Guess what I'm using for insulation!

[Andrew GPSMapNut]

Guess what I'm using for insulation! The answer is in the pictures. What do you think of the idea?

[Frederick L. Simson]

I like that!

[Bill Reilly]

Andrew

Looks good. ? What is it and where did you buy it ?


Seems easy enough to apply. What adhesive did you use ? How do you plan to finish it ?

Bill

[Hazel in Sk]

Is that insulation those 'jigsaw' mats? My daughter has some on her basement floor.

[Andrew GPSMapNut]

It is EVA, high density, closed cell foam. Comes in 2'X2' squares, 3/8" thick. On "special", in Canadian Tire, I paid about $7.50 for a pack of four.
As long as you are dealing with flat and square surfaces it is easy to apply. It's very flexible but not really stretchable so... you have to do some magic (=elbow grease / cutting/fitting) to make the joints match on a wall of a trailer where nothing is flat nor straight...
Glue... I have no idea. I got it from my friendly neighbouring company. It's some sort of industrial, nearly odourless, safe for people, honey consistency, acting like a contact cement, honey consistency stuff. They use it on in/outdoor instalations of insulations and other stuff.
Finish? I thought that; since it is so colourful, other than having a stiff drink once I'm done gluing it on, it is finished...

[Andrew GPSMapNut]

Originally Posted by Andrew GPSMapNut

It is EVA, high density, closed cell foam. snip ....

Forgot to ad; we did few tests and it is not too hard to paint and it is not too mushy so, a decent quality water based emulsion does not crack / peel when pushed on. Still, we decided not to paint it... for now. As it is, it should be easy to clean and naturally, it is (supposed to be) mould resistant.

[Donna D.]

I LIKE it!

[keekers]

That's the same stuff I am thinking about using to replace my carpet but not sure how to get it fitted correctly since as you said, nothing is flat or square. The old carpet I have is misfitted too, so not really a good template to use. You have come up with a great use of the product. Way to Go

[John and Jaci]

To get it to fit around curves/corners you could use a box cutter and make long slits on the back side of the mat that go about half way through the material. That should Let the back side stretch in the curves but keep the face intact. We are about to that stage of our restore and were thinking to use the same materials. Thought that might work but have not tested it yet. What glue are you using?

[ThomasE]

That stuff insulates pretty well, I use it to line the floor and sleep on top of it for tent camping, down to below freezing temperatures. I've gotten packs of that stuff from Costco, $9 for 6 pieces 2'x2' except mine is all dark gray. Not sure if they still carry it any more, but I've also found it at home depot and lowes.

[Andrew GPSMapNut]

Originally Posted by John and Jaci

To get it to fit around curves/corners you could use a box cutter and make long slits on the back side of the mat that go about half way through the material. That should Let the back side stretch in the curves but keep the face intact. We are about to that stage of our restore and were thinking to use the same materials. Thought that might work but have not tested it yet. What glue are you using?

Test it first... and after you get the compound corner or curve coered (a tile will comply even without slitting the back) try to match the jigsaw on the surrounding tiles... Mind you, with the shape of the Boler, you will have very few problems laying it nicely as compared to all the relatively sharp curves / steps in the Jubilee shell.

[Emily R.]

Love the colours! I'm with you don't paint them.
I also used these same foam tiles (grey) for the flooring in my Trillium...they were easy to install and really nice to stand on. The only downside is when it gets really hot and the sunshines in the door they tend to swell up a bit but nothing serious...it goes back down when it cools down.

[keekers]

Originally Posted by John and Jaci

To get it to fit around curves/corners you could use a box cutter and make long slits on the back side of the mat that go about half way through the material. That should Let the back side stretch in the curves but keep the face intact. We are about to that stage of our restore and were thinking to use the same materials. Thought that might work but have not tested it yet. What glue are you using?

I haven't started yet, still have to get the old carpet out (probably in pieces). Do you have a recommendation for the glue? Thanks for the hint about only cutting half way thru, it makes sense. I'm not sure how to handle the lump that is the band around the trailer maybe notch out or build up? I'm just about ready to start.
Patti

[Daniel V.]

