Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

So I have finally put a down deposit on a 2017 Neo round top 6x12 all aluminum trailer. Should be here by 1st week in April

now starting the planning stage, insulating the interior.

Question - what R value should I be shooting for. See most of the stuff offers a 3-5R value. is that what most folks are getting. I've read about folks complaining about the insulation squeaking from rubbing while walking around in the trailer and also when driving..Thoughts???

Any way to remedy this problem

Do most put a vapour barrier between the inside wall and studs

Thanks for the feedback and any info you can provide

Cheers
Al
Calgary

yycwrangler, Howdy;

Welcome to the madness! Lookin' forword to seein' what you decide to do with your project.

Lots of different schools of thought about the insulation some spray, some use the foam ... all I can
recommend is to do some reading to see what you think will work best for you in your climate.

hank

I went with 2 sheets instead of one,I didn't think it was costing that much more to go overkill on the insulation.
I made sure I cut them so it was a really tight fit between the studs also 2 layers made it flush.
I also used gray duct tape and sealed every all the seams, then replace the wood panels and covered the walls with thick flouring carpet, not so much for extra insulation but I was going for a
high end man cave look.
I didn't do any flour insulation but I did add the extra thick hardwood type flooring.

Thanks Guys

I had considered the spray insulation but my concern was the expansion and pushing on the skin as it expands. perhaps not such a big concern

Al

Spray foam is very effective, but follow temperature and other guidelines to the letter, or off-gassing can be toxic.

Welcome Al and congrats on your purchase of a NEO trailer!! You will really enjoy the quality and finish of your NEO trailer.

Re your question on insulation. I contacted an outfit in Nanaimo to inquire about spray foam. They said they could not guarantee there wouldn't be some "oilcanning" Here's a definition: Oil canning is a moderate deformation or buckling of sheet material, particularly common with flat sheet metal surfaces. It is seen as waviness in the flat areas of the metal roof or wall material.



I decided, after spending as much as I did on our trailer, that I did not want to take a chance.

So I used the rigid pink insulation between the 1" alum. ribs. I added 3" wide 5/8" plywood strips to each rib. I then added 1/2" rigid pink insulation between the plywood, then sealed (foil tape) all the seams. I then re-attached the plywood sheets to the walls screwing them to the plywood strips - no cold metal screw heads to drip moisture! See my build pictures in the link below.

Between the Maxxair fan, the factory vents, and our three windows, we have had no problems with moisture. I really like the Maxxair fan - unlike the Fantastic fan, the Maxxair has a built-in rain guard - nothing else is needed to keep the rain out.

Oh, and by the way, I did not feel the need for a vapour barrier.

Good luck with your planning and your build.

Hope this helps!

I had my trailer manufacturer put the plywood on the outside with the AL exterior over that. I was going to have the insulation sprayed, but chose not to because of the cost. I suspect that would have addressed the oil canning issue.

After I spent all the $$, I wished I had gone with spray insulation as the difference was not that much. Because of this experience, I recommend one do a serious cost analysis using spray insulation.

Yycwrangler
Hi Al.
Congratulations on your recent Neo purchase. I've had my NEO trailer for a couple of years now and absolutely love it. I haven't insulated mine yet but I have had to remove some of the interior white vinyl panels so the factory could do a repair to the exterior skin.
The skin is very thin and easily damaged. I would strongly advise not using the spray foam as I'm sure it will disfigure the skin. I don't believe that you will need a vapor barrier. The foam itself is a vapor barrier. I am planning on using rigid foam squeezed between the aluminum studs and taped in place with aluminum duct work tape. Regular duck tape will dry out and lose its adhesiveness at some point. I then plan to spread panel adhesive on the rigid foam as I reinstall the vinyl covered panels to add an additional measure to keep the foam from shifting in place.

My plan on insulating the floor is to cut rigid foam to fit tightly between the aluminum frame and use the same panel adhesive to glue them in place.

Hope this is helpful in your conversation.
Dave



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i went with foil backed rigid foam insulatation and taped it with tuck tape so i didn't need a vapour barrier, i also left about 1/4" air gap between the outer skin and the insulation.

On buildings, I'm a fan of undersizing the rigid foam and filling gaps around and between with foam in a can. Good air seal.