Insulation prices

[nikitis]

So I'm at the step of getting insulation. Starting with the floor.

I'm shocked at the current prices for foamular boards. I'll need like 10 boards at $54, which adds up to about $600 roughly. Then for the foam spray for walls, $850 for tiger foam. (Can I get away with one kit for a 26 foot roughly bus for just the walls and ceiling?)

Those prices just seam outrageous to me. I've researched all of the boards regarding insulation on this forum, and there doesn't seem to be anyone as concerned about price. I need to reach an R-20 minimum, and I appreciate the strength of foamular for a ground insulation while I understand a 150 would work compression wise, it also compromises on the R Value.

Is this country in such a bad state that we cannot truly have cheap insulation? Foamular is just a hardened foam, there's really no real reason it should cost so much naturally. This has to be artificially inflated. Is it this high to purposefully drive up the prices of houses? I'm up on arms over the price to kit out a bus floor. I can't imagine the costs of doing a home. There's got to be some other alternatives that are cheaper. And it seems the 3 major players, Dupont (Dow), Kingspan, and Owens Corning (Foamular) are the only 3 products I can find on a quick search. Am I missing something?

I'm almost considering fiber glass insulation for the floor. It would require a frame out to get the distance it needs to expand to get the R-Value, which I wasn't planning on, but it'd likely be cheaper to do than the foam board.

 

[Timeline]

So I'm at the step of getting insulation. Starting with the floor.
(Can I get away with one kit for a 26 foot roughly bus for just the walls and ceiling?)
I need to reach an R-20 minimum, and I appreciate the strength of formula for a ground insulation while I understand a 250 would work compression wise, it also compromises on the R Value.

Am I missing something?

You missed the calculation page at the Tiger Foam website! It looks like you'll need a 600 and a 200 kit to get close to R18-20. I guessed at the window spaces. That's if you get the hang of spraying foam quickly and don't waste too much foam learning.


Watched a lot of people on youtube do a terrible job shooting foam, some don't realize the trigger has a variable rate and just blast away wide open...


Some finer points gathered from scraping youtube, start on the over head areas first, while the cans have maximum pressure. Wash the surfaces well, saw that step skipped on some videos...



On this bus I've already got all the small or hard-to get places filled using smaller cans, ready for a non stop foam party.


I've got this bus almost ready to foam, when the bus is masked off and ready, going to get a couple bids from local SF companys and compare costs. I'd actually enjoy spraying the foam myself but the pro foam can be more dense, some say. It'd be great if I got lucky and found an expert spray gun guy at a competitive cost...


Spray foam prices has gone down a slightly lately, yes, it's a buy once, cry once purchase, pretty unmatched in preventing condensation, if living in a steel tube!



You might catch a deal on soon to expire kits if you ask.

 

[Drew Bru]

Insulation has gotten expensive since we built out our bus. We're recently started building a gypsy wagon and found some good deals on Marketplace. There's a LOT of people selling 2" foamboard for $25/sheet around us. Stacks upon stacks of it. Apparently they use it for metal storage buildings. I'd check FB marketplace for your materials.

 

[nikitis]

Insulation has gotten expensive since we built out our bus. We're recently started building a gypsy wagon and found some good deals on Marketplace. There's a LOT of people selling 2" foamboard for $25/sheet around us. Stacks upon stacks of it. Apparently they use it for metal storage buildings. I'd check FB marketplace for your materials.

Thanks, I tried that already, and put 200 mile radius. Nobody is selling it there around Charlotte, NC. I found some if I go farther out, but then with shipping I might as well pick it up from Home depot.

 

[fo4imtippin]

So I'm at the step of getting insulation. Starting with the floor.

I'm shocked at the current prices for foamular boards. I'll need like 10 boards at $54, which adds up to about $600 roughly. Then for the foam spray for walls, $850 for tiger foam. (Can I get away with one kit for a 26 foot roughly bus for just the walls and ceiling?)

