Another insulation question!

[n brown]

i wouldn't advise the squirty foam.how much water coming down?if its a leak better to find it and fix it,if its condensation insulating will sort it.squirty stuff might not stop anything and might re direct it

 

[Firefox]

Crazy foam is good for stopping draughts and spray but not always good for leaks where it's falling on a horizontal surface and coming through as a trickle, I would try to find the leak first. They do make hydrophilic foam but that needs to be contained between two hard surfaces when it expands, and sprayed under card, it probably wouldn't work.

 

[groyne]

For insulation I used Thermal bubble wrap.

Then sheeps wool.

Both easy to use, cut the bubble wrap with scissors and just tear the sheeps wool. Both stuck on with high temp adhesive.

 

[Baybabe75]

Hi everyone... having spent hours scouring the internet for advice on insulation my head is in a total spin!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I really cannot decide what to go for.

My van is SWB Sprinter, and my priority is that the insulation is really effective and not going to get soggy and rust the van, more than price really.

I was thinking of doing the floor and roof with camping mats then sheeps wool, and maybe the walls with something like kingspan.. but is it hard to make the kingspan fit against curved panels?

I've also been looking at the aluminium bubble foil stuff as well but just not sure what to go for.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Jenny,

We've got an old VW camper and have used the aluminium bubble wrap stuff in the small gaps and normal loft insulation (the type that's enclosed in silver foil) inside the door spaces. It works well and we're now nice and warm.

My son-in-law has insulated his newer veedub with carpet which looks nice but doesn't cut down the road noise and isn't that warm.

Hope this helps,

Elaine

 

[Baybabe75]

Firefox suggested that too, I'll look into it.

Only problems with expanding foam are:

1. After a few years it goes dry and brown and turns to dust so you have to start again..
2. If it gets wet it turns into a very messy goo which is impossible to get off anything it touches!

Hope this helps,

Elaine

 

[mark61]

For insulation I used Thermal bubble wrap.

Then sheeps wool.

Both easy to use, cut the bubble wrap with scissors and just tear the sheeps wool. Both stuck on with high temp adhesive.

Thats a very tidy job indeed.

Are the horizontal battens there to attach cabinets etc, to?

 

[groyne]

Are the horizontal battens there to attach cabinets etc, to?

I put the battens in mainly to level up the sides of the van for the ply lining to fix to.
Because it' was my first build, plans changed so much, because things didn't fit etc, it ended up sheer luck if a batten was in the right place to fix anything too. :raofl:

 

[kell]

For floor insulation I used the green fibre sheets that are designed for use under lamimate flooring. I laid them over old ply that was first laid on the floor of the van then laid new thin board over them and finally vinyl flooring over that.

As for the leak from under the headlining, I would do nothing until you find the ingress point. If you have a cab roof mounted radio aerial then check the rubber seal on that first.

 

[ivecotrucker]

I don't think much to the "aluminium bubble foil" stuff - I've tried it & found it pretty useless as an insulator on a cold night. Best for floors is Celotex or Kingspan under a ply floor liner but it will not bend around the side tumblehomes. For curved sides use Thinsulate web on spray adhesive (good but ££). Or old fashioned spun glass fibre (loft insulation) (wear gloves !) which can also be pushed in around the wall & roof ribs. Injectable PU foam is good but needs careful planning & spacing of injection & expansion holes. How about bubble wrap ? I've not used it in a vehicle but my shed (sorry, Garden House) is as warm as toast with 3-4 layers of bubble wrap between ply liners.

Ivecotrucker

 

[jenny]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

I decided in the end to go for double-foil bubble aluminium insulation, with sheeps wool on top, similar to what groyne has done above. For the hard to reach gaps and such like I took some sheeps wool, wrapped it like a parcel in strong plastic sheet sealed with foil tape and stuffed it in! Will try and post some pictures at some point.

Jenny