Best wall covering for my van build?

[CosmickGold]

When I got my used 1998 Chevy Exprerss Van last week, I kinda hated having to tear out the inside walls, but they were messed up from years of professional hauling of everything from antique furniture to 4-wheelers.  More importantly, I needed the old walls out in order to place wool insulation behind everything everywhere.

I hated tearing the old walls out because they had such nicely rounded corners over bumps, ribs, door & window frames, etc. I wondered how I could ever duplicate such a luxurious effect. But in the process of ripping the walls out, I discovered the manufacturer's secret was that the walls were made of thin plywood, covered with a layer of glued-on foam rubber, covered with a layer of glued-on cloth!  That seems so simple!  It was the cloth stretched over foam rubber that created the nicely rounded curves everywhere.

But I question what materials to use.  Most of all, I don't want any "toxic off-gassing" from the plywood, or the foam rubber, or the cloth or the chemicals and dyes in the cloth, or the layers of glue that hold the cloth to the foam and the foam to the plywood.

What do you suggest?

 

[crofter]

I used mostly wood for walls and bulkhead. Ceiling is covered with reflectix and some wood slats, handy for hooking things to. Reflectix gives a nice shimmery glow at night with a small light.  

Behind the walls I used 2 inch XPS foamboard and ceiling has 1 inch foamboard, and all is sealed with a layer of reflectix.  -crofter

 

[CosmickGold]

Sounds like you've got the perfect plan to meet your needs.  (And that's a fun thought, your small light shimmering on Reflectix at night. 

 

[maki2]

Does wood off gas? Yes of course it does, it has natural resins and oils in it. Think about the smell of pine and cedar. Lots of woods are naturally oily and they are bug resistant too. Meaning the do have natural ability to be toxic to the bugs that try to eat the wood, mostly because of the acidity of woods such as Oak, cedar and such. They have a lot of tannic acid in them.

What you are worried about off-gassing is an adhesive that contain the chemical formaldehyde.

There is also some controversy regarding styrene plastics being a possible carcinogen.

Some companies do make formaldehyde free 1/8" plywood. So you just need to find a supplier who offers formaldehyde free building materials such as plywood.

You need to become a diligent reader of the Material Safety Data sheets before you buy the product. The store you buy from should have a copy, if not then you will be able to find it from the manufacture website for the material you want to purchase. The Material Safety Data sheets tell you what harmful chemicals are in a product and all the information for safety equipment, any dangers related to using the product in an enclosed area, etc.

Remember it is your responsibility to take the time to do the research before you buy. You can't just rely on what people in forums say they themselves do. You can have no idea if that person knows facts or are just doing the urban legend routine or are simply making assumptions without backing them up with due diligence research. In addition companies change formulas for what goes into paints and adhesives all the time. It is impossible for anyone to keep up with all those changes. They might have used something 5 years ago, a product with the same trade name that now has an all new formula that just came out a couple of months ago.

 

[rokguy]

Could be worse, remember the cheap Masonite they would use for lining walls in vans.
Natural batten timber lined walls would be nice if you can keep the weight down and have the ability to curve it around wheel arches etc. but there are so many treated timbers getting around these days. I guess they all give off gases.
I remember lining my old wooden boat in recycled natural Australian, Tasmanian oak but being an ex trawler weight wasn't to concerning.

 

[crofter]

Spar varnish on the floor did stink for  while but worth it to have waterproof wood floor.  Hot glue was used and no fumes really from that.    -crofter

 

[nature lover]

Hello CosmikGold Just wondering how wool would be with absorbing moisture and thereby harboring mold.

Nature Lover

 

[Stardust]

Nature Lover: sheep’s wool insulation does not harbor mold. One website regarding wool insulation to check out is this one: https://havelockwool.com/

 

[maki2]

Mold is not a mysterious substance. It is a plant. Like all plant life it needs moisture and it needs a source of food. Dirt contains bits of decayed organic matter, the mold feeds on that dirt. It does not feed on foam or fiberglass. It is feeding on the dirt that is on the surfaces of the foam and fiberglass. It can also feed on wood as that is an organic material. If you are going to use wood furring strips I would suggest going with western red cedar, it is light in weight and rot resistant which means mold won't easily take hold because the high tanin content kills bacteria, mildew and mold spores.

If you don't want mold behind the walls you just need to seal up the insulated cavity so that no dirt or moisture gets into that cavity. Research ....moisture barriers. If you are keeping out the moisture you will also be keeping dirt out of the cavity. The desert is very windy and dirt blows into a van and gets into all the small crevices including behind the walls if you don't have a fully sealed moisture barrier to keep the dirt and moisture out of there.

It is easy to have a lovely mold garden, just give it dirt and water and it will thrive. Bonus points, the dirt contains the mold spores as does the air. So you don't even have to plant a crop. It is super easy to grow in a space that does not readily dry out after moisture gets into it.

People get all bent out of shape about mold because they just don't understand that it is a plant and a plant needs nutrients and water.

 

[CosmickGold]

Hello CosmikGold  Just wondering how wool would be with absorbing moisture and thereby harboring mold.

Nature Lover

The short answer:  "Wonderful!" 

With wool, you don't need to install any kind of moisture barrier at all, because wool absorbs moisture when conditions require it, and releases moisture when conditions allow it.  Also, mold doesn't attack wool, so no problem there either.

For interesting details, check out https://havelockwool.com/https://havelockwool.com/van-insulation-products/.  They have a whole section on van life, being VanLifers themselves!  You'll find 14 VanLife videos there, including a tour by fellow VanLifer Jarrod Tocci, explaining a lot in his most interesting way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH355AIqqfU&list=PLxmL77IfhZJgoS8QT2xKzEy49lKsAwwNv&index=4&t=0s

 

[CosmickGold]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Wow, Maki2.  You are truly knowledgable.  I didn't expect to get such an educated reply.  I've learned some valuable things from your words.[/font]

 

[CosmickGold]

Mold is not a mysterious substance. It is a plant.

It's a bit off subject, but I watched a documentary on mold recently that explained mold is not a plant. It is a third category of life which is biologically closer to being an animal than a plant. It only seems like a plant because doesn't move around.  Mold came to the land before plants did, and used fibers able to press on rocks 100 times harder than normal air pressure to break rocks into fine powder so rooted plants could come later and take hold with their roots. Without mold, the earth would have no soil, only rocks where plants can't grow, as rain would wash any erosion away.

The downside is that some molds (like the infamous Black Mold) are poisonous to breath, creating all kinds of serious health problems for those who have Black Mold in their homes.  Whole apartment building have had to be torn to the ground when Black Mold took over. So THAT is what VanLifers are afraid of letting get started growing in their vans.

 

[highest_vision]

It's a bit off subject, but I watched a documentary on mold recently that explained mold is not a plant. It is a third category of life which is biologically closer to being an animal than a plant. 

Was that Fantastic Fungi? What a great documentary.

 

[maki2]

my mistake, I was used to their former classification as plants and did not realize the scientific classification had changed. But that being said my advice about them needing nutrients and water did not change.

I am very much used to living with mold all around me. I live in Seattle, it is literally everywhere outside and quite often it will happen inside of a closet in a basement or inside of a store room. Wherever dirt might get in and moisture too and there is not a lot of fresh air circulation. I remember being very concerned once upon a time until I realized that the toxic stuff is not all that common.

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common indoor molds are cladosporium, penicillium, alternaria and aspergillus. Stachybotrys chartarum, often called toxic mold, is rare."

 

[wayne49]

Mold in Seattle. My son lives there, and I had to co-sign a apartment lease. The rather extensive mold addendum was an eye opener.

 

[CosmickGold]

Thank you, Maki2.  I don't know if there has been a "scientific classification change", only that the documentary stated they are biologically closer to being animals than plants, and are different from both.

Thank you for clarifying that the dangerous/toxic breeds are rare.  I honestly feel considerably better now that I know that most kinds are benign.  I was scared, because I lived in an apartment where they kept not responding to my complaints about water leaking through the wall.  Then one day I noticed a solid-black, tall, furry circle of mold behind the toilet.  When I told them about it, workmen showed up the next hour and tore out two bathroom walls, just to be sure they had gotten rid of the dreaded monster!

 

[CosmickGold]

I'm kind of astonished that I received many replies the first day[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] (most of them truly intelligent and helpful)[/font], and then nothing for the next week.  Few things with momentum can stop so suddenly.

Well, I've come to a conclusion about my van walls. The space behind the walls will be insulated with Havelock Wool, of course.  Then the inner walls over the wool will be Smooth White Hardboard Wall Panels from Lowes.  "White" because I want things to stay bright and cheery.  Otherwise, light through the windows would be quickly absorbed by darker colors.  And I choose "Smooth" so they will be easy to wipe clean.

Thanks for all the suggestions and related information!

 

[highdesertranger]

interesting about the choice of wall panels. how do you plan on attaching them? the manufacturer says adhesive only, no nails or screws. highdesertranger

 

[CosmickGold]

interesting about the choice of wall panels.  how do you plan on attaching them?  the manufacturer says adhesive only,  no nails or screws.  highdesertranger

I didn't take the time to read that, but I guess perhaps they realize nails would pull through the thin panels too easily.  When a tornado ravaged Mineral Wells a few years back, a similar panel was sucked right off my bedroom wall and hit me in the head!  Ha!  But that's ok.  The old walls I have ripped off the van were held on by sheet metal screws with wide heads, and they still ripped right off.  I'll use the same technique with these new panels, and just be careful how I use them, remembering they are fragile.  I see tongue-and-groove planks are a common choice for walls and ceilings (even floors), but they look heavy and I don't want to add that much weight.

 

[rokguy]

My box truck conversion I used 3/8in (6mm) shiny white poly plywood sheets, riveted it to the side wall steel framing with a little liquid rubber injected into the holes first to stop moisture transfer. Gives a super clean look which can be taken off if need be and easy to keep clean.