A Roof Before the Van

The first real step of this build had nothing to do with the van. It was about what is above it.

You cannot strip a van in the rain. Not on an open driveway, anyway.

That is the short version of why this step has nothing to do with the van itself. Every session so far has been at the mercy of the sky. Panels come off, tools come out, and one grey afternoon later everything goes back into the shed. Belgium is not generous with dry weekends, and waiting for them would stretch this build out forever.

So the fix was a tent.

It is an old party marquee, beige canvas on a steel frame, and it now stands on the dried out lawn next to the house. The plan is simple. Drive the van underneath it and keep working while the rain lands on the canvas instead of on me and the tools.

Standing under it for the first time, it already feels less like a garden and more like a workspace. String lights run along the ridge, a cable reel sits in the corner, and a few spare tubes are still lying in the grass. Power, light and a dry floor. That is most of what a workshop is.

The van is still on the driveway behind the hedge, next to the pile of reclaimed cobblestones, with the little trailer in front of it. Moving it in is the next test, and the part I am least sure about. A high roof Sprinter is a big thing to thread into a tent.

By the evening the only one who had properly inspected the new setup was the cat. He climbed the cobblestone pile, looked out over the garden, and made no comment.

What I take from this step: the shelter is not a detour from the build, it is part of it. The time spent putting up a tent buys back the rainy weekends I would otherwise lose.

Next up: getting the Sprinter under the canvas, and finding out whether I judged the space right.