No Sub Floor ??

[tobiasrides]

I'm not sure where to post this I could not find a flooring category feel free to put it in it's proper topic area.
My question is do I need a sub floor? I have limited head space I want to build up the floor as little as possible. I am planing on a thin foam pad 1/8" than 1/2" plywood attached to metal floor. Than a free floating waterproof laminate on top. Will this work okay?
Thanks
Toby.

[musigenesis]

Your floor would be virtually uninsulated this way - very cold in winter and very hot in summer.

[HamSkoolie]

Depends on the "mission" of the completed bus and what you're starting with. I'm not familiar with Superior and Ford chassis makes me think a van cutaway?
Do you plan on:

Full time living?

Weekends during fair weather and moderate temps?
Something in between?


You will have next to nothing for insulation being added. In a weekender during mild or moderate weather that might be acceptable. Even in a weekender used to hit the ski slopes and offsetting insulation with more heat from diesel heaters or a propane furnace.
Only YOU can make the final decision.

If it's a metal skoolie perhaps a roof raise is the solution to the headroom.

[john61ct]

Floor insulation does not need to be so thick against the cold

but really saves a lot of energy when running aircon

[tobiasrides]

Thanks for the replies.
It was going to be a full time live in but that was 4 years ago. Now I'm looking at it as a fair weather short drive (staying in Nevada) rig.


As it is now no AC and not planning on it at the moment.


Raising the roof is out of the question.


I could bump up the insulation to maybe 1/4" but that's about it. So 1/2 plywood will work and laminate on top should not buckle/warp right?


Thanks.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Floor insulation does not need to be so thick against the cold

but really saves a lot of energy when running aircon

Why do you say this? Heat will leave a bus in all directions, so insulating the floor is no less important than insulating the walls and ceiling. If anything, floor insulation is relatively less important than wall and ceiling insulation in hot weather, since the roof and sides of a bus in direct sunlight will get much hotter than the floor will.

[john61ct]

Only talking about reducing cost of running aircon there.

Heating costs are not cut much at all by going thicker on the floor.

Note I consider 2" to be a bare minimum when using active heating or cooling, 4" required for extreme weather either way.

1/4" not worth the trouble, just follow the 60's then

[TheHubbardBus]

Curious, what are you planning to do with the ceiling? Are you keeping it as is or gutting it? Insulation? How much total vertical room do you have to spare?

[tobiasrides]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

Curious, what are you planning to do with the ceiling? Are you keeping it as is or gutting it? Insulation? How much total vertical room do you have to spare?

Roof has been gutted and filled in with ridged foam type insulation walls have the bubble wrap type stuff. Metal floor to ceiling is 5’ 11” so I’m very limited on floor insulation. Looks like we’ll have cold feet in the winter 😃

[kidharris]

Originally Posted by tobiasrides

Roof has been gutted and filled in with ridged foam type insulation walls have the bubble wrap type stuff. Metal floor to ceiling is 5’ 11” so I’m very limited on floor insulation. Looks like we’ll have cold feet in the winter 😃

You can still wear socks, thermal underwear, and use use rugs, like grandpa did.

[cadillackid]

SUPERIOR!!! ? Love for the superior! my superior doesnt have a plywood floor in it .. and I have zero floor rust as a result..



ford chassis was a common thing.. its not a van cutaway on these..



if I were converting I would insulate the floor.. my superior flor is definitely cold in cold weather and hot in hot weather being just the speckled linoleum on the metal..



the insulation inside the walls and ceiling on superior are actually halfway decent. though not nearly as good as spray foaming.. paint your roof white as it likely isnt done.. if you keep the original windows they will need to be pulled out and re-sealed.. pretty much all superior windows leak by the nature of how they fit into the bus and the old cracked "seal" they used back then.. ive been pulling all mine out one by one and re-sealing them.. my bus lived in a desert (prob like yours being in NV) so leaks were not a big priority for the school abd church that had it..

[Marceps]

It's been done. I insulated the floor's underside, though.

Better yet, use your wheels, and you can forget about insulation altogether.