The Insulation Game Plan
Today is the start of our insulation project! While it took a lot of measuring and math before we could actually hit the home improvement stores and pick up what we needed, we planned out our insulation and finally decided on what we would use to insulate. Drum roll please…
Why We’re Not Using Thinsulate
I liked the idea of doing Thinsulate and EZ cool as our insulation, Far Out Ride style. However, the price just wasn’t a good fit for our budget van build.
As a rule of thumb, you need 60 linear feet of Thinsulate SM600L for a long wheelbase (170″ Sprinter) van. That would be 1 roll of 40′ x 60″ for $415 and 1 roll of 20′ x 60″ for $240, not to mention the price of the adhesive spray. Total Thinsulate cost was looking to be $650+.
Also, the R-value, or insulation factor, of SM600L Thinsulate is 5.2 for 1.65 inches. This is worse than the same thickness of other types of insulation, like the one we chose.
We may still opt to use EZ Cool (or something similar) if we feel that there are remaining thermal bridges that need to be addressed after we do our planned insulation, which is…
Foam Board + Spray Foam Insulation
The best and most cost-effective option that we decided to go with was foam board insulation. We will be attaching polyisocyanurate foam board insulation to the walls and ceiling using expanding spray foam, which will add insulation, act as adhesive, and fill any gaps from the weird shape of the inside of a sprinter van. We’ll also be using spray foam to fill the metal frames that would be impossible to insulate with foam board. Polyisocyanurate foam board has an R-value of 6 per 1″.
These metal frames are “thermal bridges,” and are often addressed (such as by Far Out Ride) by covering with some kind of thinner insulation like EZ Cool. EZ Cool is actually mostly a radiant heat barrier (that’s why it’s covered in metallic foil), but the thermal bridge issue is a conductive heat problem. However, the fact that it’s basically bubble wrap addresses conductive heat transfer, because the air pockets prevent heat transfer and act as an insulator. If we decide we also need this, we have dozens of foil-backed bubble wrap insulated pouches that Whole Foods ships food in, that we will re-purpose for this use.
Our plan for the floor is to leave the existing insulation and plywood that came with the van. This is going to save us a huge headache of cutting slices of foam board (and besides, we can’t remove the floor as it’s under the metal bulkhead). On top of that, we will build a frame with the 2x2s (which are actually 1.5″ x 1.5″ – thanks imperial system) and insulate between them with the 1.5″ XPS foam.
The reason we went with XPS foam, despite it’s off-gassing and negative environmental impacts is that it was simply the only option for the 1.5″ height (in our area at least). Compared to polyiso foam board, XPS is a little less insulating, with an R-value of 5 per 1″, so our 1.5″ boards say they have an R-value of 7.5. Additionally, XPS handles compression better than other types of foam board, so it is ideal for floor use. On top of the 2x2s and foam board, we will install our ~1/2″ plywood as a subfloor. This will be the finish floor for most of the van, as we will only have a small amount of exposed floor space. The rest of the floor will be in the garage, under the bench, or under the kitchen cabinets.
The leftover XPS foam board from the floor project will be used on the ceiling since the metal struts are almost exactly 1.5″ deep. We estimate that we will have nearly enough left over from the floor to finish the ceiling with it.
Shopping for Insulation
Today’s shopping haul from Lowe’s and Home Depot was intended to get us what we needed to 1. insulate and install the subfloor and 2. insulate the walls and ceiling.
Here’s what we ended up getting.
Lowe’s
- 23/32″ sheathing plywood for subfloor – $42.68 each x 4 = $170.72
- 2″x2″x8′ wood for framing floor – $2.48 each x 12 = $29.76
- Craftsman 2-pack saw blades – $29.98
- 2 1/2″ wood screws – $7.98 each x 2 = $15.96
- Liquid Nails adhesive – $2.58 each x 6 = 15.48
- Great Stuff spray foam – $3.59 each x 11 = $39.59
Total = $301.49 (before tax)
Coupons
We very specifically brought the total over $300, so we could use coupons to get significant discounts. We broke this order up into 3 separate orders of slightly more than $100 each. I purchased 4 coupons that gave me $20 off $100 purchases.
Total, I paid $11.90 for $80 worth of coupons from Kirkley Marketing. I had a really great experience with this site, you get the coupons in an email within 1 minute of paying for them. I used 3 of those 4 coupons and still have one left, which expires in more than 3 weeks. I’m pretty sure that within that time, we’ll have another large lumber order from Lowe’s.
