Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Any of you builders out there using spray on foam for insulation. I live in a small town and can't find a contractor that does this sort of thing. I had hoped to get my small trailer done sorta cheap.

But if I want to spray on foam, I will probably have to get some kind of do-it-yourself kit. Anybody have anything affordable to recommend?

You can call the nearest town that has a contractor and see if he wants to do a deal. You know, the one where he is cheap and you tell your neighbors.

What are you going to insulate? I don't think the stuff in cans would be any cheaper than the rigid insulation that you can find at HD or Lowes.

If you are dead set on using expanding foam, you can buy it in larger quantities at places like this: http://www.shopmaninc.com/foam.html

One important thing, don't get it on ya. Don't get it on any thing you don't want it on It's a big PITA.

Duane,

I talked to our local contractor here in Indy at a recent home show. He came right and told me that the were not interested in doing my trailer. It was too small, it was an odd job and they just were not set up to do that sort of job. So I am planning to use just rigid foam from Lowes.

Tom

I am almost finished installing all of the fiber optic cable for the stars in the ceiling of my trailer. And I only have one more wire to run through the roof for my fantastic fan. After these items are completed I will have a roof cavity that has tons of small filaments and wires in it. This "stuff" makes me not want to use traditional rigid insulation. Rather than cut and place rigid insulation around all of these wires, I would like to try masking off everthing outside the insulation area and just spray on expanding foam. This foam would grow and coat everything inside my roof and all I would need to do is trim off the excess before applying the outer skin.

I think spray on insulation would be great if I could find an affordable way to do it. I know they've got do-it-yourself kits for people that want to spray insulation themselves. I just don't want to pay $350.00 for it.

Duane,

I am not sure about spray foam, but I would look to see if it exothermic(produces heat) what that would do to your fiber optics. The only other thing that you could try , though real messy is fiberglass insulation.

As I was writing this I came up with another option and that is using bubble wrap on top of the optics them use a thinner sheet of the rigid foam.

Duane...it might be an idea to try this...I've done it before when I needed some foam pontoons shot for a kinetics vehicle...Find out where they are going to be doing a job and ask if you can show up and have it shot when they are on site...they've got the equipment set up already. See if you can slip them some $$ to do it. Just an idea. Doug

Duane,

Just thinking out loud here, but would shipping peanuts provide enough insulation value? They would settle in between all of the filaments without causing any pressure on them. Is there any other source of ground up styrofoam that you could fill that space with?

Joanne

Hi - I did fiber optic stars in my tear too. I put a dab of caulk on each one just for support and then laid the rigid foam right on top. It seems to work great. I haven't noticed any broken fibers and we've used the tear 10+ times per year for the past 2 years.

I used 2 pieces of 1/2" foam so that it would bend.

I also laid an additional reflective layer that I think made a difference - it looked like foil bubble-wrap and I got it at homedepot. I am absolutely amazed at how cool the interior stays even in a hot parking lot it is like being in the shade. We keep the fan on at night but then close everything up early in the morning and roll over for a few more hours of sleep. The temp stays SO MUCH cooler inside the tear.

~Lindsey

Duane King wrote:Any of you builders out there using spray on foam for insulation. I live in a small town and can't find a contractor that does this sort of thing. I had hoped to get my small trailer done sorta cheap.

But if I want to spray on foam, I will probably have to get some kind of do-it-yourself kit. Anybody have anything affordable to recommend?

I have thought about this a few times before. So far I have come up with 2 ideas that I think will work and should be cheap to do with normal tools you can get at the big-box stores.
(1) Get or borrow a "hopper gun" like they spray "popcorn ceilings" with. Buy a few bags of popcorn mix. Sift out most of the gypsum with a screen leaving mostly the styrofoam beads. Mix up a batch and spray the voids as thick as you want. Screed off the excess... Done.
(2) Same as above, but instead of sifting out the excess gypsum adhesive... Add more styrofoam beads or vermiculite. You can buy bags of vermiculite used for filling block walls and other places you can pour in loose insulation. Mix it up and spray as before. Screed off the excess... Done.
I haven't tried either one... yet. But I will.
Hopper guns are cheap at about $29.00. Any air compressor will run one.

Check with your local spa dealers. They have tanks (freon size bottles)of the stuff to recoat after doing repairs to hottubs & spas.

Duane King wrote:I am almost finished installing all of the fiber optic cable for the stars in the ceiling of my trailer.

WHAT!?????

I GOTTA SEE THIS!!!!!!!

Joanne wrote:Duane,

Just thinking out loud here, but would shipping peanuts provide enough insulation value? They would settle in between all of the filaments without causing any pressure on them. Is there any other source of ground up styrofoam that you could fill that space with?

Joanne

Hey Joanne I think your'e on to something. How about an old bean bag chair? They are filled with the fine styrofoam bits.

Well, I'm not having much luck on the spray on foam idea. There is only one place where I have been able to locate someone that sells do-it-yourself kits. They are a company called Fomafoam. They are a subsidiary of Tiger Foam. I spoke with two different people and they were both short tempered folks with absolutely no sense of humor. They were giving me quick, one word answers and the vibe they were giving off is like, "Go away, don't bother me. I've a lot more important things to do than answer your questions!"

The smallest kit they sell costs $225.00 and will fill the cavity inside my teardrop roof with some left over. What I wanted to know is if you can trim this stuff easily. I wanted to overspray and then cut the foam 'till it is exactly the same thickness as my roof cavity. But I couldn't get a simple answer to that question. I get the impression that they prefer you to "under-spray" as their foam is closed cell foam and not very easy to cut. I don't know this for sure though, because I could not hold their attention long enough to get an answer from them. I am disinclined to purchase this product because these fellows both had a 2 by 4 up their nether regions. Kind of takes the fun out of being a consumer.

Folks with no people skills should not answer the phone.

OOPS ! I should have went to the front and read all the posts first !

NEVER MIND !