Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

Canvas covered foamies (Thrifty Alternatives...)

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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby JThompson » Mon May 12, 2014 10:17 am

My neighbor has a deck made out of that stuff. It is like walking on mini trampolines.. it bounces between 16 inch floor joists. Is nearly twice the weight of comparable wood.. and worse yet? It expands and contracts with temp alot. its broke off the deck screws twice

With that silver bubble wrap stuff? Be careful. I use it at work and it will keep blood products at 98.6 for a insane amount of time in a 70 degree room with no loss of temp. ( box consists of a cardboard box, a layer of plastic bubble wrap, layer of the silver stuff ) So we got the wise idea to line the lunch cooler with it. Stops heat loss, should stop heat gain right? nope nope nope :roll: turns out the stuff is a radiant barrier.. NOT an insulation, in that sense its only R- 1 ( the same as 1 inch of wood).It ref to be effective it has to have a air gap between the thing you are trying to " insulate" and itself. so stacking it to fill a gap in the floor isnt going to help much. heat and cold transfer across it wonderfully Its works much better according to the manufacturer in Hot climates, then in cold where its a waste of money as insulation.
It does so very nicely quilted in between fabric to make a " thermal" curtain.
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby Shar » Mon May 12, 2014 9:47 pm

Aw, jthompson, say it ain't so! :cry: In any case it's too late, I've already installed it in the trailer floor. I will give a report, later this summer, about how it handled cold summer nights in Alberta. If our butts freeze, we will know the reason why. :lol:
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby GPW » Tue May 13, 2014 5:29 am

One thing we learned here .... every material requires a different approach ... and we have to keep an open mind , lest we become like those that said foamies' wouldn’t work ... which we now know to be un true ... :roll:
Personally , I’ll will be trying the PVC (whatever) for door and window surrounds. And Not trying it as decking ... just because we’re Happy with OSB , which is also Heavy ...and seems , at this point, more user friendly than plywood . JMHO

Shar , bring an extra quilt to sit on ... ;)
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby JThompson » Tue May 13, 2014 7:21 am

sorry.. :NC atleast its filling a dead air space? the floor on mine isnt insulated at all. I plan on a layer of rubber carpet padding ( r -5) and some indoor outdoor carpet ( r-3). Its replaceable, cleanable. and down here? its cheep.


Finished a test block of 2 inch foam with 3 layers of sheet on it.. middle one layed on the bias. Stuff is hard, and strong
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby GPW » Tue May 13, 2014 9:02 am

That sounds SUPER JT !!! :thumbsup: 8) If you think about it , sheets are finely woven and very strong , made to endure repeated washing , drying , pulling, stretching , kicking ... and “other things” :roll: Good stuff !!! :D
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby Mary C » Tue May 13, 2014 10:06 pm

I just laid in some 1/2 inch cutting it to fit like carpet and I put in two layers. I plan to put carpet on top of that should work out ok.

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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby Shar » Tue May 13, 2014 11:32 pm

Yes, Mary, that sounds quite comfortable. I'm going to put down some of those interlocking foam tiles that people use as workout mats. Last summer I built a playhouse for my granddaughter and used those tiles- they make it easy to crawl on the floor. ;)
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby Mary C » Wed May 14, 2014 8:00 am

There Ya go, I have looked into several TDs and I am not sure why they finish the floor with wonderful floor coverings then lay a matress on it so it doesn't show anyway. It is like putting flooring under the cabinets. Now part of my floor shows and I plan to use carpet on that area that shows. It will not be nailed down because I want to be able to remove it for cleaning. It is very soft so crawling around on it wont be bad.

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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby KCStudly » Wed May 14, 2014 8:22 am

I put a decent stain and poly finish on my floor (even tho it will be covered up) for a couple of reasons: (1) I wanted it to be moisture resistant, and (2) I felt it was a good place to learn about wood finishing to help me with the rest of my build.

If I were to do it again I would probably just prime and paint it for the moisture resistance and not worry about making it look nice. :thumbsup:
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby KCStudly » Wed May 14, 2014 8:25 am

I put a decent stain and poly finish on my floor (even tho it will be covered up) for a couple of reasons: (1) I wanted it to be moisture resistant, and (2) I felt it was a good place to learn about wood finishing to help me with the rest of my build.

If I were to do it again I would probably just prime and paint it for the moisture resistance and not worry about making it look nice. :thumbsup:

The exercise tiles are my backup plan. I plan on going with a relatively thin 4 inch foam mattress, and if that is not enough I will add the denser tiles underneath.
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby GPW » Wed May 14, 2014 9:04 am

Thrifty , but comfortable mattresses... Now there’s another subject worthy of Foamling' consideration ... :thinking: Since we all know so much about Foams in general now , seems like we could come up with a good mattress .. That wouldn’t require a substantial “investment" , yet provide Comfort and support ... gotta’ sleep well for the next day’s adventures eh !!! :goodnight: ...
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby bonnie » Wed May 14, 2014 12:58 pm

GPW wrote:Thrifty , but comfortable mattresses... Now there’s another subject worthy of Foamling' consideration ... :thinking: Since we all know so much about Foams in general now , seems like we could come up with a good mattress .. That wouldn’t require a substantial “investment" , yet provide Comfort and support ... gotta’ sleep well for the next day’s adventures eh !!! :goodnight: ...


The foam I bought 2 24" pieces of medium foam from HD. The topped it with a foam topper. Less than $100 for everything and I made the two 20" beds and bolsters. Pretty darned comfy too.
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby Shar » Wed May 14, 2014 6:01 pm

I bought an inexpensive 4 inch foam mattress at Army & Navy, and cut it to size. Haven't actually slept on it yet- but if it's not soft enough I will throw a topper on it. :thumbsup:
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby GPW » Thu May 15, 2014 5:30 am

For the FoamStream , we bought all those outdoor chair cushions (Clearance) ... They seem comfortable , haven’t really tried sleeping on them yet ... May have to get a topper ...I dunno’ ... Lots of pillows help ... :thumbsup:
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Re: Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

Postby rowerwet » Thu May 15, 2014 8:24 am

my mattress is made of three toppers, two memory foam and one regular foam, still bottomed out every now and then when kneeling or sitting, so I added a layer of play mats. the toppers are wrapped together with a mattress pad cover.
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