Those prices just seam outrageous to me. I've researched all of the boards regarding insulation on this forum, and there doesn't seem to be anyone as concerned about price. I need to reach an R-20 minimum, and I appreciate the strength of foamular for a ground insulation while I understand a 150 would work compression wise, it also compromises on the R Value.

Is this country in such a bad state that we cannot truly have cheap insulation? Foamular is just a hardened foam, there's really no real reason it should cost so much naturally. This has to be artificially inflated. Is it this high to purposefully drive up the prices of houses? I'm up on arms over the price to kit out a bus floor. I can't imagine the costs of doing a home. There's got to be some other alternatives that are cheaper. And it seems the 3 major players, Dupont (Dow), Kingspan, and Owens Corning (Foamular) are the only 3 products I can find on a quick search. Am I missing something?

I'm almost considering fiber glass insulation for the floor. It would require a frame out to get the distance it needs to expand to get the R-Value, which I wasn't planning on, but it'd likely be cheaper to do than the foam board.

XPS Foam used to be really cheap. Reliant on chemicals.. It tripled throughout Covid. Unlike lumber, it has not fallen back down. Im guessing there just isn't enough competition and it can be warehoused for a long time.

 

[nikitis]

I have another question.

As far as application goes. Only answer if you know.

If I apply a foamular board or two down, and it's floor tight, do we really need to glue it down? It would seem to me that it wouldn't be able to move at all. Am I incorrect on this?

If I am incorrect on this assumption. Would putting down bolts through plywood down through the metal subfloor suffice to hold it or is there a reason I'm missing as to why people glue the foam insulation down to the metal floor? Once plywood is on it and secured, how would it move?

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

there was some overstocked warehouse in NC trying to sell foam board at a discount in the materials section of east nc craigslist.

 

[nikitis]

there was some overstocked warehouse in NC trying to sell foam board at a discount in the materials section of east nc craigslist.

Yeah I saw that guy on facebook marketplace but he's only selling EPS, not XPS. EPS is far softer and also doesn't reach the R20 value i'm going for. It's only R15 with 4 inches. Plus that much EPS at 4 inches the floor would really sink as you walk.

I'll just check daily and try to snipe someone selling the boards.

 

[Do-again]

Insulation

Hi there, I was fortunate in that I located a bed- liner distributor. They received 2 x 8 styrofoam boards both 4" and 2" thick with each order. Thru them out, piles of them, did my whole bus with exp, no cost!

 

[Do-again]

Oops typo...meant XPS

 

[fo4imtippin]

I have another question.

As far as application goes. Only answer if you know.

If I apply a foamular board or two down, and it's floor tight, do we really need to glue it down? It would seem to me that it wouldn't be able to move at all. Am I incorrect on this?

If I am incorrect on this assumption. Would putting down bolts through plywood down through the metal subfloor suffice to hold it or is there a reason I'm missing as to why people glue the foam insulation down to the metal floor? Once plywood is on it and secured, how would it move?

Gravity would hold it down and sure, if you fit all the pieces tight, front to back and used tounge and groove, it wouldn't go anywhere while driving. The problem with skipping glueing is that if you were screw something to the plywood in the middle and pry up or push sideways, it would bow the middle away from the floor. The factory didn't use glue, they used self tappers, nails and seat bolts to hold it down.


You could skip the glue and use a mechanical faster like a bolt, but the glue helps dampen the sound and work like kilmat to cut the buzz. I have a lower floor in the back where I kept my garage, so my finished floor actually starts 5 feet from the back. I used pl extreme between the foam and steel and foam and plywood and let the first piece dry overnight (with 2000lbs of weight on the sheet). The next day, I sledgehammered the t&g next couple sheets into the first with not moving a bit. I now have a few self tappers and bolts scattered through where I bolted seats, or my bedframe through all of it. I don't regret the $100 spent on glue.

 

[nikitis]

Gravity would hold it down and sure, if you fit all the pieces tight, front to back and used tounge and groove, it wouldn't go anywhere while driving. The problem with skipping glueing is that if you were screw something to the plywood in the middle and pry up or push sideways, it would bow the middle away from the floor. The factory didn't use glue, they used self tappers, nails and seat bolts to hold it down.


