Thinsulate V Sprayfoam

[Pan]

Does anyone have any strong opinions on the choice of Thinsulate or sprayfoam

[denboy]

only that one you can diy the other costs a lot more and makes a mess

[bottle]

Not strong but sprayfoam fills all the gaps and from what I have read, assimilated, then it will be sprayfoam for our boat.

[steelaway]

Does anyone have any strong opinions on the choice of Thinsulate or sprayfoam

 

 

Hi There

No contest - Sprayfoam 100% coverage and no condensation on the hull.

 

Alex

[Gary Peacock]

Thinsulate like insulating paint is a good exercise in marketing spin.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Gary Peacock

[international_boatbuilder]

Does anyone have any strong opinions on the choice of Thinsulate or sprayfoam

 

Spray foam done properly i.e. by a professional is the way to go. It is the only insulation material that is totally bonded to the shell and completely impervious to moisture. There fore illiminating condensation on the inside surface of your precious shell. The mega expensive thinsulate cannot boast this attribute.

[Ally]

definately sprayfoam!! As others have said, bonding cuts the condensation issues. Thinsulate is expensive, fiddly if doing it properly, and less effective.....find a good spray foamer who will cut it back and remove the waste for you! Can put you in touch with a good one if you want to pm me!

[bag 'o' bones]

not that I have any experience of thinsulate but I can't see how it can be as good as spray foam which effectively is like a very thick 'paint' that bonds with the steel rather than thinsulate which merrily 'stuck on'.

 

Spray foam has proved its effectiveness over many winters. Thinsulate hasn't been around long enough.

[John Orentas]

Are there really only two options.. Why have we decided that effective insulation must be bonded to the steel.. When I put my overcoat on do I need to glue it to my skin to stay warm and when you roll out that insulating wool in your loft space do we really need to bond it to the upper surface of the ceiling, of course not..

 

No personal experience but that sprayfoam stuff seems to me to be very expensive and very messy as the guys that do it leave you to finish off the job and clean up their mess.. Those 'Thinwall panels'. Are they really thin, is that seen an asset for insulation?

 

I have used expanded polystyrene twice, very low cost easy to fit, very little mess.. And no you don't need to glue them into place or fix them in any other way, all those adverse comments come from people who have have never done the job but get taken in by glossy adverts.

[denboy]

thinsulate comes in sizes from 1/2 in up to 2 in cut to shape and stuck on with pu glue all the small gaps and joints you can fill with expanding foam available from good insulating firms at the right price

we used 1 inch on cabin sides and 2 inch from the gunnel down

[jayjayranger]

spray foamed job 1 done 850 to go good luck

[Ally]

Are there really only two options.. Why have we decided that effective insulation must be bonded to the steel.. When I put my overcoat on do I need to glue it to my skin to stay warm and when you roll out that insulating wool in your loft space do we really need to bond it to the upper surface of the ceiling, of course not..

 

No personal experience but that sprayfoam stuff seems to me to be very expensive and very messy as the guys that do it leave you to finish off the job and clean up their mess.. Those 'Thinwall panels'. Are they really thin, is that seen an asset for insulation?

 

I have used expanded polystyrene twice, very low cost easy to fit, very little mess.. And no you don't need to glue them into place or fix them in any other way, all those adverse comments come from people who have have never done the job but get taken in by glossy adverts.

 

Personally i wouldn't touch polystyrene, but what would I know, I've seen all those glossy adverts and only had 10 boats sprayfoamed!

Edited October 30, 2008 by Ally

[Chertsey]

Personally i wouldn't touch polystyrene, but what would I know, I've seen all those glossy adverts and only had 10 boats sprayfoamed!

Why not? I've had it (polystyrene) in two boats with no problem, and fitted it in a house (conversion). Cheap, easy to handle and very efficient. Apart from being careful with pvc (and our domestic electrician had never heard of that), what's the problem?

Edited October 30, 2008 by WarriorWoman

[Marc Harris]

We've got polystyrene, and i've got to say it's no-where near as warm or insulating as spray foam.

 

Neighbours boats, with similar layouts, and similar or the same heating.... We've got no or little frost on the roof on a cold night, where they have lots. I think that speaks volumes.

 

We bought our boat 2nd hand, and didn't realise or understand the importance of types of insulation. If you have the choice, avoid polystyrene. It may be easy, cheap and not messy.... but you'll pay for it in the long run.

 

I've never read a glossy advert, or done the job myself. I just speak from actual experience of our boat.

 

Hope that helps, sorry if it offends.

 

Marc

[Ally]

Why not? I've had it (polystyrene) in two boats with no problem, and fitted it in a house (conversion). Cheap, easy to handle and very efficient. Apart from being careful with pvc (and our domestic electrician had never heard of that), what's the problem?

 

Purely personally...

