Couple questions about flooring and wall/ceiling coverings

[Electric Mayhem]

I've finally got most of the dirt and dust out my e350 club wagon, and it's about time to start laying foundational materials, so I'd love some input from your beautiful brains. 

I've had to pull all the paneling and and ceiling upholstery and flooring because omg so much dirt and dust. Now I have to replace it. I will be putting in a bit of insulation, but probably not too much. I'm thinking probably cover the metal with polyiso but not bother shoving insulation into the gaps in the metal panels, as this will probably use a lot of material to be really effective and get costly. Also because I can't simply travel with  weather, so I want to be able to cool off by just opening all the doors in summer, and I figure I'll be running a heater to stay warm on winter nights anyway. Do I need to cover the polyiso with a harder material, or can I use that as my only wall/ceiling covering?

Next question is for the floor. I have some open bolt holes I was going to patch up before putting in plywood to even out the floor, but then I thought leaving a couple might provide some ventilation to dry out underneath the plywood in case of condensation. Is condensation under the floor a concern? The plywood will get treated and then covered with mats, but of course, the less moisture the better. Most of the year will be spent in slightly arid climates. 

Also this van has a heater core/ac source near the back. How can I make good efficient use of this?

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Since I have a Club Wagon, I'll tell you my "ideas"... First, I'll be using RattleTrap to stop some of the "cargo van" sound LOL... The passenger side is the side with a very wide gap between the interior and exterior walls, so I will be putting polyiso chunks like a puzzle in there, as thick as I need to in order to fill the gap (doors too), then refectix, then the "top layer". The driver side has the rear A/C unit and I'm keeping the original plastic panel with vents for that section (my bed will probably go along that wall) and will be either painting it or... My top layer will *probably be luan and I will either paint it white or cover it in fabric, I haven't decided yet. As for the small gap on the driver's side between interior and exterior walls, I'll probably just leave those empty with the reflectix on the interior wall and luan over that. Clear as mud? I have a high top and I'm toying with the idea using ceramic insulating paint on that, expensive, but might be the best and easiest solution.

 

[bpeck]

Not being able to travel with the weather is exactly why you should put in the time and effort to insulate your van properly...

 

[Electric Mayhem]

My thoughts about varied weather environments are based on more insulation being good for one situation but not another. More insulation is great for cold nights, but will make the van harder to cool on hot days. Removable insulation would be awesome, but anything easily removable probably won't be terribly effective. And anyway, I don't want to permanently block all my windows, and that's where most of the heat transfer will happen anyway, right?

AbuelaLoca, tell me what made you decide on luan and why you want to put your bed right over that vent. Is rattletrap just to keep the reverb to a minimum? And I never thought about putting reflectix between the walls. So you would just glue it to the putward facing interior wall so it would reflect the heat from the outside metal into the air gap?

 

[squatting dog2]

Since I have a Club Wagon, I'll tell you my "ideas"... First, I'll be using RattleTrap to stop some of the "cargo van" sound LOL... The passenger side is the side with a very wide gap between the interior and exterior walls, so I will be putting polyiso chunks like a puzzle in there, as thick as I need to in order to fill the gap (doors too), then refectix, then the "top layer". The driver side has the rear A/C unit and I'm keeping the original plastic panel with vents for that section (my bed will probably go along that wall) and will be either painting it or... My top layer will *probably be luan and I will either paint it white or cover it in fabric, I haven't decided yet. As for the small gap on the driver's side between interior and exterior walls, I'll probably just leave those empty with the reflectix on the interior wall and luan over that. Clear as mud? I have a high top and I'm toying with the idea using ceramic insulating paint on that, expensive, but might be the best and easiest solution.

Luan looks so good when using clear urethane on it. makes the grain sorta jump out at you. plus I like the fact it'll fit curves.

 

[Almost There]

IIWM, I'd be putting something of a wood or plastic cover over top of the insulation. It's soft enough that every time you hit it, it's going to get banged up. It's also not the most attractive wall finish...  

There's a couple of ways of insulating a vehicle...one is to just fit polyiso in between the upright ribs and call it good. This will get you probably 95% insulated. The other way is to cover the entire wall with insulation running it over top of the ribs. This costs you the depth of the insulation (and any finishing material) times 2 in the interior width of the van.

Either or works, it just depends on what you figure you want to do.

As to the holes in the floor, definitely cover them BEFORE you lay down wood floor. Water will splash off of wet roads and get up in there. Not only will it shorten the life of the wood you lay down, it will also stay there causing rust of the van floor itself. Seal it up. If nothing else, use any round metal object you can find that is bigger than the hole and use some bondo to seal it down...that's the cheap and easy way...the guys who do body work will tell you the 'correct way'....

