Insulation outside?

[xalv36963]

Hi,
Ive heard of and like the idea of spray foam insulation on the undercarriage instead of thicker floors costing headroom.

Ive also planned on a rooftop deck with sprayfoam beneath it (ontop of roof, underneath deck) for similar space saving reasons.

This made me curious as to the notion of adhearing foam board insulation on the outside of the walls, probably from the running boards to the bottom edge of the windows. Similar space saving notion. One could then make a fiberglass shell on top of the foam board to seal it and make it road worthy.

Has anyone heard of something like this? Any thoughts?


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[DreamWeaverBus]

Hi! I'll let the experienced talk about outside insulation, but I wanted to chip in to say, I plan on a rooftop deck too, but aside from painting the entire roof white, I plan to leave the space between the deck and bus bare.

Because unless I'm mistaken, insulating between the deck and bus sounds superfluous and will possibly make your bus into a summer oven.

The deck will shade the bus where it's at, and the white paint will reflect as much light as it can. And a breeze can aerate between the bus and deck, keeping the air moving and cool.

But it could depend on whether you plan to be somewhere warm or cold.

 

[Robin97396]

A few of us have wanted to insulate under the floor of our buses. It turns out that's kind of complicated and difficult to do, and then if not done right it tends to hold water between itself and the metal skin. That's pretty much the issue with exterior insulation on the roof and exterior walls too.

Some buses come from the factory with sprayfoam under the floor. If you crawl under your bus you'll notice how difficult it would be to apply sprayfoam to the underside of the floor. I wouldn't want to be the spray guy laying on my back with all that insulation falling on me.

Maybe if you could take the bus body off the frame so it could be prepped properly? Most of us have decided it just isn't worth it to save an inch. It might be less work than a roof raise.

 

[DreamWeaverBus]

Just had a thought: could this be one of those times when, rather than spray foam, reflectix comes in handy?

 

[xalv36963]

Hi! I'll let the experienced talk about outside insulation, but I wanted to chip in to say, I plan on a rooftop deck too, but aside from painting the entire roof white, I plan to leave the space between the deck and bus bare.

Because unless I'm mistaken, insulating between the deck and bus sounds superfluous and will possibly make your bus into a summer oven.

The deck will shade the bus where it's at, and the white paint will reflect as much light as it can. And a breeze can aerate between the bus and deck, keeping the air moving and cool.

But it could depend on whether you plan to be somewhere warm or cold.

Hmmm those are really good points, also the weight of all that foam up high. Ive also heard of people doung as youve described with great effect.

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[DreamWeaverBus]

Yeah a deck and solar panels is all I wanna put on the top, not a fan of being top heavy... Also why I don't plan on a roof raise but I have what turns out to be an advantage here: being short-ish.

 

[xalv36963]

I have looked under there extensively, and even though my underbody is very very clean the prep work for spray foam would be immense (wire wheeling, sanding, sealing any vunerable-to-being-foamy components, priming etc.) not to mention the spray job itself.

What about rigid foam boards for the undercarriage between the tertiary frame crossmembers? Could be almost as effective (say 50-70% or so) for seemingly less work...

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[xalv36963]

Yeah as an official spokeman of the >6' crowd i say when it comes to skoolies and sailing yachts - you win this round shorty [emoji16][emoji482]

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[xalv36963]

So has anyone heard of or considered exterior sidewall insulation? Seems somewhat excessive considering the simplicity of interior wall insulation ...

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[Rusty-SKO]

So has anyone heard of or considered exterior sidewall insulation? Seems somewhat excessive considering the simplicity of interior wall insulation ...

It would:

• make your bus wider on the road a bit
• would be tough to conform to rivets and rub rails
• Tough to seal against water
• Not be cheap as it would need to be clad

Mine was factory sprayfoamed by Bluebird, including underneath. Shell was suspended and sprayed prior to installation on chassis. Is nice. Bonus is: really weatherproofs- Ziebart on steroids, for you old timers. Scrape-off a hunk and is like new underneath. They shot inside the wheel wells, too= quieter.

 

[jdawgsworld]

It would:

• make your bus wider on the road a bit
• would be tough to conform to rivets and rub rails
• Tough to seal against water
• Not be cheap as it would need to be clad

Mine was factory sprayfoamed by Bluebird, including underneath. Shell was suspended and sprayed prior to installation on chassis. Is nice. Bonus is: really weatherproofs- Ziebart on steroids, for you old timers. Scrape-off a hunk and is like new underneath. They shot inside the wheel wells, too= quieter.

How new is your bird rusty? It would sure shorten the build time...

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[xalv36963]

It would:

• make your bus wider on the road a bit
• would be tough to conform to rivets and rub rails
• Tough to seal against water
• Not be cheap as it would need to be clad

Mine was factory sprayfoamed by Bluebird, including underneath. Shell was suspended and sprayed prior to installation on chassis. Is nice. Bonus is: really weatherproofs- Ziebart on steroids, for you old timers. Scrape-off a hunk and is like new underneath. They shot inside the wheel wells, too= quieter.

You are correct on all points of course.

I figured schmucking on a diy fiberglass shell but just ran the cost and itd be well in excess of $3k for the materials (not including the insulation itself) but would protect against wind, water, outsideness etc.

The width increase would be way less than the width mirror to mirror so not too much concern.

Fitting the board to all the grooves and nubbins on the exterior would be significantly troublesome for sure.

Given the above, i will not be pursuing this concept further lol - thank you for the excellent sounding board [emoji16]

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[Tango-SKO]

The only buses I have ever seen with insulation on the outside were a couple of Hippie rigs back in the late '60's. They stuck insulation board (of unknown type) on the outside, then attached wood siding & shingles over it. Lots of weight added as well.

 

[jdawgsworld]

The only buses I have ever seen with insulation on the outside were a couple of Hippie rigs back in the late '60's. They stuck insulation board (of unknown type) on the outside, then attached wood siding & shingles over it. Lots of weight added as well.

I should've known you were a flower child[emoji2][emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

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[Tango-SKO]

I have to admit, at the time I thought they were pretty groovy. If I remember right, one of them had the name "Trippy" painted on it surrounded by lots of RICKIE TICKIE STICKIES.

Far off, man.

 

[Rusty-SKO]

I have to admit, at the time I thought they were pretty groovy. If I remember right, one of them had the name "Trippy" painted on it surrounded by lots of RICKIE TICKIE STICKIES.

Far off, man.

I hear, ya man. I can almost see it now...

 

[jdawgsworld]

I have to admit, at the time I thought they were pretty groovy. If I remember right, one of them had the name "Trippy" painted on it surrounded by lots of RICKIE TICKIE STICKIES.

Far off, man.

[emoji2][emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]Been a skoolie nut ever since:thumbs up:

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[jdawgsworld]

I hear, ya man. I can almost see it now...

View attachment 18813

Hey...I might want to paint some of these on my skoolie[emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]
https://youtu.be/anPuND37D_c

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[Tango-SKO]

Believe it or not...I just saw some New old stock, genuine RICKIE TICKIE STICKIES for sale on Ebay. Go get'em!

 

[jdawgsworld]

Believe it or not...I just saw some New old stock, genuine RICKIE TICKIE STICKIES for sale on Ebay. Go get'em!

Lol

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