You could skip the glue and use a mechanical faster like a bolt, but the glue helps dampen the sound and work like kilmat to cut the buzz. I have a lower floor in the back where I kept my garage, so my finished floor actually starts 5 feet from the back. I used pl extreme between the foam and steel and foam and plywood and let the first piece dry overnight (with 2000lbs of weight on the sheet). The next day, I sledgehammered the t&g next couple sheets into the first with not moving a bit. I now have a few self tappers and bolts scattered through where I bolted seats, or my bedframe through all of it. I don't regret the $100 spent on glue.

Yeah good point, I guess sound dampening may be a good enough reason to add some glue. I wouldn't think it would help a ton but it should help some.

Many don't know but those XPS boards, you can take the back of a speaker magnet and put them on a square piece of that XPS, and plug the speaker wires - & + into the part and the XPS makes a really good speaker. The vibrations the piece can give off resonate very well through the XPS, but it has to be floating in the air by a string. If it's against a bus or floor it won't do much at all cause it kills the vibrations.

Slap One of these on the back of an XPS board and you have a really decent speaker for cheap:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q3M8PCY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Point is if the XPS board isn't secured well enough and it could vibrate it actually might make the bus noises louder! So glue may be a good reason to sound dampen.

 

[#1FordFan]

I have an aluminum floor in my truck conversion.


I used the grey foam tiles as a floor covering that have a diamond plate type of texture. A1/2 inch is all it takes. On the floor. It is easy to keep clean as well.

 

[Rock-N-Ruth]

So I'm at the step of getting insulation. Starting with the floor.

I'm shocked at the current prices for foamular boards. I'll need like 10 boards at $54, which adds up to about $600 roughly. Then for the foam spray for walls, $850 for tiger foam. (Can I get away with one kit for a 26 foot roughly bus for just the walls and ceiling?)

Those prices just seam outrageous to me. I've researched all of the boards regarding insulation on this forum, and there doesn't seem to be anyone as concerned about price. I need to reach an R-20 minimum, and I appreciate the strength of foamular for a ground insulation while I understand a 150 would work compression wise, it also compromises on the R Value.

Is this country in such a bad state that we cannot truly have cheap insulation? Foamular is just a hardened foam, there's really no real reason it should cost so much naturally. This has to be artificially inflated. Is it this high to purposefully drive up the prices of houses? I'm up on arms over the price to kit out a bus floor. I can't imagine the costs of doing a home. There's got to be some other alternatives that are cheaper. And it seems the 3 major players, Dupont (Dow), Kingspan, and Owens Corning (Foamular) are the only 3 products I can find on a quick search. Am I missing something?

I'm almost considering fiber glass insulation for the floor. It would require a frame out to get the distance it needs to expand to get the R-Value, which I wasn't planning on, but it'd likely be cheaper to do than the foam board.

We purchased we purchased five sheets of 2 in pink formula for $32 each only 3 months ago. It was a serious shock when we went back for nine more this month and they were they were $54 at the home Depot in Las Cruces. Have you priced the 2x4 lately?

 

[peakbus]

The other thing I learned about foam, is that anything that rubs against it while traveling makes lots of squeeky sounds. Plan accordingly.

 

[HamSkoolie]

XPS Foam used to be really cheap. Reliant on chemicals.. It tripled throughout Covid. Unlike lumber, it has not fallen back down. Im guessing there just isn't enough competition and it can be warehoused for a long time.

Labor shortages since "covid" and the constant demand for a "living wage" of $15 or more dollar for entry level no skills jobs are both causing the price increases. Here locally they're offering $15 and up for the lowest paying fast food jobs with no skills and can't get enough employees! They're going to end up at $18 or more. That just drives up the cost of all labor and thus the cost of all goods and services.

And the demands for an even higher "living wage" continue.


It's basic economics. Something they dare not teach in schools these days or the gig would be up.