It has safety issues if wiring is not protected from it, it has a lower combustion/melt temperature than sprayfoam, and is more likely to allow condensation to develop between it and the hull. It is not as insulating, but yes, is considerably cheaper, and may be suitable, depending on what you expect of your boat. I mean no offence at all, this is a personal choice, but i would always prefer sprayfoam........and some good firms take the waste away, and cut back approprietly!

[paulcatchpole]

Does anybody like Kingspan-style boards of PU foam?

 

We're rebuilding the front half of our boat in the next month and were planning to use Kingspan, as we certainly can't afford to sprayfoam the lot. Perhaps with expanding PU foam to fill the gaps around the boards, to avoid cold spots.

 

The interaction with PVC and the fact that the current polystyrene is in bits, plus the boat is rather chilly are the main reasons we're staying away from that.

 

PC

[stuart]

Does anybody like Kingspan-style boards of PU foam?

 

We're rebuilding the front half of our boat in the next month and were planning to use Kingspan, as we certainly can't afford to sprayfoam the lot. Perhaps with expanding PU foam to fill the gaps around the boards, to avoid cold spots.

 

The interaction with PVC and the fact that the current polystyrene is in bits, plus the boat is rather chilly are the main reasons we're staying away from that.

 

PC

 

I've used Kingspan 8x4ft sheets on my boat (just cut down with old saw), 50mm thick below gunnel and 25mm thick above/roof. No problems to mention, although you'll be covered in the stuff for weeks!

 

Also get some silver sealant tape as used on air con units to cover the gaps/joints in the sheets.

 

Although I didnt do it, I'd now also use expanding foam (buy it from toolstation/screwfix for a few quid instead of B&Q for £9 a can!) to cover any gaps or crack I couldnt reach.

 

Make sure you also cover any exposed steel, on the hull sides (where you attach battens to) as they need to be covered in something as well - perhaps a very thin radiator reflector insulation type sheeting - about 3mm thick.

 

Heres a very old picture!

 

 

Edited October 31, 2008 by stuart

[blackrose]

Does anybody like Kingspan-style boards of PU foam?

 

We're rebuilding the front half of our boat in the next month and were planning to use Kingspan, as we certainly can't afford to sprayfoam the lot. Perhaps with expanding PU foam to fill the gaps around the boards, to avoid cold spots.

 

The interaction with PVC and the fact that the current polystyrene is in bits, plus the boat is rather chilly are the main reasons we're staying away from that.

 

PC

 

Sprayfoam is the best choice, but for DIY jobs a PU foam board such as Kingspan is a much better choice than expanded polystyrene board because of better thermal insulation properties and no problems with interractions between it and PVC cable insulation. Also I think Kingspan might be more fire retardent than polystyrene.

 

Contrary to what one contributor has said, to prevent condensation forming behind the insulation on the hull, it's a very good idea to bond the Kingspan to the steel. Use a flexible PU sealant such as Marineflex and then tape over any gaps with aluminium tape - or even better fill gaps with handheld cans of sprayfoam.

Edited October 31, 2008 by blackrose

[colin stone]

Sprayfoam has better U values than thinsulate, although 3(£)M will claim that weight for weight Thinsulate has better U values - which may well be true. Weight is unlikley to be an issue unless you are a space craft or aq high performance aluminiuum vessel. As mentioned, sprayfoam bonds to the hull. In fact the first 0.5mm or so is unexpanded material that is really tough to remove. Sprayfoam also enables stratgeic "blobs" of foaml from a can to reinforce/stiffen up the lining. Cannot do that with T. T has an inherent disadvantage - it has been designed to be breatheable, which is great for skiwear but not so good in a steel boat.

[frangar]

I have used thinsulate for a few bits of retro insulation eg around the counter and swims where it seems to be doing a reasonable job....I tried to stick polystyrene to the steel with very poor results before and to be honest sprayfoam would have been impossible given where the areas are....However thinsulate wasnt cheap!!...the rest of my early 80's boat uses polystyrene and I think that if I was fitting out a new boat I too would use sprayfoam....

 

Gareth

[Ex- Member]

Rockwool batts 2" are also an efficient and easy to fit solution for the diy'r Their flexibility allows them to fit snugly against the shell, they can be adhered also with a 3M spray adhesive.

 

I used 2" Rockwool and a 1 cm cellotex vapour barrier on top sealed with alloy tape and have superb insulation from this method, and suffering zero condensation to the shell, well in the places I've managed to inspect since, but have no reason to think any different has happened alsewhere as it's all fitted exactly the same throughout the boat. Generally about half the cost of sprayfoam.

[Troll]

Most of the methods are good, the real problem,or thing to ensure, is total coverage, its easier for spray foam to cover everything, however I beleive if used correctly ie/ no gaps or missed bits Kingspan, rockwool or polystyrene would be just as effective,

 

Its coverage, coverage, coverage