[Sparky961]

I used a bunch of 5mm flooring underlay in my very basic build. It's very lightweight and inexpensive. I wasn't paying any attention to insulating properties for my purposes, as that was achieved by materials designed for the purpose.

This stuff is surprisingly strong and rigid. I used it as the bottom of my upper shelving unit, probably supported every 18" or so and it didn't flex noticeably with a reasonable amount of distributed load.

It was also my ceiling outer layer, painted white.

 

[Twinports_Tom]

Heavy? Yes, but durable. 1/4” Almost indestructible as it is used for cutting boards and skateboard ramps. The veneer limits its long term dishwasher safe ability though, but will be hand washing only anyway 😉 May clear coat it this coming summer. I have the cei completely covered now, short of some trim. Almost finished with the ski box made from same with aluminum frame. View attachment 185763

 

[Twinports_Tom]

Still not finished, but you get the idea
BTW hard to source

 

[Shannon D]

I’ve been looking at ways to reduce weight and improve R-Value in my build.

I came across the polyethene used in green house exterior walls(tech sheet attached), which is close to the same price as the 1/4 birch. Where it gets interesting is the 0.16lbs per sq ft weight and 2.1 R-Value. Also it comes in sheets or rolls, i know the roll option would reduce waste and possibly even cost.

My walls and ceiling are currently ~300sqft of ¼ birch plywood, which at ~0.9lbs per sq ft. I’ve got ~275lbs of dead weight there, with an R-Value of ~0.3.

The other major perk would be moisture, or lack thereof. The poly won’t absorb any water/humidity or rot over time. My walls are covered in fabric/stick on wall paper so I don’t have to worry about the color.

Has anyone used anything like this on a large scale in their builds?

Not a big fan of having that much plastic in my van with potential off-gassing. Also, no one seems to be addressing the fact that plastic will trap moisture between the plastic and the van's walls. Here's an interesting article on moisture management from Havelock wool: Vapor Barriers and Moisture Management in Vans

 

[rustythorn]

I used a bunch of 5mm flooring underlay in my very basic build. It's very lightweight and inexpensive. I wasn't paying any attention to insulating properties for my purposes, as that was achieved by materials designed for the purpose.

This stuff is surprisingly strong and rigid. I used it as the bottom of my upper shelving unit, probably supported every 18" or so and it didn't flex noticeably with a reasonable amount of distributed load.

It was also my ceiling outer layer, painted white.

do you have any links?

 

[cycle61]

Not a big fan of having that much plastic in my van with potential off-gassing. Also, no one seems to be addressing the fact that plastic will trap moisture between the plastic and the van's walls. Here's an interesting article on moisture management from Havelock wool: Vapor Barriers and Moisture Management in Vans

Good reminder.

 

[nealcallan]

We used 5mm birch plywood panels, and covered with sunbrella fabric; has worked great, lightweight...
Used on both walls and ceiling. Several wall panels are adhered with magnets in order to remove in the case of maintenance, for example behind our shower pan in the wall is shower plumbing. The rest are secured behind the cabinets. The ceiling panels are held up with the same material and secured to the ribs via rivnuts. Walls and ceiling are insulated with thinsulate and in the ceiling we had room to put a layer of easycool on the backside of the panels as there is an air gap between the easycool and thinsulate. Here are some pictures:
Removable panel:
View attachment 185524
Wall Panel:
View attachment 185528
Ceiling:
View attachment 185525 View attachment 185527

Oops I meant 3mm birch panels 1/8". Bought in 5'x5' sheets

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Not a big fan of having that much plastic in my van with potential off-gassing. Also, no one seems to be addressing the fact that plastic will trap moisture between the plastic and the van's walls. Here's an interesting article on moisture management from Havelock wool: Vapor Barriers and Moisture Management in Vans

