bus insulation

Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – Insulation

June 21, 2018 by Claire Edwards 2 Comments

Still to this day, after removing seats, building grey water tank mounts, and sweltering through 45 degree days, our Toyota Coaster bus conversion insulation remains one of the most annoying and hated jobs we have done!

The Insulation –

The insulation we chose for the bus was Earthwool with an R value of 2.5. It is very similar to the insulation we decided on for the walls. The only difference is it has a slightly higher R value. It is the same thickness of 90mm and was a very similar cost.

One of our subscribers on our Youtube channel suggested we could use a polyester insulation, easier to use and not as many consequences as the glasswool. This is something we looked into, but decided for cost, it was a better option for us to use the Earthwool and make sure we were adequately prepared.

The Process –

Learning our lessons from the wall insulation, today I came prepared. Full long sleeves, pants, mask and glasses were a must. Well I almost came fully prepared, I forgot gloves. When using your hands, gloves are extremely helpful to keep the insulation out of your skin.

Installing the insulation really is a simple job, just a little bit time consuming. I found it easiest to use scissors this time rather than tearing like the wall insulation. Whilst it was more time consuming, it was much neater and there was less waste.

I cut piece by piece, measuring with my hands as I was going. The insulation on the curved edges of the roof did not require any glue to hold in place as they fit snuggly into the metal edges.

For the insulation on the middle, flat part of the roof, I used a small amount of liquid nails and held it in place for a moment just to set the adhesive a little before letting go.

Now, do not do what I did. I tried to put the liquid nails directly onto the roof… and it came back down all over me. Of course, if I had thought about it, this wouldn’t have happened. But it did. It is definitely best to put the liquid nails directly onto the insulation, then place it on the roof.

When all the larger pieces were done, I went back and used offcuts to fill any of the smaller gaps.

It was as simple as that.

The result –

Pain!

Even though I was careful and had protective clothing, I did not wear my glasses all the time. I also at one point removed my mask and wiped my face with my hand. Mistake! A word of caution, wear glasses and do not wipe your face unless you have cleaned your hands. The result was glasswool all through my face and eyes. Itchy and sore for days!

Our Toyota Coaster bus conversion insulation however, looked great. The roof insulation is finally done, and that leaves us one step closer to completion!

Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – Installing Wall Insulation

April 5, 2018 by Claire Edwards 3 Comments

With only a few hours today, we wanted to finish our bus insulation. We still needed to remove the remaining roof insulation and then it was time to start on the wall insulation.

Roof Insulation Removal –

Finally, time to finish the roof insulation removal. This was a huge step for us and both Shane and I were so excited to finish it; it meant it would be time to start putting new things in the bus instead of removing the old.

After our last trip to the bus when we started the roof insulation removal, we received a tip from one of our subscribers suggesting we use Goo Off – Goo and Stain Remover to help with removing the old glue. It was a great idea. Previously we had tried to use this on the floor but, because of the public holidays over Easter, we didn’t get a chance to purchase any. We still wanted to mention this just for anyone else struggling with removing the glue.

There have been so many frustrating jobs on the bus so far but the original bus insulation is one that sticks with me – using a paint scraper we pulled it off, piece by piece.

Finally, it was done. No more original fire attracting bus insulation!

Installing Wall Insulation –

Finally something going in the bus rather than coming out! This is what we were looking forward to.

Our Toyota Coaster bus originally didn’t have wall insulation so we are hoping it will make a big difference.

Shane and I decided on a wool insulation from our local hardware store Bunnings. We chose this one for a couple of reasons – price, thickness, and insulation rating.

After researching what others were using, we decided whilst the more expensive options seemed good, they had the same ‘R’ value as the cheaper options. ‘R’ value is basically a measuring system where the higher the ‘R’ value, the better the insulating and thermal properties it has.

Of course we wanted the highest ‘R’ value as possible – 5.0. We quickly learnt that this was not an option. With wool, the higher ‘R’ value, the thicker the insulation. We didn’t have room for this and didn’t want to protrude into the bus too much.

We opted for an Earthwool with an ‘R’ value of 2.0. Even this had a thickness of 90mm, so we concerned this would be too thick, however it was cheap enough that we were willing to try.

It was extremely easy to tear apart and fit into the walls in the bus. We did decide to use a little bit of adhesive to keep it in place, but learnt quickly this is not necessary. I strongly recommend using masks, gloves and long sleeves. The earthwool is made from recycled glass and little particles get in everywhere. We had masks but didn’t prepare with long sleeves and when we do the roof, we have learnt our lesson and will make sure we are better prepared.

