Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

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BohemiVan

Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNnbLOF ... nXthiT4j3R

I thought I'd show you what solution I came up with for replacement door/wall cards and insulation.

I chose varnished plywood fitted using self tapping screws for the cards. These screws might eventually be re-fitted coated with glue to ensure they never work themselves out and also seal the metal to prevent rust.

For the insulation, I used fibreglass that I packaged up in thin plastic to prevent rust. One panel is just stuffed with fibreglass at the moment but I will be removing it and re-filling it with small plastic bags of fibreglass.....just to be sure.

I think this is a cheap solution to finding effective insulation that will not cause rust to build up out of sight. It's also very easy to do and doesn't require sourcing hard to find or expensive materials.

The video playlist at the top of this post goes through my progress as I installed the cards and insulation.

multisi
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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by multisi »

Get rid of that bulkhead behind the front seats, best to walkthrough for a camper conversion.
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BohemiVan

Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

multisi wrote:Get rid of that bulkhead behind the front seats, best to walkthrough for a camper conversion.

Maybe if your seats are nice enough, which mine are not....no money to buy new ones :(

I've built up the wall behind the driver's seat all the way to the ceiling. This extra wall will be a vanity area. I'll post another thread on my cupboard project so you can see what I've done. The rest of the bulkhead will be the back of the kitchen unit.

It's not a standard conversion. I'm only kitting it out for short trips.

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by Cecil »

I prefer to drill a tiny pilot hole for self tappers (1.5 mm maybe) a rotating pozi drive bit is quite a hazard to nearby fingers ,when trying to get a screw started ,even more so when driving long screws ! Ask me how I know.

BohemiVan

Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

Cecil wrote:I prefer to drill a tiny pilot hole for self tappers (1.5 mm maybe) a rotating pozi drive bit is quite a hazard to nearby fingers ,when trying to get a screw started ,even more so when driving long screws ! Ask me how I know.

Oh dear, sounds painful. Maybe my screws were particularly steady ones as I was surprised at how little they wobbled when starting to drill them in. I didn't hold onto them while drilling. They just stayed very straight. Perhaps some self tappers are more flattened at the end to prevent wobbling. :?:

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by boatbuilder »

Nice job, the oak looks great. I'm doing mine at the moment using 4mm ply which I'll cover with 3mm foam and coffee sacks. I don't have the old panels to trace around so I have to make paper templates first. Tesco wall lining paper is the perfect thickness for making templates. I might copy you idea for insulation. Did you use clear bin bags or something?

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

boatbuilder wrote:Nice job, the oak looks great. I'm doing mine at the moment using 4mm ply which I'll cover with 3mm foam and coffee sacks. I don't have the old panels to trace around so I have to make paper templates first. Tesco wall lining paper is the perfect thickness for making templates. I might copy you idea for insulation. Did you use clear bin bags or something?

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Coffee sacks? That's an original idea and very eco-friendly. I guess you can easily change them for new ones when they wear out and you might even have a long-lasting smell of coffee to enjoy.

I managed to salvage a few of my cards but had to measure up for three or four. I didn't make templates for them....just measured. I didn't need to make holes in the original places so that made it easier. Most are just rectangles with corners rounded off. I'm having to do the same with my ceiling cards. If you decide to not use templates then just trim bit by bit until you get it just right. One of my ceiling cards took about twenty trims!

I used clear plastic bought by the metre. I think I needed ten metres for the wall/door cards. It's thicker than plastic bag plastic but thin enough to wrap. For the panels that cannot take rectangular packages, use small plastic bags tied in double knots with some air in but not too much. Dog poo bags will work well :lol:

Thanks for the positive feedback. It means a lot as I don't get very much. I think me being a woman doing traditionally man's work is a bit off-putting for many men. I'm not doing it because I want to make men redundant but because, right now, I have no choice....no man and no money. I also just love to make things, fix things and pretty things up. This is just the extreme end of home making :)

BohemiVan

Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKJEn2EZHW8

A fellow van converter on Youtube has taken up my advice on the insulation solution.