I ripped the heater/ac rear unit out of my van. It was in the way of the floor plan I had in mind and I figured if I was driving I didn't need the back heated or cooled and if I was parked it wasn't going to do me any good anyways, cause the engine wasn't going to be running.

 

[Electric Mayhem]

putward facing 

*outward facing

 

[dr_nelson]

What everyone said...

Also, I think you can get the heat out pretty well with a roof vent, and insulation will help keeping it cooler.
I am in SC, so it is mostly hot and humid throughout the year, but it gets uncomfortably cold in winter. So, I am definitely insulating (actually I have just started today with the walls. See here.)

 

[dr_nelson]

Luan looks so good when using clear urethane on it. makes the grain sorta jump out at you. plus I like the fact it'll fit curves.

Looks awesome, squatting dog2!

 

[VanKitten]

If I had just a van...I would be very tempted to vinyl cover the ceiling luan. It is really simple and easy to clean.

Since I have a 21' RV...albeit quite small..the ceiling will end up being made of 5 4x8' sheets of luan.

I saw a panel made with a hardwood and cherry sections. Really beautiful...expensive...and weights a ton!

So..my idea is to take those luan boards...cut them to size. Then cut the new Allure flooring (red Cherry) into 2" strips and glue them up alternating with the blank luan 2" (with just clear coat urethane). Very close to the same looks...weights very little, and costs very little. Just some extra time to make it work and measure then measure again. I spent some time checking out adhesive... looks like the new liquid nails product "fuse it" does a quick job. Just have to use very little and clean up as I go.

I think I might just put the same stuff in the floor. ALure red cherry. Nice looking stuff and wicked tough. It's about $24 a box. And I will need a total of about 4 boxes...floor and ceiling

 

[John61CT]

Lots of insulation + **ventilation** is good, no necessary for both temp extremes.

Otherwise that thin metal skin is massively radiating heat inward in summer, and outward in winter, you gotta slow that down as much as possible!

IMO iso boards + Great Stuff around & in between, but don't block bottom drip holes. If extremes, another thin flex foam layer, or Marine Thinsulate ($) or Insul-Bright, make sure all steel is covered. Then Reflectix, tighten up a vapor barrier, maybe tape.

Luan or whatever make it pretty, last chronologically as well as priority.

LOTS of ventilation, even some in cold temps or mold & rust from fuggy human sweat/breath etc vapor.

 

[BradKW]

 More insulation is great for cold nights, but will make the van harder to cool on hot days. 

I know you're not talking about AC but I don't this would be true even for just cross ventilation and conductive cooling..?

 

[akrvbob]

My thoughts about varied weather environments are based on more insulation being good for one situation but not another. More insulation is great for cold nights, but will make the van harder to cool on hot days. 

I agree with you about this. The one exception is properly installed Reflectix. If you leave a 1/2 inch air gap between it and the skin of the van, it will greatly help to slow down the heat from coming in. But then at night, it will not hinder the heat from escaping. I'm not a fan of Reflectix for wall insulation, but in your situation, it really is the best thing.

 

[VanKitten]

I have my RV standing in the full sun...at this elevation, that sun is intense.
With the air gap and reflectix in .... I can feel the difference! Putting my hand on the inside of the reflectix...I can feel t he difference this is making. Once the polysi boards are in...this is going to stay real nice with vents.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

AbuelaLoca, tell me what made you decide on luan and why you want to put your bed right over that vent. Is rattletrap just to keep the reverb to a minimum? And I never thought about putting reflectix between the walls. So you would just glue it to the putward facing interior wall so it would reflect the heat from the outside metal into the air gap?

I decided on luan because it is very thin and will not take up much room and I can do whatever I want to it... right now I'm going with painting it white... one thing to remember for me, is that my van is all windows, so I only have 27 inches from floor to the bottom of the windows to cover. The passenger side will probably be covered with cabinets for the kitchen area, so won't have to luan there, and so will only have to worry about the driver's side which will be seen.

RattleTrap for me will be just to keep the reverb down. I have a HUGE van where in the rattle is deafening. I cannot hear the radio below the maximum volume setting!

As for the insulation, I will be doing as dr_nelson is doing... the polyiso board will be in the gaps between the exterior and interior walls and then reflectix will go over the interior wall and then the luan will go over that (or cabinets in the case of the passenger's side).

And finally, my bed... I want a pathway from the front of the van to the rear.... that's it... that's the only reason LOL