Insulating a Cabin: How to Do It Yourself + Rodent Free & Fire Rated
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- After weeks of research, weighing the pros and cons to all the options we could find for insulating our cabin floor, here's what we ultimately decided. At the end of the video Chris explains why our original plan of one layer stapled to the floor, between the floor joists, then turned into a second layer.
If you have any questions let us know by adding a comment to the video. We've seen a dramatic change on the reduced requirement for heat, along with a significantly warmer floor! Comparisons are made in the video with exactly the same outside temperature with essentially no wind, both before the install and after.
The product we chose is available on amazon (we are not selling or be compensated here, and the reason there's no affiliate link). Just our honest opinion after a ton of research and installing the insulation. Having a product that is also Fire Rated, made in the USA and not an attractant to rodents, warmed our hearts as much as our feet.
Thanks for watching!
Chris & Lisa
Love the edit. ❤ As always I am a sucker for any DIY/ homestead content.
Us to ✌️
About the insulation you should wrap the floor joist too. You may actually be able to feel the cold where those floor joist are at. We ran ours between joist and floor sheeting. I was gonna say even some house wrap stapled up for skirting will make a huge difference.
Good points ✌️
The layer you stapled underneath the floor should have been halfway between the floor and the bottom of the joists then do as you did at the bottom at the joists then you would have had 2 air spaces instead of just the one you have. With 2 air spaces you should have an R value greater than 15 .
Your foil application looks neat and tidy. I would only say you should keep an eye on potential moisture in that joist cavity tho if you’re heating the cabin in very cold temps. Idk what the moisture permeability is on the foil, but you don’t want to trap vapour between two vapour barriers. As others have commented, I would suggest that closed cell foam would be your best solution tho most expensive.
Great points. Thank you ✌️
You hit the nail on the head, it's the comfort level that's just as important as the measured temperature difference and cost savings. We live in South Australia where it gets very hot and dry in summer, we use evaporative airconditioning which improves the comfort level by making you feel cooler rather than cooling masses of air in the house.
Oh wow, that’s super smart. Cheers ✌️
@@mountaincabinliving "thermal mass" ... Like a log cabin wall - the thicker it is ~ The more stable and gradual the temperature change...adds a lot for comfort...
@@mountaincabinliving I am considering the R-value of a solid log floor...
It's good. You left an air gap because if you put it directly on the wood that cold will go through there.
it is supposed to always have air gap to work properly because it's not insulation but heat reflective material , if it touch the floor it lose (not all but significant amount) its properties ,
with the air gap between floor and first layer of around 1 inch + then second layer ...you will have crazy amount of reflective properties
if you ever have problems with mold etc you could modify it --- mount first layer with air gap (but don't allow any air flow) -- use some "bridges" that will close air flow (piece of wood /insulation/ or just make it touch the floor in few places entire width of joist so air won move in case of wind and not perfectly air tight instalation (it its airtight it's not needed to make "bridges") then install second layer with 2-4 inch space between first but at least 2 inch from bottom , then instal breather membrane on bottom so moisture can evaporate through it but it won't allow air movement (so its like 5 layer insulation --- 3 air gaps + 2 heat reflective layers
optional is to use some thin wool between floor and first layer if you don't want air gap (it can touch the wool without losing to much properties
Thanks! Great point!!
The Boss of the Swamp explains...
ua-cam.com/video/6tXoey1Qz6E/v-deo.htmlsi=ZbRHQUBH0PcnAsn0
The Boss is proud🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I meant to comment on the mice issue. I've found that the only thing mice don't chew through is polyurethane spray foam which is a rodent barrier on top of being an insulation. They can't chew through the hardened barrier. It's something you can do yourself and even into the hard to reach areas. It's not very cheap though. Amazon sells it and the accessories though there are cheaper places to get it from.
Awesome feedback! Thank you ✌️
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Why not do it I think it's a win win situation.i would definitely do it myself great info really appreciate it thanks brother n wife you're friends here in Massachusetts 💕
Thanks for the great video my friends
Thanks John ✌️
My buddy up here at Floating stone lake insulated under the floor with Styrofoam, then he skirted the cabin really well and spray foamed the inside of the skirting from the ground up to the floor, claims its the world of difference.
Love it. Looking forward to getting the skirting done somehow ✌️
14:09 u made a fancy disco hall for rats.
btw the base insulation (according to regulation in hungary) should be at lest 11cm thick eps or xps sheet.
btw u can use rockwool sheets too that way more cheap and in ur situation the closed cells because wetness is not a criteria.
ua-cam.com/video/BjbTUCUOOH8/v-deo.html
The lunar lander was made with tin foil and curtain rods
And we are wearing invisible tin foil hats
Not hen you look below the tin foil
Some say that's all they needed for the stage set...ha. I watched the landing on TV.
Now that you've had this setup for a while, I'm curious to know if you've had rodent issues; I'm guessing not because they are extremely disinclined to chew through metal, even a layer as thin as this stuff.
And yes, that 5 to 6 degree difference is actually quite significant; that's a whole lot of surface area your heating source doesn't have to heat nearly as much to bring the rest of the space up to temperature.
In the summer squirrels are an issue with seeds left out. They squeeze through the smallest cracks. Such a pain!
@@mountaincabinliving Stupid squirrels
Thanks for this. I have been doing a ton of research. I own a three season cottage (mid-April to end of October) in Massachusetts. Spray foam is expensive and frankly I don't want electrical wires in it and I'm not thrilled to have it stuck to the underside of my wood floor. But it is probably the best insulation. I've looked into rigid foam boards and thought I would use it but I'm put off by ants nesting in it or other rodents disturbing it. Although if I put a vapor barrier up like you did, perhaps that wouldn't be such an issue - still, do I want to risk it, not really. So, I'm going to try the foil with the vapor barrier. I figure with a three season cottage, I don't need high end insulation, I just need something that's going to help retain some heat at the beginning and at end of the season, and keep hot air from getting in during the summer. I thought about putting a skirting around the bottom of the cottage but I'm worried about ventilation, and again, I don't think I need it for my cottage.
I know it's only been a year since you did it, but do you know if any moisture been a problem between the foils? I assume if the foil is tight to the joists, it will be fine.
We haven’t gone under the cabin to check if there’s any moisture between the layers. So not sure. Definitely something to consider and plan around. The skirting however, in our opinion is absolutely key in the winter. Summer probably depends on how hot your area gets. For us it’s about retaining heat in the winter and protecting the cabin in the summer against any wildfires ✌️
lol @ joisteses. Love your videos. Your sense of humor is awesome!
Thanks so much! Good to keep the smiles smiling ✌️
Minimum 15 cm thik of insulation under floor beam is ok to stay warm in winter.
You guys are responsible for your own fire prevention. Don't rely on the state. You need to clear the under brush yourselves and have a plan.
Copy that ✌️
I have not seen a comment saying what product this is on Amazon. Could somebody just say which one to buy? Thank you.
You can find it on Amazon. There’s a couple types, we opted for the AD3 foam insulation by US Energy Products ✌️
Can you add a link to where you purchased the foil?
Hope this helps. This is what we used: amzn.to/3lSBWTE
Could you have put the pink insulation in first and then staple your solution up?
Absolutely. However… our original plan was just one layer of the foil insulation. After installing it we were not satisfied with the outcome, then decided to add the second layer. That said, I’d still not add any pink insulation considering the number of mice. Not wanting to add anything they may find interesting to make a home of. Cheers ✌️
Great video. I am in Canada. As a comparison for up here, where did you get the foil wrap in the United States?
You can find it on Amazon. There’s a couple types, we opted for the AD3 foam insulation by US Energy Products ✌️
It's all common sense 🤠
Also summer time wouldn't it keep the heat out??I would think so Plus all the bugs in summer
Highest temperatures here are only in the 80’s for maybe a month. Cheers 🍻
Why do people refer to this as insulation?
It’s a fair point. Compared to what we all know as insulation, it’s not. When you need an “outside the norm solution” it became a very real solution. At the end of the day, we used half the heat from the year before, we have had zero ant problems, along with no mice or other critters making homes, and we have a fire barrier, all in one ✌️
You so smart😅
Aaah
@@mountaincabinliving❤
Any little bit helps of insulating.
For sure ✌️
So u dont bother to tell us what this stuff is?? Really?
It’s all good. You can look up AD3 Foam insulation by US Energy Products on Amazon ✌️
Closed cell spray foam is the answer. No insects or critters bother with it. The swamp guy video is a complete misdirection. The insulation is so poor that he is essentially heating the crawl space from above. Better than nothing but nowhere near as good as sprayfoam.
It's pretty interesting though that the swamp boss shows frozen ground outside his skirting and unfrozen dirt just inside using only the foil bubble wrap to insulate the skirting; its possible that it needs both for the best results; also when he built something new he put it between the floor joists and subfloor, so that would give a thermal break which would really help too
@bryanhood9839
The ground is frozen outside because it's cold..duh.
Underneath his cabin the ground isn't frozen due to heat loss - the hear leaking through that crappy insulation he used.
If you dug through the concrete floor in your basement, the dirt wouldn't be frozen either.
There is no mystery here The bubble wrap insulation is nearly useless.
two layers of bubble wrap did a great job on my 100 yo cabin. Its perfect, but it wasn’t that expensive either. It’s really about blocking the wind.