Wood ceiling? Wood sheets?

[Jaybus]

How can you put up a wood ceiling? Mine looks very plane.
Do I and must I remove the ceiling and then put insulation up?

Could I just bend up those 4x8 sheets and glue em to the metal?

[DoubleO7]

Originally Posted by Jaybus2

How can you put up a wood ceiling? Mine looks very plane.
Do I and must I remove the ceiling and then put insulation up?

Could I just bend up those 4x8 sheets and glue em to the metal?

You can do what ever you desire. Might work, might not.
I would at least remove some of one panel to look inside and see what is in the cavity. Most likely a bunch of air and some cheapo fiberglass insulation.
And when I say cheapo, I mean stuff that is just not as substantial as house fiberglass insulation.
The cavity might also be covered in mold. Why the mold? Likely from roof leaking.
You could skip all that now, or likely wish you had made an effort to make cheap improvements with great benefits now instead of later.

You could secure some 4x8 sheets of some thin paneling via bending.
If you cut the length just right you could secure the center of the sheets and secure the ends to the wall. Letting the sheet form the arch on it's own.

[Jaybus]

ok so in reality I must remove the metal and insulate it.
Do I need to put the metal back? Can I then put wood?
Those darn pop rivets,

[New2Skool]

Typically, there are two types of bus insulation methods. Leaving the walls and ceiling original. Which doesn't have hardly any thermal value at all. The second is doing what I've seen called, "bare metal" removing the panels, removing the worsthless insulation and applying your own.

As far as new insulation most people score and cut rigid foam boards to fit the curve of the ceiling, attaching with glue or over layments to hold them in place. Some people glue them, others screw wood to the ribs to hold the foam in, most glue. The best results is going bare metal and spray foaming everything.

Plus it never hurts to remove the metal panels and look inside. You never know what is in there. It could be perfectly dry and with bad insulation or it could be solid mold or packed with dust or completely uninsulated. I would rather know than not and I am glad I opened my bus up.

Have Fun

[Jaybus]

thanks but do you then put the old metal back? That is I plan on wood sheets so does the metal need to go back?

[1olfart]

Jaybus2,
In several builds, that I have looked at, after insulating they attach some furring strips, then apply the ceiling wood. If using sheets of materials it seemed like they apply ceiling in 3 sections. Large section in the center with smaller sections on either side. This reduces the stress on the wood, as well as taking pressure on the areas above the window. If using strips of wood, the furring strips are installed so that they match the lengths being used. There are builds on this forum, and some on YouTube, as well.

Let us know

[Scooternj]

Originally Posted by Jaybus2

thanks but do you then put the old metal back? That is I plan on wood sheets so does the metal need to go back?

You do not need to replace the original metal. And do you really want to try and reinstall several hundred screws/rivets after taking them down?

[New2Skool]

You don't have to put the metal sheets back, you can if you want. It is up to you. Like above said, most people mount wood sections to the ribs and then whatever type of finished wood they want.

Personally, I cant stand the tongue and groove wood on the ceiling, walls, hardwood floors. Way too much wood for me, I am going to have three different flooring sections in my skoolie. The front section and living room will be some sort of hardwood flooring, the bath section will be tiled, the rear section bed room will be carpeted.

I have different wall and ceiling sections too. The first section will be a thin pliable wood paneling with trim over the seams on the ceiling, walls will be sheet rock. The mid section kitchen will have carved rigid foam board for finished ceiling and plastic tile back splash. The bath area will be tiled or water proofed and vented. The bed section can be anything, I want more of a metallic feel in spots, near the drivers seat will have galvanized sheet metal as a small divider and flat black accent pieces and trim. I want that industrial look as soon as you walk in. Then the normal sheet rock style home feel, followed by steady bath area, and the bed room is more private and I am less picky just utilitarian more custom cabinets and all that.

So, the sky is the limit.

[TAOLIK]

To answer your original question, I recommend using screws to put up your wood ceiling. If you live in a warm climate or don't intend to take your bus out when it's cold or too hot maybe you don't need insulation, but it will make your life a lot more pleasant because it will keep your bus cooler when it's hot as **** outside, it will keep your bus warmer when it's cold as balls out, and it will help keep your outside noises outside and your inside noises inside. Taking the ceiling out will also help you locate any leaks which may exist, and possibly help your health because the existing insulation is very likely disgusting.

Figure a: disgusting insulation

Originally Posted by 1olfart

Jaybus2,
In several builds, that I have looked at, after insulating they attach some furring strips, then apply the ceiling wood. If using sheets of materials it seemed like they apply ceiling in 3 sections. Large section in the center with smaller sections on either side. This reduces the stress on the wood, as well as taking pressure on the areas above the window. If using strips of wood, the furring strips are installed so that they match the lengths being used. There are builds on this forum, and some on YouTube, as well.

