Insulating the Van

This weekend I took the plunge and insulated the van. I had 6 large panels and 2 tiny ones to work on. I decided to do the job a panel at a time in case I ran out of any material so I could finish one panel and leave the job for a while if required.

I started with the tiny panels which hold the rear seat belts in place and although this was nice and small to get a feel for things it was actually quite a tricky panel to do simply because it was small and it had the seat belt fitting inside it. If I were starting again I'd start with the panel opposite the sliding side door - and this is the one I did second and the one I photographed.

To do the job I had bought flashband, for sound deadening the metal panels, some polythene sheeting for waterproofing and all weather tape for sticking the polythene sheeting on. In this photo there is also a tack lever and the ubiquitous cuppa. Apologies for the slight blur - that's my camera phone for you.



I began by taking the plastic rivets out. This is really simple with a tack lever which you can get from B&Q for £1.98p. Once the 3mm plywood panel was removed the interior of the wall is reavealed.



I then cut strips of flashband, using a stanley knife and spare chopping board, and stuck them all over the exposed metalwork in this section of the van. The purpose here is to deaden road noise so you really can go to town.



Flashband applied, the next task was to get out the celotex. This came in a massive sheet of 2.4m x 1.2m and 25mm thick. I couldn't have got it in the car but anyway took the van to Wickes to pick it up so it fitted fine. One sheet of that size just about did enough to finish the van although I would have been able to fit more in had there been anymore.



I stuck 2 layers of the 25mm stuff in most places but I think this thickness was perfect as it allowed much easier access to the nooks and crannies of the space I was filling. Celotex is literally carvable with a kitchen knife, and that's exactly what I used to cut mine into suitable chunks. This did cause a fair bit of mess so if you're worried about such things a mask is a good idea.



With the celotex cut up and jammed in, the next layer is the thermal insulation foil. An 8mx600mm roll did the job with some to spare, but I might consider going back and adding more of this to the back of the panels, which I've not done yet and I'm not sure that this roll will be enough to complete the job. This foil is simply pushed into place covering the celotex. In places I used small bits of tape to hold it in place. The bubblewrap side goes on the outside and the foil side on the inside, keeping the warmth inside.



With the foil in place the next layer was polythene sheeting, kept tidy and sealed with all weather tape. Again this was just cut to size and then stuck on using the tape. Should I need access to behind the panel I'll have to remove this layer but this layer was very easy and cheap to fit so I don't think that's an issue.



The last thing to do then was to pop the panel back in place. This is very easy as the plastic rivets go back in a lot easier than they come out. And then you end up with a panel which looks like it did before you started.



The whole job took me an entire weekend, including two 30 mile round trips to Wickes as I misjudged the amount of flashband I'd need. Had the day been longer - doing it in summer for example - or if I had access to garage, then I could have got it done in a day. Time spent actually working on the job and not driving around picking up the bits was about 8 hours or so.

I used 1 x Celotex insulation board @ £17.49 (£17.49) , 2 x 10m Flashing Tape @ £8.48 (£16.96), 1 x Thermal Insulation Foil @ £13.19 (£13.19), 1 x water proof tape @ £3.91 (£3.91), and 1 x polythene sheet sized 3mx4m @ £5.98 (£5.98), making a total cost of £57.53.

We have just got back from taking the van for a quick test run to the supermarket and back and even the missus agrees it sounds quieter as a result of the hard work I've put in. No idea if the van would be warmer yet as I've never slept in it but I can only assume that for all that hard work it will be!