Honestly I noticed much more off-gassing from insulation foam, paint and adhesives.
The coroplast I used has probably been sitting in Home Depot for months with no wrapping or anything to hold in such gassing.
Of course we do not smell all potentially harmful gasses. I have first hand experience with this!
I've spent a lot of my career installing networking equipment. Which frequently had me working on new construction in office campuses.
Once I was putting in some teleconferencing gear and some guys were doing work in another part of the building with some kind of adhesives or something.
All I know is that I didn't smell anything or suddenly realize anything. I was just working then I realized that I was breathing but it wasn't doing what breathing is supposed to.
I made it to a window with tunnel vision and it was like coming up from underwater when I opened that window.
I used up one of my doctor visits and they reccomended we do a blood draw and a cardio test (riding a bike with a breathing thing). The blood draw showed some VOCs and stuff. But my cholesterol was great!
Ever since then I am super sensitive to VOCs.
Like some artificial flavors like banana will get me sick by just smelling them.
(it really is criminal what the FDA allows in food)
Anyway, I haven't noticed anything from the coroplast.
Only used one piece of poly-cy foam because it smelled disgusting and I kept feeling like I was going to get sick on myself working with it.
I know, hardly scientific, but I swear I am a human off-gassing meter.

 

[DustyShadow]

Regarding light weight, here's an ill-formed idea? My intention was to site-build cabinetry, so there would be wood framing, then screw 1/8" plywood onto the surface (painted or maybe wrapped in Di-Noc). And I was going to use laminate on my countertops. I have these samples of Wilsonart Horizontal Grade Standard (HGS) sitting on my desk here, and they are very stiff and .048" thick. I wonder if, with approximately 18" on-center stud spacing, if I could just screw the laminate sheet into the studs and call it a wall?

 

[njvagabond]

Regarding light weight, here's an ill-formed idea? My intention was to site-build cabinetry, so there would be wood framing, then screw 1/8" plywood onto the surface (painted or maybe wrapped in Di-Noc). And I was going to use laminate on my countertops. I have these samples of Wilsonart Horizontal Grade Standard (HGS) sitting on my desk here, and they are very stiff and .048" thick. I wonder if, with approximately 18" on-center stud spacing, if I could just screw the laminate sheet into the studs and call it a wall?

Interesting ideas. I think that the "Wilson Art" HPL, will not have the necessary structural strength ... (the substrate would supply when used by design intent). It is also probably too brittle on it's own, would probably be prone to cracking at the edges and where there are concentrated loads. IIRC a full sheet of horizontal HPL is about 12 lbs, the vertical grade stuff about half that.

 

[carbonized]

I researched the material that Ford use to line the cargo area. BubbleX is PET, same as the Thinsulate I used and has the same properties. It is a good thermal insulator as PET but also due to its construction of closed cells (No sealing edges) PET or PE are by nature great vibration dampeners, therefore, great sound insulation materials. I wrapped all my panels in 4way carpet (also made of PET) and I can cool my entire van on the front AC alone in Florida and the sound level inside is level with your best limo. The panels are hung with PE expansion rivet to eliminate thermal bridging witch makes my interior walls and ceiling entirely recyclable. Last but not least, no flame propagation! The material will melt near the source of heat but will not sustain fire.

 

[surly Bill]

A lot of people overlook the fact that a fabric or carpet interior like carbonized's will drastically reduce the interior noise level. Far more than sticking in a bunch of "sound dampening" on the sheetmetal and then covering the walls with a hard surface material. It's physics.

 

[NealCarney]

I researched the material that Ford use to line the cargo area. BubbleX is PET, same as the Thinsulate I used and has the same properties.

Is this the material you used? I discovered it at HD a few weeks ago and it did seem like it might work well.

 

[carbonized]

Is this the material you used? I discovered it at HD a few weeks ago and it did seem like it might work well.

Jeeeeez !!! i august of 2020 I paid $23.56 per sheet for that stuff at my local Plastic distributor

 

[carbonized]

Jeeeeez !!! i august of 2020 I paid $23.56 per sheet for that stuff at my local Plastic distributor

The Despot didn't carry it at that time, so I didn't get gouged

 

[joels616]

Do the plastic panels warp over time from expose to van heat. Can fastening method allow for expansion/contraction from temperature?

Anyone ever get the automotive style trim fasteners to work for wall or ceiling panels? Seems like the expanding type are used successfully on internal and external applications by vehicle manufacturers.