**Note: We had issues using the coupon on our 3rd order and couldn’t figure out why until we read the fine print. One of the things I had done on purpose was get 12 cans of spray foam because we’d get a 10% contractor’s pack discount on that amount. However, that 10% discount only equaled approximately $4, and it was conflicting with the $20 coupon. So we purchased 11 of the spray foam cans and our total was still over $100, so the $20 coupon was able to work.
Tip: Lowe’s won’t allow you to stack discounts, so you can’t use a coupon on sale or bulk discount items.
Using coupons that cost $12, we saved $60, so total coupon savings were $48. This will be $68 if we use the 4th coupon (but I’m assuming the full cost of that coupon here in case we do not).
Rewards Credit Cards
Two of my credit cards, the Chase Disney Visa and the IHG Rewards credit card had offers for 10% off at Lowe’s up to $13 cashback (so an order of $130). So what I did was used one card for each of the first two $100 orders, which ended up putting ~85.50 on each card (including tax). Then I split the final order onto the two cards, which put $45 on the Disney card (maxing out the bonus) and $41 on the IHG Card (within $3 of maxing out the 10% offer, so I’m missing out on just 30 cents).
Using the rewards credit cards, I will be getting statement credits of $26 for these purchases. What’s great about this is that you get money back even on sale items, coupons, and tax!!
Total saved at Lowe’s
We spent $257 (including tax) and expect $26 statement credits, so our total spending was $231. Total savings was $74.
Tip: If you know exactly what you want, and can order online, you can also take advantage of Cash Back sites like Rakuten, which is offering up to 4% back on Lowe’s as of the writing of this post.
Home Depot
- 1″ x 4′ x 8′ sheet of polyisocyanurate foam board insulation – $23.93 each x 5 = $119.65
- 1 1/2″ x 4′ x 8′ sheet of XPS foam board insulation – $24.72 each x 4 = $98.88
Total = $218.53 (before tax)
Coupons
To get a $5 off $50 purchase coupon, all you have to do is sign up to get Home Depot’s emails/texts. So Austin and I both signed up and we each got a $5 off coupon. We did separate transactions, and he went first, buying the XPS foam board. I went next, buying the polyiso foam board, and found out that the coupons were actually good for $10 off $100!! I was kinda bummed that we didn’t figure this out before and throw a $1.12 candy bar or something on Austin’s order to bring it over $100, but at the same time, we only expected to save $10 and we ended up saving $15.
I had searched for coupons that you could buy for Home Depot, but the only ones that seemed available were 15% off coupons that could save you up to $200, and they were selling for over $20 each. So we would have had about $12 or so in savings by buying one of those, and there’s always a risk that the coupon you buy won’t work. So I didn’t feel comfortable shelling out $20 to a coupon company I didn’t know to save $32 total. In the end, it worked out better for us, as we were able to save $15 without paying for any coupons!
Total savings from coupons was $15.
Rewards Credit Cards
The credit card we decided to use for this purchase was the Chase Freedom Unlimited, a new card we got as part of our travel-hacking the van build strategy. It gives 1.5% back on all purchases in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards points, that we will later redeem for travel. So while we didn’t earn cashback on this purchase, we did get 325 Ultimate Rewards Points.
Total Savings at Home Depot
We spent $217 (including tax) at home depot thanks to our $15 in coupon savings.
Total Floor/Insulation Cost & Savings
In total, we spent $448 and saved $89.
We also both spent about 4 hours at the stores total (including transit to/from and between stores), so 8 total hours just to make the purchases.
Our total spending for not only the insulation but also the floor items (and some tools and fasteners) came to $200 cheaper than JUST the Thinsulate would have cost us. We’ll see how the install goes, but we are pretty happy with our choice to use foam board.
Floor Insulation Install
Today, Austin framed out the floor with the 2x2s and cut and placed almost all of the 1.5″ foam board, except for one small piece. Two pieces nearly filled the whole floor of a 170″ WB Sprinter. Tomorrow, we’ll finish the floor insulation, install the plywood sub-floor, and start on the ceiling and wall insulation.
9/16/2020
Build Day #18
Hours Worked: 13
- Austin – 9
- Becky – 4
- Total Project Hours: 203
Money Spent: $448
- Lowe’s (see breakdown & savings above) – $231
- Home Depot (see breakdown & savings above) – $217
- Total Project Spending: $19,465
Tasks Complete: 2
- Buy Insulation
- Buy floor framing & subfloor
Questions Googled: 2
- Lowe’s coupons
- Home Depot coupons
WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE THESE TIPS TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD
2 thoughts on “Insulation Planning & Purchase (We Saved $90!) [Day 18]”