{"id":3169,"date":"2019-03-30T13:31:20","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T13:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/?p=3169"},"modified":"2022-03-11T05:50:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T11:50:48","slug":"insulating-walls-school-bus-conversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/insulating-walls-school-bus-conversion\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Insulate Skoolie Walls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Replacing the insulation in your skoolie walls is an important step.&nbsp; For a few reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The old insulation in there is <em>nasty<\/em>, old, and not really doing much anyway.<\/li><li>You want to inspect and make sure there are no leaks in the lower walls.<\/li><li>Re-insulating with a higher R-value material will help A LOT with heating and cooling your skoolie.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What type of insulation should I use?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That really comes down to preference!&nbsp; We chose Rockwool Mineral Wool Comfort Batt (you can get it at Lowe&#8217;s) primarily because of its high R-value and moisture resistance.&nbsp; It also has the added benefit of being a great sound absorber, which helped greatly in soundproofing the recording studio.&nbsp; Many choose spray foam for their skoolie walls and ceiling; that application didn&#8217;t work for us because of cost and also because spray foam is not great for sound absorption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: <\/em>This guide is only applicable if you&#8217;re choosing to insulate with batting material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s dive in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8c_F0igLsIg\" width=\"760\" height=\"415\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tools &amp; Materials You&#8217;ll Need:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowes.com\/pd\/ROCKWOOL-COMFORTBATT-R-15-Stone-Wool-Batt-Insulation-with-Sound-Barrier-15-25-in-W-x-47-in-L\/3388304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rockwool Comfort Batt<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3pAeedN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A stone wool knife<\/a><\/li><li>Sharpie marker<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3vgOEho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gloves<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/35aQRjE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">safety glasses<\/a><\/li><li>Respirator masks (get a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3HhRJAd\">pack of 20<\/a> and save money in the long run)<\/li><li>Impact driver (we got this&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B01KZNDYT0\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B01KZNDYT0&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=artwethereyet-20&amp;linkId=5edbe17f9ef03fa59e84c2d088a77c42\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">drill\/impact driver combo kit<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" style=\"color: rgb(49, 49, 49); margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=artwethereyet-20&amp;l=am2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B01KZNDYT0\" alt=\"\"><\/a>&nbsp;and it served us well through the whole conversion!)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Full disclosure guys, some of these are affiliate links, so we get a commission if you buy something from the list.\u00a0 As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.\u00a0 Not much, but something.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>This is really important<\/strong>: we\u00a0<em><strong>only<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0link to tools and materials we actually used and\u00a0highly\u00a0recommend. We do these guides completely for free, so these links are the only way we get a little something back (except for the satisfaction of knowing we helped\u00a0<em>you<\/em>\u00a0build your dream skoolie, of course!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t have Amazon Prime yet?\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/tryprimefree?ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1427739975520&amp;_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=pf4&amp;tag=artwethereyet-20&amp;linkId=74f461080ddf921de48118000bf197db\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here\u2019s a link for 30 days free.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1 &#8211; Construct a cutting box<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The insulation we bought came 3.5 inches thick.&nbsp; The lower part of the walls in 2 inches thick.&nbsp; We could have compacted it to fit, but this will result in lost R-value. So we decided to reduce the thickness of each piece of insulation for the lower walls. To do this:<\/li><li>Build a three-sided frame that matches the width and length of the batting.&nbsp; Construct it with wood cut at 2&#8243; width.&nbsp; It will look like this:<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1350\" height=\"504\" src=\"http:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/skoolie-school-bus-conversion-insulation-walls-installation.png\" alt=\"skoolie school bus conversion insulation walls installation\" class=\"wp-image-3174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/skoolie-school-bus-conversion-insulation-walls-installation.png 1350w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/skoolie-school-bus-conversion-insulation-walls-installation-768x287.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1350px) 100vw, 1350px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"521\" src=\"http:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Skoolie-Bus-Conversion-insulation-installation-02-02-02.png\" alt=\"Skoolie Bus Conversion insulation installation-02-02-02\" class=\"wp-image-3175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Skoolie-Bus-Conversion-insulation-installation-02-02-02.png 1500w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Skoolie-Bus-Conversion-insulation-installation-02-02-02-768x267.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 2 &#8211; Cut the pieces of insulation for the lower walls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Go section by section.<\/li><li>Measure the width and length of the section, then cut the insulation with the stone wool knife to create your panel. <ul><li>Cut in short motions back and forth (not long, sweeping cuts).&nbsp; Cutting in a short back-forth motion will make a clean cut with very little pulling of the material. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Now you need to make the panel 2&#8243; thick.