Insulation and the Smell of Cedar

A successful, but shortened weekend.  I wasn't feeling great this weekend, but I did manage to get a couple of things mostly finished.  I installed the insulation on the ceiling.  I used the PL 300 adhesive, which is especially formulated for foam board.  It seemed to work well, but it did not have as high an initial tack as I wished it had.  I ended up needing to brace the ceiling panels.  I suppose I could have been more methodical about it and cut specific pieces of wood to brace the ceiling, but I just used whatever I had in the workshop.

 

I let the insulation cure overnight; actually I ended up taking two evenings to get the whole ceiling done.  I did the front one night and then the back the next.  I would have liked to have done it all in one session, but the bracing that was needed slowed me down and made it kind of difficult to maneuver inside the cabin.

I had some help from my amazing daughter.  She helped me cut the material to cover the door insulation.  This was partly experimental and partly finesse work; she is much better at this than I am.  Plus, I loved that she was taking part in the process.  She'll really appreciate the doors a lot more now!  We'll use the spray adhesive to hold this all in place; it's pinned now so that we could experiment with how to apply it.

Fashionable, even in the workshop!

 

One door prototype ready for installation.

I invited my wife out to give her insight on how to proceed with finishing the ceiling.  She was not a big fan of the carpet on the ceiling.  Instead, she suggested, maybe we could use cedar or tongue and groove pine.  She was right; the finish would not have been what I wanted on the ceiling, no matter how carefully I tried to install it. 

 So, I went to the hardware store and purchased some incredibly aromatic cedar.  I wish there was a way to capture the lovely smell!  I used the 1/4" thick cedar on the ceiling and it worked beautifully!  The only thing that was a little tricky was getting it to 'stay' on the ceiling.  I was using the PL 300 adhesive for foam board to hold the strips in place.  That worked okay until I got about four strips in place and the combined weight started to pull them off.  

I purchased a brad nailer at Lowes and tried using 5/8" brads every six inches or so.  That sort of worked, but the brads were only anchored into the foam; so they didn't have much holding power.  I ended up needing to brace the ceiling, which made working a bit tough.  You can see from the images that I finally figured out that using one thin piece, which bent, allowed the pressure to be spread across the entire area being supported.

I finished the entire ceiling today.  I'm thinking about putting it in the bulkhead section too.  It would make the cabinet/closet a bit nicer and would make it smell great too!  The Fantastic Vent was going all day today and made working in the cabin bearable with the sunshine pounding down on the teardrop.

One really interesting thing I discovered this weekend.  The teardrop's temperature gauge showed that the insulation is making a huge difference.  Without the insulation, the interior temperature rose to over 114 degrees.  With the insulation, the highest it got this weekend was about 80 degrees.  It was a little cooler, but still, that shows that the one inch of insulation is making a big difference!

After letting the ceiling 'cure' overnight, I'll be anxious to add the weather stripping seals and then try out the door with the insulation.  I'm looking forward to receiving my baskets this week.  One last week of school responsibilities; even so, I should be able to do some work each evening.

Huge Progress!

What a great day!

My father-in-law arrived last evening.  Today, he and I accomplished a huge task:  we installed the Fantastic Fan!  This was something I had been feeling a little anxious about, to tell the truth.  Cutting a hole in an aluminum roof that had no hole in it for nearly 70 years took some gumption.  With my father-in-law there to give some guidance and advice, we measured three times, squared everything up with the sides, drilled the pilot holes and cut away the opening.

 

Pilot holes drilled.

 

Three sides cut.

With some trepidation, I cut the final side and... it didn't fit!  We had to pull out my handy new $1.99 Harbor Freight metal rasp to smooth out the cuts a little and... it fit.

It was my father-in-law's idea to put the wood across the top of the teardrop.  It worked perfectly, giving me something to lean on when I was cutting the aluminum.  

My father-in-law was mighty impressed with the vent.  The fact that it only pulls 3 amps when on high and that it moves 938 square feet a minute is pretty amazing.  What I'm thrilled about is that when I lay down and look up, I can see through the fan!  I can't wait to get out in the Carpe Diem for the first time and look at the sky through that vent!

The other major accomplishment was that I started experimenting with the foam and headliner.  I covered the bulkhead sliding doors with the headliner and then cut a piece of 1" foam for the area that is essentially the 'headboard' of the cabin area.  I was amazed with how rigid the foam became when the headliner was glued in position.  So, I covered the foam with the contact cement, then applied the headliner.  I was careful to wrap the ends and top and bottom edges.  I think that gives it a really nice, finished look.  I ended up using Locktite adhesive to hold the foam to the aluminum of the bulkhead area.  I'm not sure what is best to hold the foam to the aluminum, but it seemed to work well.  The image you see above is mid-glue.  I've got everything clamped to hold it and ensure a tight bond.  One thing I discovered though is that the clamps I purchased at Harbor Freight are great for wood, but not so good for foam.  They 'crush' the foam and leave 'dents.'  Mental note to self for future applications...

Here are a couple of views of the vent open.  It brings in a tremendous amount of light and is going to be so welcome once we get it all wired.

We discovered that the roof is rather flimsy; there are no internal roof spars of any kind in the original design.  This wouldn't be a problem if we weren't trying to install things on the ceiling.  So, we talked about how using 1"x 2" oak spars and blocking to 'frame' the hole for the vent, will add some rigidity to the ceiling.  It will also make the foam insulation easier to mount.  Rather than having one large piece spanning the entire ceiling, we will be able to have several smaller pieces.  This will make it easier to keep them in place and hopefully, it will make it easier to cover as well.

Moving on with the insulation and headliner makes me feel like I've made some BIG progress.  If I do have any time this weekend I plan to get the galley cabinets in place.  We have a ton of family things this weekend, so I doubt I'll get anything done.