It's curtains for you T5 owners |
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wounded_gull
Groupie Joined: 11 Jun 08 Location: cardiff Status: Offline Points: 49 |
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Posted: 01 Sep 08 at 13:22 |
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yes thats right todays topic is curtains. Whose got some? Whose added some rails to their beloved T5?
If you have, I'd love to hear your advice as I'm a bit stumped as to where to palce the rail on the sliding door side. The T5 has a slight indent towards the drivers cab seat meaning you can't lay a straight piece of curtain rail on it as it dips in and also goes up onto a different level which is annoying. Alternatively you could lay one above the sliding door itself but then your curtains would slide in and out with the door..does this matter? advice on application appreciated - do you self tap them in and whats the best way of getting through that metal apart from using a big hammer?! cheers |
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Ex-car bloke
Vanorak Joined: 17 Jan 06 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 1612 |
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Hey gull boy, great thread title!!
My good man, curtains are SOOOO last season!!!! Blinds are the new curtains. Let me explain..... My T5 window van has been my camper amongst its many other uses and I have found that blinds are the most versatile option. I've made them out of flat pieces of "blackout blind" fabric cut to fit precisely into the frame of each window. That is to say each blind overlaps the visible glass by abouT3mm al round. Around the edge of each blind has been sewn a strip of velcro (furry side). Around the frames I have used double sided velcro (hook side) in a number of short (60-70mm long) pieces around each frame. Mine being a window van most of the velcro bits are stuck to spray painted metal although in the sliding windows they're stuck to the plastic frames. Advantages over curtains: 1. Very cheap. Go to any factory fabric shop. 2. Completely light fast since they are stuck down on all edges. Even the Norwegian midnight sun cannot enter! This fabric is so light fast that you can shine a torch on it at night and not see it through the other side. 3. Can be pulled back from the top for privacy, from the side like curtains or just the corner for those hung over mornings, or removed altogether of course. 4. Space saving. Since they sit about 5mm off the glass they take up virtually no space unlike flappy curtains. 5. Simply stored. Rip em off and roll em up! 6. Very easy to fit - no drilling holes, fitting rails/elastic retainers etc etc. and may be removed without trace if needed. 7. They demonstrate that the owner is way ahead in interior van style and of extremely high intellect. I cannot guarantee the last one since my wife disagrees but she has verified the first six. Good luck with whatever you do, curtains or blinds. By the way I use them only on the five windows behind the B post, and make a separate screen to partition the cabin area. |
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ECB 2006 SWB 174 window van
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wounded_gull
Groupie Joined: 11 Jun 08 Location: cardiff Status: Offline Points: 49 |
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thanks for the heads up on interior design
you must are the lawrence llewellyn bowen of T5 interiors! blinds. eh.... now I can see a few issues: 1. my van is carpeted so ripping velcro on and off won't do my carpet lining much good. Having said that I would prob just leave them on full time. 2. I was hoping to introduce some subtle colour...see you're not the only one with interior flair! ;) but I'd got my heart set on some nice red and white palm trees/ surfboard print curtain canvas. ignore 3. as it was daft question 4. where do I buy these impressive sounding blinds from - got any urls www....? cheers wg |
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Berisford
Vanorak Joined: 05 Nov 05 Location: Nottingham Status: Offline Points: 1849 |
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All well and good ECB but we need pictures to clinch the deal!
Oh, and the trouble with velcro is it's often a bit of a rip-off! Edited by Berisford - 01 Sep 08 at 16:07 |
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borg
Vanorak Bruce Almighty Joined: 03 Jun 08 Location: Dorset Status: Offline Points: 1638 |
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The blinds vs curtains issue is one I've been having the last week as I am having my window van converted by Calypso Campers in a few weeks to a camper.
