Insulation against cabin house sides

[brakauskas]

I am in the process of replaceing my ports on my Endeavour 40. I am also replacing the 1/4 inch teak veneer plywood also. The cabin house sides are non cored fiberglass about 1/2 inch thick. I would like to add some thin insulation to the sides befor putting the plywood in place. Not sure what to use and if it is a good idea to add. My intention is to provide some heat and cooling insulation but do not want to cause additional problems like trapped moisture.

Any suggestions?

[sailvayu]

I would use some thin poly foam like you get from Home Depot for putting under vinyl siding.Make sure it is water proof. Not sure you will get much benefit with just insulating the narrow cabin sides but it would not hurt either. You might have to make a boss around the cut outs for the ports to prevent the fasteners from crushing the foam.

[Pete7]

Friend used a job lot of 1/2" foam sleeping mats which seemed to do the trick when they lived on board during a really cold snap in the UK 2 years ago. Easy to cut, glue and tape into position.

Pete

[boatpoker]

Living aboard in Toronto - Our entire boat but for the engine room is insulated with 1" pink foam board (waterproof) from Lowes. We cut 8' sheets into 3" strips and glued it to hull sides, cabin sides and deckhead..... no moisuture or condensation and a significant reduction in heating/cooling costs.

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Friend used a job lot of 1/2" foam sleeping mats which seemed to do the trick when they lived on board during a really cold snap in the UK 2 years ago. Easy to cut, glue and tape into position.

Pete

I'm using Volara, same basically, but sold as an acoustic foam. Won't absorb water. 6' wide roll, cut to fit in panels.

[barnakiel]

You can buy karimat foam type of material in fine sheets - they often come in anything from 1/4 to 1/2. Easy to cut (scissors) and fit (flexible), good insulating properties. Cheap. Fit old plywood panels over. Done.

If gluing, test patch the glue first - some glues melt some foams, and most glues become tacky from age/heat. I prefer fitting without glue when possible.

b.

[Astrid]

Any thought to using cork insulating sheets?

[TeddyDiver]

There's only one viable option, Armaflex..
BR Teddy

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by Astrid

Any thought to using cork insulating sheets?

Poor insulation, and can get damp. Vaguely smells. neighbor has it. Do not want.

Volara and armaflex are very similar, armaflex seems to have bought ensolite...
Volara isn't mold treated, armaflex doesn't come in cut to length rolls but in squares.
Both are closed cell, and according to specs only absorb a tiny amount of water, and that only a mm or two deep on cut edges that aren't sealed.
Volara is easier to acquire too. And they have a nice sample book you can get free, many interesting options... one I want to try in lockers is bonded to a plastic skin(like the flexible cutting boards).

If arma flex is easy to get, I'd go that route. But the differences between the two imo are relatively minor vs any other product...

[brakauskas]

So the first sentence is what i am concerned with. Bad insulation can trap moisture and create havoc in the long run. I think boats have different requirments than a house. Almost tempted to just have bare fiberglass against the plywood. I sail in chicago but am getting the boat ready for the islands. Not sure if i am creating unneccesary work.

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by brakauskas

So the first sentence is what i am concerned with. Bad insulation can trap moisture and create havoc in the long run. I think boats have different requirments than a house. Almost tempted to just have bare fiberglass against the plywood. I sail in chicago but am getting the boat ready for the islands. Not sure if i am creating unneccesary work.

Valid points to worry about, better to trust what I said before

[Eric50]

Hi everybody,

During the lining refit of our aluminium boat, and as we discovered non insulated areas, we used "Depron" insulation sheet, originaly produce for home insulation.

The "Depron" is sold in 3 or 6 mm thickness sheets (from 1/8" up to 1/4" thk) that can be glued on planar or slightly curved surface.

The insulation power is said to be the equivalent of twice the "Depron" thickness in wood (the 3 mm - 1/8" sheet insulate as 6 mm of wood, the 6 mm - 1/4" sheet insulate as 12 mm of wood), you can of course put several layers to increase the insulation.

The advantages of the material is that, as "closed cells" one, does not absord humidity, is light and easy to install (cutting, forming...) and really effective.

You can see the application of the product on our boat on our blog (see the link in our signature).

Of course any similar material or product will be Ok as well, just to give an idea of which type of product can fo the job.

Once the bare aluminiuml surfaces covered, we really felt a difference in temperature and, after 8 years did not see any problem with it.

[brakauskas]

Did you glue the depron right to the aluminum sides?

[Eric50]

We used glue (in cardrige with a gun) or "twin side" adhesive tape depending of the location.

Here is the Depron website link : Depron Foam

[hobbes1188]

I know this topic hasn't been active for a few weeks but I discovered a good clip on youtube that shows an actual insulation installation as well as a discussion as to why he chose not to use foam (it squeaks.) Anyways thought someone might be interested.

Hull Insulation - YouTube