Compartments

petarm1 · June 29, 2019, 04:31:36 AM

Back to a compartment question, are any of you doing any preperation in your compartments before you build anything in there. Undercoating, any type of sealing, and are you building wooden frames to put your accesories on.

sledhead · June 29, 2019, 05:59:26 AM

I used 3/4 foam board with 1/4" ply spray glued to it with a 1" maple noising on the outside front edge and on all but the water bay I spray glued marine carpet on them , front bay wall and engine bay wall insulated as well . did the doors as much as I could with insulation as well

dave

Jim Blackwood · June 29, 2019, 06:30:27 AM

My bays came with a wood floor. Not real high quality but it'll do. Seems like it might be a little tougher than wafer board but that's kinda what it looks like. I'm not changing it until/unless I have a good reason to.

Jim

richard5933 · June 29, 2019, 06:37:40 AM

Ours have painted plywood floors which was (I believe) installed by Custom Coach. Works pretty well, but if I was to do it again myself I would either do a much better job of sealing around the edges or make them removable. Things will spill in the bays, and if the edges are not sealed whatever spills gets under the flooring.

We had a small fuel leak when the generator was being worked on, and of course it got under the plywood in the bay. Took forever to get the remnants out.

I'd also probably use something other than plywood since it tends to absorb liquid and odors. I've grown to like PVC boards and would probably go with something like 1/2" PVC. That's what I built the battery box out of. It's easy to work with, can easily be cleaned, and is much lighter than plywood. It would work for partitions in the bays as well. Only downside is it's hard to get things to stick to it so carpeting a panel would be tough.

lostagain · June 29, 2019, 06:49:23 AM

You need insulation everywhere possible. When driving in winter, which is unavoidable when going South and coming back, you will at times go through cold temperatures. You need the insulation to protect the plumbing, and to help keeping the upstairs warm. Our bus came with plywood lined with carpet on the floors. Not ideal, but better than nothing. I spray foamed the doors, and will do the walls everywhere I can reach sometime.

Regarding storage boxes, I don't care for anything permanent. I prefer wide open bays. I use milk crates for smaller items. My hand tools are in a tool box that I can take out if needed.

JC

richard5933 · June 29, 2019, 06:54:20 AM

A convenient way to store and access your tool box is a must. We have ours on a slide so that it can be access even if the compartment is full.

petarm1 · June 30, 2019, 04:59:20 AM

I may rock gaurd my compartments for protection against spills but i was thinking of useing snap together pvc deck boards for the floor of the compartments. I like the spray foam idea but i live in a location where access to those things are not possable. I was thinking of glueing styrofoam insulation to the sides and top. Any comments?

sledhead · June 30, 2019, 06:18:56 AM

I used Styrofoam on the front and back compartment walls and on the ceiling and then used the tinfoil bubble rap to finish it and fill in the spots to seal it . I used the Styrofoam spray glue to hold it and lots of the tin foil tape to seal it
if you look in the pic you can see it on the ceiling
like said above you can not have to much insulation

dave

lostagain · June 30, 2019, 07:02:49 AM

petarm1, just go to the hardware store and get the rattle can spray foam like Rightstuff or similar. I think I used about one can per door, if I remember correctly.

JC

ChrisTX · June 30, 2019, 07:24:44 AM

Has anyone tried something like the spray-on truck bed liner? I was thinking it would look nice and would be easy to clean but probably doesn't do anything for insulation.

petarm1 · June 30, 2019, 02:05:35 PM

I will try 5he can spray foam. I will practice on my 89 mci before i do the 99

buswarrior · June 30, 2019, 07:47:39 PM

Grippy surfaces in the bays make it harder for you to get stuff in and out, may be more likely to mark or damage good stuff.

Push and drag is the order of the day.

No matter your efforts, liquid and moisture will find their way under the bay floor covering. Designing with the ability to remove, inspect, dry out, rinse, may pay big dividends in the future.

Insulation methods save the water system, no where in the lower 48 that you go, there's been a freeze there sometime...

January archives are full of frozen buses...

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior