Bel here~
So we've been in hiatus, progress wise. We were waiting for the insulation to ship, and that was our checkpoint for a lot of things. More on that later.
To summarize our insulation choices:
We decided to only insulate the back third/half of the bus, where we will be sleeping and working. The rest will still be able to be heated, and still have the original insulation. This was mostly an effort and cost saving decision. We might revisit this based on recent updates.
We also chose to go with spray foam insulation. specifically this one, the Froth-PAK 210.
It was the most cost effective spray foam solution for our size, and cost all of $370. Which, considering how it would be the sum total of our insulation cost, seems pretty good. We chose spray foam for a variety of reasons (We touched on this in another post already), while it was more expensive than fiberglass or foam board it is definitely the best for how much insulation you get for a given depth (A slightly technical writeup on what insulation is and how its measured here). The current plan is to put a layer of flexible cork board over the parts we are insulating, for a touch more insulation as well as sound dampening.
Part of the plan is to cover the bottom of the bus underneath the floor with some more insulation, but that research is still being done. This is going to be slightly more for sound dampening on the road than for actual insulation, but thankfully the two are correlated.
So, here is the rub. The insulation took a bit to get here, and when that happened, a cold snap accompanied it. Spray foam insulation is supposed to be applied when its over 65°F (Ideally 75° - 90°F), and its not really over 40°F at all anymore. There might be a warm few days, and I would be very happy if that were the case, but since that's not that likely, we are having to change our plans. We are already thinking about fleeing back south once we get the bus registered and inspected and all that, so insulation is being pushed back. This is very inconvenient, as insulation should really be the first thing you do, cause everything goes on top of it. We are thinking of just putting some plastic tarp over what we have taken out already and then putting in just enough to be considered an RV.
So that's where we are at. The winter is being harsh to us, but we are plodding along. Our order of operations is going to have to be reworked, but there are worse fates.
Wishing y'all the best
Safe travels
~Bel