Let us know

Confirmed, that's exactly what I did.
figure b: too proud not to share


The big benefit of furring strips is that screwing your new ceiling into wood instead of the outer metal will prevent thermal bridging, which is no big deal in writing but is very noticeable when you feel cold drafts coming through various metals in your bus.

I enjoyed my bus without insulation for 2 years before I finally decided to get down to business. It is soo nice having a warm bus to work in during the cold winter. It was great having a metal tent that was easier to setup than a traditional tent, but it is even better having a metal tent which is as warm as your house. That said my insulation project has been about two months and counting, this could be reduced to a few weeks if I went with spray foam. The cost difference is not enough to justify all the time I've put into it. But I'm in too deep for regrets.

[DoubleO7]

Originally Posted by New2Skool

walls will be sheet rock. Then the normal sheet rock style home feel,

Does sheet rock survive long term in a vibrating vehicle after a few thousand miles?

[Oldmopars]

Originally Posted by DoubleO7

Does sheet rock survive long term in a vibrating vehicle after a few thousand miles?

My guess would be no, the vibrations will cause the seems to crack and the screws to move making them "pop" the mud covering them.
In a house you will often see cracks at the seams due to the house settling, think about a bus bouncing down the road, they do flex. The bus has to flex or it would crack and break. Just like an Airplane it made to flex, so is a bus. Anything that large with that many welds and seems needs to be able to flex, that flex is going to crack sheet rock.
Also, sheet rock responds poorly to moisture, if you live in a wet state, like in the NW, you may have issues unless you know how to keep it dry inside. Forget using non vented propane heat, that would ruin sheet rock.
Ever seen sheet rock in any RV, even the high dollar ones? You might ask yourself why, must be good reason.

[Jaybus]

So im looking at removing the sides also?
Sounds like an all in one day with a few beers and a few power drills?

[Geo Jeff]

Its way to heavy I have always thought. But very shapeable and you can get it in 10ft long sheets to warp around the ceiling. There are some like that. The guy with the great videos that end with him saying "I TOLD YOU ALL TO SIT DOWN IN THE BACK OF THE BUS!!! Then the video ends, I think its his wife back there? Any how he has rock and it looks amazing but I think you should ask him how its working out. maybe with wood glue on the rock to the wood studs and then screwed down. 1/4" rock sounds like a place to start. I have seen homes with round corners use this stuff and water sprayed on it I think to bring it around the corner. not sure how tight a bend it will go. must be a sheet rocker on here. I just know how to fix the holes from the ex wife throwing things at me and missing a lot of the time.

[Scooternj]

Originally Posted by Jaybus2

So im looking at removing the sides also?
Sounds like an all in one day with a few beers and a few power drills?

And a grinder or air chisel. Odds are the side panels are tack welded under the windows.

[scootie]

i had alot of luck with a long flat crow bar and a big framing hammer. bang the flat bar in, and turn it sideways and the rivits pop right out or the ceiling. air chisel was too noisy and slow.

[AlleyCat67]

Seems like that would tend to mess up the panels though... which wouldn't be a big deal if you're just gonna toss/scrap them but if you intend to reinstall or repurpose them for other things then that would be a Bad Thing.

[05FrieghtlinerThomas]

can you please explain the reflective barriers function on top of the foam boards please? is it serving as a vapor barrier?

[TAOLIK]

Originally Posted by 05FrieghtlinerThomas

can you please explain the reflective barriers function on top of the foam boards please? is it serving as a vapor barrier?

The reflective barrier is known as a "radiant barrier" I like to think of it as a heat mirror. The idea is that you have 1-2 radiant barriers surrounding an airgap between 1/16"-1". These radiant barriers will reflect some heat radiation and trap the air which will act as an insulating layer. Energy efficient Dual Pane & Tripple Pane windows operate off this same logic, but I believe they actually have gas(argon?) in between the interior window and the exterior window. Take that with a grain of salt though, my imagination often substitutes key words with concepts and replaces them with whatever words illustrate these concepts during regurgitation.

[1olfart]

I don't recall ever hearing anything good about sheetrock and bus building. Perhaps if you are going for the cracked plaster wall look. just sayin'!

[Evolutionmoonbus]

yeah I am going to leave my metal on the ceiling because it is structural. You can only replace 2 inches of insulation anyway. There is some sweet thermal paint they use on spacecraft out there I am going to put on the roof for insulation.