 2 cans by the time i'm finished. I've replaced every piece of wood in this camper though. i used .25 for wall panels. i removed all the fiberglass insulation and replaced with .5" R-tec foil backed foam insulation.
If your really sure about tearing out the interior, be prepared to by a lot more sheets of plywood than you think. rt now at lowe's in California im paying $54 per sheet for .5"
I used a few sheets for the floor underlayment. Poly-urethaned all sides to water seal it. if you really want it bulletproof, you can fiberglass it. i did this in my previous toyota.
Carpet replacement:
MAKE SURE TO STICK WITH SHAG TYPE CARPET! this is how you hide imperfections/overlaps,etc. its prolly worth paying a little more and getting a quality thick shag. the cheap stuff on the rotating display on hand is of very poor quality and very thin shag. its not thick when bent over edges. you will be getting so little carpet that its worth paying for good quality. you will only need about 7' cuz the roll should be about 15' long.
go to home depot and buy the contractor size roll of brown butcher paper. use this to make patterns. get a roll of masking tape to tape together your patterns. place your carpet upside down and use a sharpie to trace around the pattern and leave some wiggle room. make sure to purchase carpet knife. razor knife no worky. makes all the difference. you will also need some JB weld to patch all the holes from the self tapping screws you will remove.They hold in the wood sub-floor. some will be rusted and will strip. you will need an angle grinder. cutt-off wheel works well. buy replacement self tapping screws. (1")
I used epdm mat from harbor frieght as my carpet underlayment. do not get the cheap carpet pad from box stores. its not spongy enough. the good stuff is sold in a large roll and is expensive and WAY more than you will use.
3M 90 spray to hold the foam down.
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