New life to an old Bus in Canada

[Vera]

Hi,
We are a family of 4 on the west coast of Canada and are currently overhauling an older bus conversion. We are hoping to make it our full time residence by the end of the year so we have a lot to do in the next couple of months. We have now pulled everything out, old flooring and all (it had rot and mold) and are now about to install the new flooring. The question i have for you good people is would having an air space between the metal and the floor help prevent rust, rot.... I'm considering laying down plastic Lattice?

Veranda | Veranda 4x8 White Reg Plst Lattice | Home Depot Canada

so what i'm thinking goes, metal sealed with rustoleum paint, lattice, insulation, then the flooring. Will that work?

thanks.

[Jolly Roger]

Don't be scared to post. There a lot of build threads on here but I don't know that what you are thinking has ever been done. I would say find and fix the roof and sidewall leaks. That would stop the rust. But i am a warm weather man and never been to Canada. There is other poster's on here that live in your area that has better advice for weathering the winter's up there. For the knowledge and experience for your question I think you need to get NAT or Natster on board. Hope you have time NAT if not. SORRY

[mrblah]

Originally Posted by Vera

Hi,
We are a family of 4 on the west coast of Canada and are currently overhauling an older bus conversion. We are hoping to make it our full time residence by the end of the year so we have a lot to do in the next couple of months. We have now pulled everything out, old flooring and all (it had rot and mold) and are now about to install the new flooring. The question i have for you good people is would having an air space between the metal and the floor help prevent rust, rot.... I'm considering laying down plastic Lattice?

Veranda | Veranda 4x8 White Reg Plst Lattice | Home Depot Canada

so what i'm thinking goes, metal sealed with rustoleum paint, lattice, insulation, then the flooring. Will that work?

thanks.

You don't want air as an insulation. Typical air has moisture and will condensate leading to rust/mold.

Air is a great insulator, but not in this case. Good old insulation material will do the trick, as long as you minimize air pockets between it and the outside/inside.

[M1031A1]

I'm going to spray foam insulate my floors/walls/ceiling. It seals out the moisture and adds structure (a bit) to the build. Just my perspective.....

[Scooternj]

I'm going with rigid foam

[crazycal]

Pictures or this is just make believe.

[nat_ster]

In short, a woodless floor go's like this.

Metal bus floor, rigid Styrofoam insulation, 14 ga galvanized sheet steel, then your finish flooring. For a finish flooring I recommend vinyl plank.

To prevent thermal transfer, all layers are glued together with a Styrofoam friendly contact cement. No mechanical fasteners.

I would not use spray foam on the floor. It would be a nightmare to get flat. Just use good rigid Styrofoam.

Hope this helps.

Nat