Blinds seem to be the way to go with T5's as they look more modern. The book 'How to convert Volkswagen T5 van to camper' by Lindsay Porter has a good guide on how to make roller blinds for a T5 including blind manufacturers to get them from and how to then customise them to fit the T5. Plus there's no velcro as they get the blinds to fit into the window cut out by fixing the rooler part to the top and then use a hook at the bottom to stop the blinds from accednetly flying up. |
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wounded_gull
Groupie Joined: 11 Jun 08 Location: cardiff Status: Offline Points: 49 |
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ah ... I don't have time to be buying books to find links to roller blinds but cheers for the pointer. I have thermo blinds in the front and front sides and my side windows are dark limo tint so dark anyway ( I don't have a rear window) so I might just leave it and mull it over before I decide.
I still like curtains tbh as blinds are a bit plain and I'm a colourful character ;) |
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borg
Vanorak Bruce Almighty Joined: 03 Jun 08 Location: Dorset Status: Offline Points: 1638 |
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I've had my windows limo tinted, but you can still see through them very easy at night if you have a light on inside the van.
I had a look in the book and the blinds they used were from Dometic Seitz roller blinds. One of the things I prefer about the roller blinds is they are more out the way. Curtains tend to hang down and with the taper on the side of the van tend to make it feel smaller inside when they are closed, but everyone has their own preference. Have a look on http://www.calypsocampers.co.uk/ website they got lots of pics of T4's they have converted which you can see the curtains in to see where they fitted the curtain tracks. |
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wounded_gull
Groupie Joined: 11 Jun 08 Location: cardiff Status: Offline Points: 49 |
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cheers borg,
yes I've seen those before. I could never grasp the sizing chart! LOL
I measured mine earlier and they are approx: 102cm wide x 58 cm deep, that's what I measured up for curtains to fit so god knows how this works with the blind sizes in the table above?! If that is in mm which I suspect it is...mine 1020 mm x 580 mm so I'm prob looking at the 1050 x 650 at £36 a blind as my closest fit. I'd better go and re-measure |
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Tony M
Vanorak Whine Merchant Joined: 28 Apr 08 Location: Cornwall Status: Offline Points: 2114 |
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Curtains!
What next? An occasional table and some pot pourri? |
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Poo IS funny.
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borg
Vanorak Bruce Almighty Joined: 03 Jun 08 Location: Dorset Status: Offline Points: 1638 |
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Unfortunately the book doesn't have the sizes, however it does say that you order the next size up from what you need then cut it down to fit. |
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Fast[Plumber
Yardie Joined: 24 Apr 08 Location: Hampshire Status: Offline Points: 770 |
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Any one know who could supply me with a standard reading lamp for when the journey home from work is taking a little longer than usual????
Good thread though if i had windows!- title made me read it all
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Tony M
Vanorak Whine Merchant Joined: 28 Apr 08 Location: Cornwall Status: Offline Points: 2114 |
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Here you go mate. You do have a high top van don't you? |
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Poo IS funny.
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orangina
Vanorak Joined: 16 Feb 06 Location: Godmanchester, Status: Offline Points: 2804 |
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Jokin' aside, at almost two foot long, these fellahs are very useful
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wounded_gull
Groupie Joined: 11 Jun 08 Location: cardiff Status: Offline Points: 49 |
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my clever wife has just found these in Ikea so is off to buy some tonight.
Curtains will be mine!!!!!! http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60075295 I've not heard a good work to be said about blinds yet other than the earlier post. They seem to be a bugger to get a hold off, prone to rattles and tricky to get right as far as measuring up properly to fit for your van precisely. |
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wounded_gull
Groupie Joined: 11 Jun 08 Location: cardiff Status: Offline Points: 49 |
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as this debate rages on I'll post another link in the hope that some poor sod comes along one day looking for a useful thread ;)
http://www.campingandleisure.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=70_157&products_id=376 |
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orangina
Vanorak Joined: 16 Feb 06 Location: Godmanchester, Status: Offline Points: 2804 |
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