Nice to be useful :)

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by Winchweight »

The only concern I'd have is the fibre glass you didn't bag up might eventually end up soaking wet with condensation. If your cooking with gas and breathing, all that moisture gets into everything and the fibreglass soaks it up when it condenses on the metal work. Some swear by it and never have a problem, but I've seen loads where people have opened up their panels at a later date and found the fibre glass acting like a sponge, full of water and the interior metal rusty as anything. I'd take the time to bag up all your fibre glass and ensure it's sealed.
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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

Winchweight wrote:The only concern I'd have is the fibre glass you didn't bag up might eventually end up soaking wet with condensation. If your cooking with gas and breathing, all that moisture gets into everything and the fibreglass soaks it up when it condenses on the metal work. Some swear by it and never have a problem, but I've seen loads where people have opened up their panels at a later date and found the fibre glass acting like a sponge, full of water and the interior metal rusty as anything. I'd take the time to bag up all your fibre glass and ensure it's sealed.

You're absolutely right and it is my intention to open up those two panels and bag up the fibreglass once the job is complete. I wrote that in my opening post in this thread :D I was going to take the risk but decided it was better to be sure and not have a niggling doubt in my mind. These panels are easy to remove and refit so I will be able to take a peek every year or so.

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by boatbuilder »

Or use the DIALL recycled plastic bottle insulation from b+q. Apparently doesn't hold on to moisture like rockwool or fibreglass does.

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

boatbuilder wrote:Or use the DIALL recycled plastic bottle insulation from b+q. Apparently doesn't hold on to moisture like rockwool or fibreglass does.

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That would have been a good option for me if I was in the UK. I'm in Ibiza so have very few options. They don't seem to do any kind of heat insulation here. Crazy isn't it? They've only just started sealing in toilets here so I suppose they'll get around to heat insulation in about ten years :lol:

BohemiVan

Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

BohemiVan wrote:
boatbuilder wrote:Or use the DIALL recycled plastic bottle insulation from b+q. Apparently doesn't hold on to moisture like rockwool or fibreglass does.

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That would have been a good option for me if I was in the UK. I'm in Spain and have very few options locally. They don't seem to do any kind of heat insulation here. Crazy isn't it? They've only just started sealing in toilets here so I suppose they'll get around to heat insulation in about ten years :lol:

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by what2do »

you don't have to look too hard to find a reason why bagged insulation is sure to cause damp within the voids. By stuffing the voids with bagged insulation you're preventing the flow of air and if the bag touches the inner skins it'll act as a coldbridge, resulting in condensation collecting where you don't want. And this is why it's not used in this manner any more. Do your own little test next winter, pull the or card of, remove the bagged insulation and look at the resultant dampness, it'll make you reevaluate the benefits of your efforts. Plenty of cheap methods which still allow the van to 'breathe'.
Why would the glass be anything other than half full?

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Re: Alternative Door Card + Insulation Ideas

Post by BohemiVan »

what2do wrote:you don't have to look too hard to find a reason why bagged insulation is sure to cause damp within the voids. By stuffing the voids with bagged insulation you're preventing the flow of air and if the bag touches the inner skins it'll act as a coldbridge, resulting in condensation collecting where you don't want. And this is why it's not used in this manner any more. Do your own little test next winter, pull the or card of, remove the bagged insulation and look at the resultant dampness, it'll make you reevaluate the benefits of your efforts. Plenty of cheap methods which still allow the van to 'breathe'.

Have you actually seen this has happened? I didn't get this idea from anywhere. I came up with it myself. Did people in the past wrap fibreglass up in plastic before installing? I didn't know it had been done before. I also didn't know there was any flow of air in the voids.

I live on a Spanish island where there seem to be no insulation options for vehicles, surprisingly enough. I spent a long time driving around asking everywhere but no-one could recommend anything. They must like to sweat here! They've only just started sealing in toilets so vehicle insulation is a long way off.

I've seen lots of videos on Youtube showing campervans with voids that are totally blocked up with foil, fibreglass and polystyrene board. No movement of air there. If that is not recommended, what is? What do most people with a T25 do to insulate their vans?

E D I T....having done some searching for fibreglass wrapped in plastic, I found this.... http://wiki.club8090.co.uk/index.php/Bo ... Insulation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...recommending wrapping fibreglass in polythene. Mind you, this is after the outer metal is lined with foiled bubble wrap.

So if ever I find some of this illusive foiled bubble wrap, I shall remove all my panels and install it, then put my fibreglass packages back in.

Do you think that would be ok?

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