Question about attaching furniture to floor

[SamboDillyDally]

So this will be my first question of many. I understand the whole Metal, with insulation on top, with plywood ontop. What I don't get (yet!) is how you all attach your furniture to the floor/walls/ceiling. I read that you shouldnt have metal screws touching the metal of the bus walls/floors/ceiling. If you only have lets say 1/2" of insulation and 1/2" of plywood on the floors, thats 1" until metal, do you get a screw just short enough to not puncture all the way through the insulation? Super confused. Thanks

[Drew Bru]

We attached our kitchen cabinets directly to the ribs with self-tapping screws. Also used L brackets to attach them to the plywood flooring. We attached the couch to the plywood floor, but the water tank inside the couch frame is secured to the metal floor, by straps and D rings, to a piece of steel bar on the underside of the bus. The upper cabinets will be attached to the metal ceiling (not the ribs, though) with expansion bolts of some sort. We also attached a few D rings to the walls and into the ribs with self-tapping screws. This is so we can strap the stove and fridge in while moving. We'll likely use L brackets on these appliances as well.


IMO the thermal bridging issues that everyone is worried about is probably more apparent on the ceiling than on the floor or walls. For heavy objects I wanted to err on the side of safety, and so attached them to the ribs or all the way through the floor.

[SamboDillyDally]

Gotcha. Thank you!

[david.dgeorge07]

I did my floor the same as yours and used screws short enough that they wouldn’t hit the metal. Has worked fine so far.

[Yukon Cornelius]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

We attached our kitchen cabinets directly to the ribs with self-tapping screws. Also used L brackets to attach them to the plywood flooring. We attached the couch to the plywood floor, but the water tank inside the couch frame is secured to the metal floor, by straps and D rings, to a piece of steel bar on the underside of the bus. The upper cabinets will be attached to the metal ceiling (not the ribs, though) with expansion bolts of some sort. We also attached a few D rings to the walls and into the ribs with self-tapping screws. This is so we can strap the stove and fridge in while moving. We'll likely use L brackets on these appliances as well.


IMO the thermal bridging issues that everyone is worried about is probably more apparent on the ceiling than on the floor or walls. For heavy objects I wanted to err on the side of safety, and so attached them to the ribs or all the way through the floor.

I'm with Drew, the thermal bridging from a 100ish fasteners isn't going to be the end of the world. Now the 2 gal bucket of fasteners I pulled out is a different story.
Further to what Drew said, the side of caution, I'll take thermal bridging as an issue over detached objects flying around in the tube. I've seen more than my fair share of reports, and actual accidents where the aircraft survivability was super high, however most of the occupants were either killed or seriously hurt by things flying around inside the tube. Not trying to scare the crap out of anybody, but most people don't intend to have an accident. But a water tank, appliance, toolbox, heck even a frying pan is not gunna feel good if it becomes a projectile in a rapid deceleration situation, via either impact, heavy braking, etc.