Spray insulation?

Has anybody ever taken down the underpinning and had a person come in and spray closed cell foam underneath? We do probably as much camping in spring and fall as we do in the heat so I use the furnace a fair amount due to a 1 and 3 year old. I have the underpinning 1/2 down and trying to figure out what I can do to improve the cold floor situation. I will probably put foam around the water lines but I really look at all the open space that could benefit from spray foam. I did a lot of it at our house and it really sealed things up nicely.

Anybody ever done it and what would the cons be if I did it?

Get a 4x8' sheet of 1/2" or 3/4" foam board. Cut it to the inside width of the frame; probably around 6'6". Take a roll of attic insulation and cut pieces to lay on the foam board. Tape them down so they don't move. With the coroplast out of the way, slide one end of the foam board (insulation facing up) into the inside of the frame on one side. Flex the foam board and slip the other end into the frame on the other side. The frame will hold the foam board/insulation in place. Then replace the coroplast.

Use an impact wrench on the coroplast mounting screws. It'll make the job way easier and avoids damage to the screws.

It's easiest to do this under the front bedroom. As you move back, depending on tank clearance to the coroplast, you may have to modify the approach. In the rear, you may have to cut the coroplast to gain access. Wide roof flashing tape is my first choice for closing up the cut. Gorilla Tape is my 2nd choice.

Spray foam would do a great job of providing insulation, but you would not be able to access the underbelly to do any kind of repairs, if needed. I like Dan's suggestion.

I have dropped my coroplast more than a few times to do repairs - on water lines, electrical, tanks heaters and tank valves.

I use a light, rechargeable drill with nut driver bit to remove the coroplast screws. My preference is 4" scrim tape to seal the cuts.

Brian

You may want to ensure the foam you use does not outgas. I recall when a friend foamed between walls of a home (years ago) the foam was found to outgas formaldehyde. They had to strip it out. Foam can also squeak as it rubs against other material. Another friend used foam to insulate a van conversion...he ended up ripping it out because the squeeking drove him crazy.

I really like the idea of putting a 1-2" coat of the spray foam on the floor of the trailer. I don't think I would be messing with coating the sides of the tanks or anything but if the guy could get in some of those tight places that air gets in I really think it would be good. My buddy has his own company and does a great job. I don't want to be coating pipes and such, but I think that it could be done.

I am sure the r-board with some insualtion on the top of it would be good but I think you are only going to get in 1/2 of the area. I am still fighting getting the underpinning off. What a pain. ONce it is off I am going to tidy a lot of things up.

I guess I am not worried too much about the squeaking. It is a weekender. THere are other squeaks to worry about! ha


Just wondering if anybody has done it or not. Sure appreciate it! I will be doing more research tonight on it!

todd

I could be way off on this but if the bottom is filled with foam and you have a small water leak, aren't you asking for a source of mold since the area can't breath to dry out?

how about adding a reflective insulation such as reflectix. http://www.reflectixinc.com/basepage.asp?Page=Double+Reflective+Insulation&pageIndex=622

This would reflect radiant heat back into when heating and help keep the heat out during the summer. I would probably just drop the coroplast and place the reflectix directly on the coroplast. the reinstall the coroplast "sandwich".

Good point about the water leak issue. It could pose a problem if not careful.

I am leaning towards the r board and stuff some insulation in other places. There will definitely be air gaps but will surely improve things. I can't find the heater duct going down there but I don't have the chloroplast off fully either. That is going to be a heck of a chore keeping that in tact! Gas line crosses under it, several drains run thru it, not to mention the spare tire and rear trim piece hold it on. They did do a decent job of fitting all that on the trailer!

no I just need to recruit a buddy to help me!

todd

Tweitekamp,
The products you looking at are all good.. But the most of all are the slides, they are not air tight. Plus the walls are only 2'' thick not much insulation..
Good luck on what you do to keep your family safe and warm and cool. Now cooling is another story, just spent Aug. in Tx. We had three a/cs going to keep it cool enough to sleep. Again good luck.
pat

I am in the middle of insulating the floor of my RW 30 C. I first installed 25' of foam pipe insulation on all of the water lines including those that were between the black plastic lining and the fiberglass insulation. Had to re-route the main water line from the two tanks as they were routed between the coroplast and the cross frame members. After insulating the water lines I then glued 1.5 " white foam board to the interior of the main frame members and used expanding foam to plug the numerous penetrations for the wiring bundles, water hoses, gas lines and just holes in the main frame. at the fron I have the black tank and gray tank so used 1" white foam board wedged over the frame lip on the sides and taped the perimeter of the foam where it meets the steel frame. Under the two water tanks I am using 1/2" pink foam board. in other areas where there is sufficient clearance, I. Use 1.5 white foam board. the garage area in the toy haulers is not insulated so I used 2" pink foam placed between the frame members and screwed into the 1" plywood floor. Then I covered the 2" foam with a 1" white foam board with the reflecting/shiny side out to reflect away the road heat. I can't believe that the factory thinks that blowing heat into an I insulated area with numerous penetrations is going to keep anything from freezing. I've got 3 part days into this project and I'm only half done. I've used 3 sheets of 1" foam board, 2 sheets of 1/2", 4 sheets of 1.5" and 2 sheets of 2", couple tubes of foam board floe, 2 cans of spray foam and 1 roll of gorilla tape.

Take some pics and post, this topic often comes up. It would be good to see what all you are doing!


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I just winterized my North Trail for the first time and noticed that all penetrations were already spray foamed. I am the second owner so I'm not sure if this was done at the factory or by the shade tree mechanic. Either way, I won't need to do it myself.

Silverado23 said:

how about adding a reflective insulation such as reflectix. http://www.reflectixinc.com/basepage.asp?Page=Double+Reflective+Insulation&pageIndex=622

This would reflect radiant heat back into when heating and help keep the heat out during the summer. I would probably just drop the coroplast and place the reflectix directly on the coroplast. the reinstall the coroplast "sandwich".

Click to expand...

Ours came from the factory with this.

Just a little update, I decided to button it up and go back camping. I did put some furnace tape over some of the cutouts thru the frame and other holes. That seemed to help quite a bit. Still wonder why if you have a heated underbelly, why there are holes that are not covered up. It may not look too cute but it sure helped! It is a pain to take the underpinning off and I still will do it but not right now. The biggest hang up was how they tied it to the back trim on teh camper. I was going to have to do some serious removal and didn't want to mess with that unless I had the time to do it 100 percent. If I get it off correctly I will clean up all the wiring mess and pipe wrap all the water lines. Then I will use R-board to insulate what I can along with routing of some heat. Under the bedroom I will use batting and fill that area up good. When you are laying on your back under these things you can see areas of improvement but it just takes time. I wanted to have fun this weekend so I just decided to wait.


Have a good one!