The insulation phase, whilst feeling like a distant memory now, was definitely an exciting time. It was the first time we saw a BIG internal change to the van. The van went from an empty white shell to a silver spaceship very quickly.
We used a handful of different insulating materials for this phase- firstly as mentioned before, we covered most of the van with a sound proof material which had insulating properties- this was the only insulation we used on the floor of the van so that we could retain as much headroom as possible.
Bizarrely, we decided to insulate the ceiling first…. We used 25mm Kingspan Thermal insulation boards which fit like a glove, sitting perfectly flush with the metal struts that support the convoy’s fibreglass roof. The same 25mm boards were cut up into interesting shapes to fill the space around the windows.
All the boards were secured to the van with heavy duty double sided tape and spray glue. We then got to work with expanding foam- horrid stuff that gets absolutely everywhere. Now the clue is in the name, this foam expands- but we were not expecting the speed or volume of expansion…! Foaming ceiling turned into a weird game of hitting the trigger to release the foam into the gaps above your head and then trying to move out of the way ducking, jumping and dodging the falling foam.
When the foam had cured, we used a Stanley knife to cut the foam back so that it was in line with the board. Full spaceship phase was next, covering the ceiling and floor with double bubble foil insulation to create a vapour barrier. For our first attempt to secure the bubble foil to the ceiling, we used a combination of heavy duty double sided tape and foil tape….
The wining combination to keep the foil up was A LOT of spray glue and foil tape- this stayed up for weeks before the ceiling was fitted.
For the walls, we used 50mm Kingspan insulation boards as these spaces were a lot deeper than the ceiling or window surrounds. Following the same steps as before we then used expanding foam and foil for the vapour barrier.
And just like that, the long awaited insulation phase was behind us!
Rob and Adele
Products used:
We purchased the Kingspan insulation boards from Wickes
Double sided Tape: https://amzn.to/2KrX7q0
Spray Glue: https://amzn.to/31oSbIe
Expanding Foam: https://amzn.to/2TlFeMx
Reflectix: https://amzn.to/2KJybwB
Foil Tape: https://amzn.to/2V5kuMp
#insulation #offgridliving #vanbuild #vanlife #ukvanlife #offgridvan #vanconversion #busconversion #tinyhomeonwheels #tinyhome #diycamper
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