1984 International Air Force Bus

[CaptainInsaneo]

I just don't know how it will hold up as all other forms of insulation that get used in a bus have their own structure. I don't think the blown stuff will hold up if you plan on driving the bus for many miles, since you are concerned with the top speed I assume you do. I think you might think about insulation methods that support them selves or that can't settle.

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by CaptainInsaneo

And he is only negative if you aren't doing it his way. He does have some good nuggets of knowledge, just make sure you have your grains of salt handy.

That's the understatement of the decade. The whole shaker sometimes.

Originally Posted by nat_ster

Blow in insulation is is the best idea ever.

Not sure why we aren't all using it.

Go for it.

Nat

You being sarcastic now? You would not want to violate any of the Community Rules here.

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/misc.p...ork&page=rules

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by Booyah45828

You being sarcastic now? You would not want to violate any of the Community Rules here.

I was lashed out at with for trying to help the guy, explaining to him why things don't work the way he wanted.

So now we will all agree with his every idea, and tell him it's the best idea ever.

No rules broken in positive posts.

A simple search "Blow in insulation skoolie.net" brings up this thread and others.

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/wh...ing-10636.html

The real question is, does the OP want help setting up his bus properly, or does he want to continue his lack of professional conduct?

Spray foam is simply the best there is for a bus, and no other insulation is worth the time and money to install it.

Nat

[EastCoastCB]

Foam board is just fine for those of us on the poverty stricken side.

[OMGIBoughtABus]

I've read on the interwebs that the R-Value of foam board > R-Value of closed cell spray foam. BUT, I have also read that it's all about sealing the air leaks.

I'm a little torn about what I will use. I want the best insulation I can get for my money, but if I were to spray a 3" depth on the floor, walls, and ceiling as I have seen a couple of people mention, the cost for insulation would be 3X what I paid for the bus. That's a tough pill to swallow.

[EastCoastCB]

Whatever foam one is using, its definitely got to be closed cell foam!

If my bus were never leaving FL, I'd likely just go with this stuff or something similar-
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Cor...43WD/100320293

[OMGIBoughtABus]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Whatever foam one is using, its definitely got to be closed cell foam!

Oops I meant closed cell spray foam.

[nat_ster]

Rigid Styrofoam board does nothing to stop the dew point from condensing inside the walls.

It also does not seal out air flow.

Then comes trying to get it to take a curve in the ceiling. More cutting, and more air gaps.

Yes insulating a bus properly cost twice to five times what most pay for their bus. However, a properly insulated bus is worth every $$$.

Nat

[EastCoastCB]

Foam board is "proper" insulation for PLENTY of bus folks.

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Foam board is "proper" insulation for PLENTY of bus folks.

It's the best for the floor when bonded to the steel, but no where else in the bus.

Nothing wrong with doing things of lesser quality when on a budget. Just don't act like it's the best when it's not. No need to mislead, and brain wash yourself.

I still have fiberglass insulation in my bus /tool shed. I hate the $hit everyday I have to see / deal with it. And as soon as I can afford to change it, it will be spray foam.
No more fibers of the stuff blowing everywhere.

Nat

[EastCoastCB]

We don't all live in the arctic, in fact we don't all LIVE in buses. Foam board is great alternative to the thousands it costs to spray foam.
And one had better hope and pray the spray foam is properly formulated and applied.
I'm all for spray foam, but there are other ways to insulate a bus.
Not everything is set in stone, everyone has different needs, budgets, and lots of other things to consider.

[nat_ster]

When you figure out the coverage, spray foam is only 10 to 15% more than Rigid Styrofoam board.

When you figure the time it takes to install Rigid Styrofoam, it becomes more costly.

More costly for a lesser performing product.

Remember, I'm a contractor. Figuring out costs of materials is part of what I do.

And we don't cut and fit rigid Styrofoam into anything. Just far too costly for labor.

This is the best product I can offer in place of the blow in insulation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL_pcvrIC4E

Nat

[Famousinternetjesus]

So people seem to have some very emotional responses to the questions I ask. Hahaha. Natster you seem to have this idea in your head that you are building the ultimate bus and that he way you are doing it is the only way to do it. You and I have very different goals. I actually live in my bus. I moved in the day I bought it. I'm not made of money like you seem to be. So far, the roof does okay. In the summer it's important to be parked in the shade but my wood stove is so powerful that it keeps me too warm if I want it too. More to the point you and I are building completely different animals. I honestly think that there is a huge disconnect occurring. I'm not building a custom rv with a raised roof etc. I'm living in a school bus, because I'm a weardo long hair in the woods, not because I want to get on tiny house nation. A little bit about me, I've been welding and using power tools since I was a little boy and I'm not "slapping together" anything, if I built it I built it well. Aesthetically, I'm choosing to keep my ceiling boohoo if it isn't as well insulated as it could be.