&nbsp; Place the panel inside the frame and cut along the top of the frame, resting the saw along the frame as you cut.&nbsp; Like this:<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"521\" src=\"http:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Skoolie-Bus-Conversion-insulation-installation-02-02-02.png\" alt=\"Skoolie Bus Conversion insulation installation-02-02-02\" class=\"wp-image-3175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Skoolie-Bus-Conversion-insulation-installation-02-02-02.png 1500w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Skoolie-Bus-Conversion-insulation-installation-02-02-02-768x267.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3 &#8211; Insert the insulation into the lower wall sections<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Okay, here&#8217;s the deal.&nbsp; In the above video, you see me using a piece of wood to squeeze insulation into the lower part of the walls.&nbsp; That was dumb.&nbsp; I thought it was necessary because of screw ends sticking into the lower skoolie walls from exterior rivets.&nbsp; Again, dumb.&nbsp; It turns out that those screw ends were from&#8230;well, screws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SO.&nbsp; We ended up removing the insulation Norlan and I put in the lower walls (it was all squished and messed up from my wood ploy).&nbsp; Then we did this simple installation method:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Go outside.&nbsp; With the impact driver, remove each screw.&nbsp; Keep them together in a bucket or bag.<\/li><li>Insert the panel you cut to match the section of lower wall (it will slide right down).<\/li><li>Repeat for all sections of lower wall.<\/li><li>Replace the screws.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 4 &#8211; Cut and install insulation for rest of wall space<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>As you see in the video, we kept the original 3.5in thickness of the insulation for the main part of the walls.&nbsp; So there&#8217;s no need to use the frame for this step.<\/li><li>Just measure the section of wall, cut the insulation to match (adding .25 inch on each side), and plop it right in.&nbsp; If you&#8217;ve done your measurements correctly and added that extra .25 inches on each side, it should fit snug enough to hold itself up. <ul><li>Insulation isn&#8217;t cheap, so it&#8217;s worth the extra brainpower to play tetris when cutting your different sections of insulation.&nbsp; Try to use up the whole panel, rather than having lots of extra pieces! <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 5 &#8211; Use leftover pieces to fill upper walls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use all the extra pieces to fill in the cavities in the wall space above the windows.&nbsp; Have fun with it!&nbsp; Treat it like 3D tetris!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congrats!&nbsp; Your skoolie walls are done!&nbsp; Now go take a shower, &#8217;cause chances are you are super itchy from that stuff!&nbsp; Next up, <a aria-label=\"framing out and laying the electrical lines in your walls (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/01\/wall-framing-electrical-school-bus-conversion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">framing and planning the electrical for your walls<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&lt;&lt; Back to the <a href=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/skoolie-bus-conversion-ultimate-guide\/\">Skoolie Conversion Ultimate Guide Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2896\" height=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel.png\" alt=\"art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel\" class=\"wp-image-5344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel.png 2896w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-1536x164.png 1536w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-2048x219.png 2048w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-1170x125.png 1170w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-1920x206.png 1920w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-585x63.png 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2896px) 100vw, 2896px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"so-you-re-building-a-skoolie-huh\">So you\u2019re building a skoolie, huh?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We feel your pain, my friend! We also know how good it feels to finally make a dream reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/skoolie-bus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Our skoolie<\/a>&nbsp;took 9 months and $28,000 to complete. We documented the entire build and are slowly building<a href=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/skoolie-bus-conversion-ultimate-guide\/\">&nbsp;a series of guides<\/a>&nbsp;on every step of the bus conversion process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We spent a&nbsp;<em>crap ton<\/em>&nbsp;of time figuring out how to do this and that. We also could have saved a few bucks along the way.  We hope our tutorials help save you some time and money!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"our-top-5-bus-conversion-tools-materials\">Our TOP 5 Bus Conversion Tools &amp; Materials:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3v7iFjJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">5-in-1 Painters Tool<\/a> (you will use this a MILLION times)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3LSJ2Qj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Impact Driver &amp; Drill Combo Kit<\/a> (there won\u2019t be a day you won\u2019t use this)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3IeX1gX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">100% Silicone<\/a> (buy in bulk to save a LOT of money!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/36y3vtA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Angle Grinder<\/a> (get used to using this ALL the time!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3513I7Z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Table Saw <\/a>(it will be nearly impossible to complete your conversion without this. It\u2019s WORTH the investment!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This\u00a0page contains product affiliate links. We may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Replacing the insulation in your skoolie walls is an important step.&nbsp; For a few reasons: The old insulation in there is nasty, old, and not really doing much anyway. You want to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-school-bus-conversion-tutorials","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3169"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5649,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions\/5649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}