Insulating the doors

[Rainier70]

I have a side door and two rear barn doors. I haven't even looked at how they are put together yet, but I thought I would ask if there are any dos or don't when dealing with them. Is there an easy way to do these? Do they need to be completely taken off the hinges to open them up and insulate them? Any words of wisdom and experience? Thanks!

[Shadow Catcher]

TLI, too little information
The doors and galley hatch on our trailer are aluminum frame with EPS insulation as part of the structural stress panel construction, Filon outer and inner skin, I confirmed this when I had to add a pair of latches to the galley hatch.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

I drilled some holes and filled the void with expanding foam...OOPS!!

You can just install blue board or foam board over the inside plywood,
That worked great for me!! Only the lock sweats a lot when it's cold,
On my new trailer I have no exterior lock.

I did the same for the cargo door , 2 layers of foam

[bdosborn]

Your door openings probably aren't perfectly square, or at least mine never where. It's not as big a problem as you think it might be though. Just brace the door into what ever oblong shape your door needs to be. It will stay that way once you skin one side of it. Then stick the insulation in and skin the other side. A lot of people use oak on the hinge side of the door as it holds a screw real well. I used poplar for my framing as it was cheaper and still holds a screw well.



A router with a flush trimming bit is the most valuable tool for making doors, IMHO.

Bruce

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Bruce

You are truely a man of infinite talents :-))
After my last pregnant door I'm scared to take this one apart.

Jerry

[BERT]

It's a pain to take everything apart and then re-assemble and have to monkey around with fit. However, my trailer was only a couple years old when i bought it and boy am I glad I took it all apart. The bottom 12-18" were all moldy/mildewy which you definitely don't want to be breathing in. I had to rebuild the doors and add drainage holes in the bottom sill plates should any water get in again. Something to consider when taking on this project.

[Rainier70]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your time and experience! I'll let you know how it goes as soon as this *&%*$% WIND stops blowing long enough to take a door off.

[BC Dave]

Its a good idea to insulate the doors

Good advice above; I did notice on side and rear CT doors were made with many holes at cuts and welded joints these really benefit from being filled with spray foam and caulk; also I wished Id filled the inside of all tubes with spray foam; you'd get little if no sweating that I get where the metal cold bridges from inside to out.

I used 1" pink hard foam insulation (or was it 3/4? whatever max would fit) friction fitted; and covered with a single piece of 3/8" ply screwed to the square tubing door frame; all edges of the ply need to be sealed with a waterproof finish (I use varithane) or water will wick into the ply on exposed cut edges when wetted.

also take a file or grinder and round off (chamfer) all outer edges of the doors so they don't cut tarps, people, pets, clothing and equipment.

Happy trailers; cheers bc Dave