Mix and match might look nice, too?

Example

[Andrew GPSMapNut]

Originally Posted by keekers

.... Do you have a recommendation for the glue?

Sorry but no. I bet that whatever other were using for insolite would work well

Originally Posted by keekers

.....Thanks for the hint about only cutting half way thru, it makes sense....

I haven't done it that way - the foam bends easily and conforms nicely to simple bends. It just that when you lay it on a compound curved surface, the edges are no longer straight / square to each other so, it's fun fitting another tiles around - the jigsaw no longer fits. To compensate for that, the easiest way I found was to sometimes cut off the jigsaws on neighbouring tiles and cut edges on angles as necessary to have good fit. Sometimes, all what's necessary was to cut off a triangle in a middle of a tile and sometimes it's a combination of pasting in small pieces into gaps...
The best knife for cutting the tiles was a very sharp (fishing) filleting knife. Box cutters did not give me nice edges.

Originally Posted by keekers

..... I'm not sure how to handle the lump that is the band around the trailer maybe notch out or build up? I'm just about ready to start.
Patti

I don't know how big the lump it is and whether it has relatively sharp or curved edges. If the curve is gentle (>1" rad.), the tile will easily comply and follow the contour. For sharper turns that are sticking out more than 1/2" you may want to build up with a 2" wide strip in the corner using an off-cut. For smaller bumps... I just ignored them. If they are smaller than the thickness of a tile, I guess notching the tile on the back would work nicely but, I haven't done it.
To match the cuts to window frames and other protruding parts, I just pressed a tile against it. It made a bit of an impression that I quickly marked with a pencil. Quickly because the impression disappears within a minute or less... For some other places to cut the tiles, I used a piece of cardboard that I would cut by trial and error to match and make a pattern.Sometimes I cut the cardboard too much so, I'd glue (double sided tape) another piece of cardboard to it. So far, we put into it 20-30 hours and still have to finish the red wall and the front wall and the wall to the right of the door but, Jubilee is a square egg with many "steps" in the shell. I'm guessing that to do a Boler, it would take me about a third of that time and for a Uhaul maybe a bit more than half the time.

[Laurie T]

I was thinking of doing a temporary install of this on my burro floor when taking camping trips with my dog to protect the new rug that I just installed. So when the trip is done I can remove it.

I found some multi colored sheets in a pack at kmart and was ready to purchase them when I noticed the awful smell and off gasing of the material.

I'm wondering if the brand people are using also smelled when first opened and then diminished with time. If so, how much time? If not then what brands are you using that don't smell.

As it is now, I could not inhabit the burro with such a stench.

So all opinions, appreciated!

[Andrew GPSMapNut]

I bought mine at Canadian Tire. On the package it said something about possible smell for the first couple of days after opening the package. Well, because of all the glue and paint around and such, I couldn't smell anything after opening the packages.
Just yesterday we went to pack some stuff to the trailer - our Tadoussac trip is coming up. For the last week, closed trailer was baking in full sunlight on the parking lot of the storage place. We opened the door and............................................... .................................................. .................................................. ................................... there was absolutely no smell other than the... well, it was a blast of hot air from an oven! Mind you, our pads were sitting (unpacked) for couple of months before we actually used them and the packaging isn't air tight so they did have a chance to air.

[ThomasE]

I bought the dark gray colored ones from Costco and never noticed any smell. Maybe the colorful ones smell more? I don't know if they're still carried at Costco though.

[Laurie T]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

I bought the dark gray colored ones from Costco and never noticed any smell. Maybe the colorful ones smell more? I don't know if they're still carried at Costco though.

Thanks Thomas, that is encouraging!

[Andy B]

I am not sure what type of material these foam tiles are made from, but many types of foam are very flammable and give off noxious fumes and thick smoke if ignited. In homes, flammable foam insulation is typically required to be covered with a non-flammable surface because of this. If the foam is flammable, it should not be located close to any propane burning appliance. I hope everyone stays safe.