[Famousinternetjesus]

Originally Posted by nat_ster

Nat

Yes this stuff is exactly what I want to use, that way I can insulate and and maintain the interior ceiling. See Nat, that's called being productive. Like I said blow in insulation settles and that was a concern, this stuff is great

[Famousinternetjesus]

Originally Posted by nat_ster

In a effort to be able to go places where no one else is and have amazing fishing, I'm thinking of building a bus into one of these.

I would remove the entire chassis, and just use the body. Floor would be removed from the chair rail down, and a new bottom built 6 inches wider on each side.

Cool idea, lots of work.

I would be after exploring the lakes here in northern Canada more than rivers. But being able to travel the rivers would take me to places beyond where the roads could.

Nat

Because all of your ideas are so reasonable Nat... I mean come on dude. Do you think you are the only person allowed to have crazy ideas? Everybody on here has cool ideas. Everybody on here is weird. We are all on the same page we are all weirdos. I say go for it, build a boat, though there are a
Million things that would make more sense and work better as a boat I say if thats what you want to do you can do it

[EastCoastCB]

[CaptainInsaneo]

We are all opinionated and feel there is the best way to do something, we also recognize that not everyone agrees with what the other is trying to do. We also all have our crazy ideas (like doing something with a school bus that isn't driving kids to and from school), some of which we agree with each other on some of which we don't.
Some of us have a good level of tact on trying to convince our skoolie brethren on a better course of action others do not. Some of us will listen to the advice of others, some will not.
Mind you this isn't limited to Skoolie.net you will find this in all places school, church, work, the club... anywhere there are more than about 10 people. My solution has always been a simple one, ignore what is being said if you know there is no damn way you will follow it or if you understand what they are saying but you really don't care about their opinion. That said it can devolve into personal squabbles, and there is the shield of distance that the internet provides which allows us to take things a bit farther than we would if we were all hanging out at the bar or some such.

As far as insulation if you could add a binding agent to the blown in insulation it should work otherwise probably won't survive driving around, injecting expanding foam brings its own set of problems (can cause rust on ill prepared surfaces like areas you can't access to prepare properly), foam board is fairly cheap and easy to find but has a problem with curves ****, fiberglass is cheap and easy to find but holds moisture and mice, rock wool is similar to fiberglass but is less cheap and fire proof. If you can't keep moisture from forming on a surface you need to make sure there is airflow to let that moisture evaporate off. That is the reason you shouldn't paint a house with elastomeric all over, it is the reason houses have roof vents and soffit vents. Lack of airflow in a bus is a common problem as it becomes hard to maintain proper airflow and temperature comfort.

I have been thinking about how can it be achieved with cheap insulation (flat iso board) and have air flow between the metal roof and insulation. You could take that floor isolation stuff to laying tiles on put that between your foam board and metal roof and then take and run a vent to where the old flashers were on the top of the bus. You would have to close them off when driving which would be annoying but do-able. Theoretically this would keep you metal at a temp that wouldn't be too different from the surroundings and therefore keep condensation down while allowing air flow to let what does form to evaporate away. You could probably achieve a similar effect by ripping thin .5"wide by .25"thick wood (or plastic) strips to act as stand offs every 6-8 inches for the foam too and then vent to the outside again.
However to do any of these you have to take down all of the inside panels. Which in your case you don't want to do.

Remember there is the Best way to do something, there are a few Right ways to do something, there are many Acceptable ways of doing something, there are many Wrong ways of doing something, a few Bad ways to do something, followed by very few Dangerous ways to do something, and one thing that is the Worst way to do something.


*** I wonder if you can spray foam the rounded sections and then use foam board to get the flat places insulated. Hmmmm

[EastCoastCB]

I've always found that the folks I argue with on forums the most are likely the kind of folks I hang out with all the time.
Hell I'd really enjoy having a GLUTEN FREE beer with Nat and watching him tear out some bus seats.AND--- I'll bet he has some super awesome Canadian joint rolling method he's pioneered that I've never seen before.
But yeah, forums are forums.
Even with the occasional arguments or bickering this is still a pretty good place to talk about buses. I've gotten a bit frustrated at times, too. But at the end of the day we all have a lot more in common than non-bus people, if you ask me.

We need to someday have a "Grand Skoolie Meetup" of sorts. A bus gathering of all the nations...

[Famousinternetjesus]

Well I'm in elko Nevada I left southern Oregon yesterday at ten am. I drove sixteen hours over every terrain imaginable. I have been making goods use of my brownie box. It has increased my fuel
Economy by about a mile per gallon but more importantly I can cruise 60-63 at 2200-2300rpm, awesome. Stopped and slept at almost four am got up at ten-eleven. Got some food at Walmart. Gotta stop at an oreilly for a new turn signal bulb, one is a bit dim. So far so good.

[opus]

Good job! If your light is dim I'd be checking more on the lights ground.

That Elko Walmart is fun getting into!