After it started to come together, we both agreed we could have gone with something thicker; the wool condenses so much that a thicker insulation would have been fine.

Undecided, we may cover this in foam board for an additional layer. Our plan at this stage for our roof insulation is again wool, and then foam board so we can get better insulation.

The whole process only took around an hour and it was done. We were surprised how quick we managed to finish it and we excited we were finally moving forward.

Our plan for next time – window tinting, new door installation and roof insulation. Keen!

Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – Roof Insulation Removal and Finishing Underlay

March 27, 2018 by Claire Edwards Leave a Comment

So after taking a break from our Toyota Coaster bus conversion and heading to Bali for a week, we are back now and it’s time to get stuck into it and finish building our home! Today’s goal was to finish sealing our bus floor so we could install our underlay, and remove the roof insulation.

We were both so excited when we arrived because we knew that the day earlier we received a pallet of goods we had ordered. And there it was; a shining cling wrap film of hope. It was beautiful. We opened it up to find our shower module, specifically built to fit a Toyota Coaster, our new toilet, water tanks, roof vents, hatches and more. Besides our fridge and washing machine, this was our first large purchase.

Once we had both gotten over the excitement of our new goodies, it was time to check out the bus and where we were up to.

Finishing The Sub-Floor –

You might remember that from our last trip to the bus, we had replaced the back portion of our sub-floor and had glued it in place.

If you missed it, check out here.

Now it was time to screw the new sub-floor in to the chassis of our Toyota Coaster for extra support. Using a drill and multi purpose self drilling screws, Shane attempted to screw these into the into the chassis. The screws of course were unable to penetrate the metal, they were general purpose screws and not metal specific. It also would have been a benefit if we had an impact driver, rather than just a drill. Shane tried this with such grace that he ended up detaching the wood from the chassis which we had glued down last time. After some much needed advice from my brother, Shane and I decided against securing the wood with screws. We reapplied glue and left it to settle.

Silicone Sealing –

Finally we finished sealing the sub-floor!

After the decision was made to leave the new sub-floor without screwing it in, it was time to finish sealing it. We decided to leave Shane with this task, how hard could it be? I had managed to seal the rest of the floor, surely he could do the last little bit. Again… watching from the sidelines, my brother stepped in to give him some advice. After this, Shane managed to do a good job. All the cracks, gaps and holes in the floor were finally sealed.

Roof Insulation Removal –

This part of the renovation we had not been looking forward to; removing the bus insulation in our Toyota Coaster motorhome. Removing this insulation was one of the first decisions we made regarding the bus. After researching online, we realised that the current bus insulation in the Toyota Coaster is highly combustible. We came across a video someone had posted on a Facebook forum, comparing the current bus insulation with a new Earthwool insulation. Considering we are turning it into our home, we decided to remove the current bus insulation and replace with something a bit more fire retardant and with better insulating properties. To read about which bus insulation we chose, read our post here.

Back to the removal of the insulation. For safety reasons, we used a face mask during this process as we do not know what the current insulation is made of and being a 17 year old bus, didn’t want to risk anything. The majority of the insulation just pulled off, however, we had issues removing parts where glue was applied. We used paint scrapers to try and remove the majority and I ended up settling on a chisel because of the sharper edge. We were unable to remove it all but we were satisfied with just removing the majority.

If we could go back, we would have worn gloves and full cover clothing. The glass fibers from the bus insulation get stuck in your skin and can be very harmful.

Finalising Underlay –

It was now time to lay the remainder of the floor underlay. We were so excited to cover the last bit of our sub-floor. It feels like we have been working on the floor so long now and both Shane and I are so excited to be able to start on something new. You all know we love to start new jobs… and if you don’t, please refer to our two part ‘Day of Halves’ posts.

Part 1

Part 2

So we cut and measured the final foam underlay. We choose a thin, 3mm, underlay so that we did not reduce the ceiling height as much as possible. This underlay is made to be laid under floating floorboards. At this stage, that is what we were thinking of using, so thought it a good idea to lay down early and cover our sticky floor. We simply laid it down and used insulation tape to join the underlay together. This is a thermal tape we purchased with the intention of also using it throughout the rest of the bus.

And that was it. I walked away feeling as though we had not achieved as much as I had wanted. After re-reading what I have just written, I can now see it was a successful day. We got multiple jobs completed which allows us to start something new and exciting in our bus conversion.

It’s always a fun day at the bus – let us know your thoughts on our progress.