putting up walls: a memoir.

Man...walls. GOTTA LOVE 'EM.

So we decided to build some. For funsies.

Deciding on what type of insulation to use behind the walls was tough though. It needed to be water and mold resistant and thin enough to fit in the ceiling and behind the walls without sacrificing much needed space on the boat. Even moving the walls out a few inches to fit in thick insulation makes the inside seem a lot smaller.

When we tore down the ceiling in the bedroom there was fiberglass insulation in between the beams, but it was very compressed. When fiberglass gets compressed, it loses some of its "R" value. ("R" value, if you didn't know, is basically the measure of thermal resistance a specific material has. So the higher the "R" value a material has, the better it is at insulating.) Clearly, I am a scientist of the highest order.

I posted an "R" value chart below that I got from this guys boat blog. I found a few other websites that said basically the same thing about putting in insulation, but I like that this gentleman has some pictures. 

Material                                            “R” Value

Wood                                                     0.91

Reflectrix                                                 2.38

Cork                                                       3.57

Polystyrene Bead Board                          3.57

Fiberglass (the insulation, not the hull)       3.90

Polystyrene – extruded                             5.00

Polyisocyanurate                                      5.56 

Sprayed Polyurethane Foam                     6.88

Vacuum Panels                                         24.06

    “R” values based on a one-inch thickness

We decided to use Reflectrix. It looks like bubble wrap that's been wrapped in a space blanket. The Polystyrene - extruded foam board (the pink and blue sheet boards that you often see at hardware stores) was also a good choice, but it was a little harder to work with and to fit into tight spaces. With the Reflectrix you can add multiple layers because its so thin, and that ups the R value. Also you can just cut it to any shape you want with scissors, its easy to work with. 

Below is a picture of a roll of Reflectrix. 

The large window in the bedroom is VERY drafty. When we tore out all of the 70's looking wood panelling we noticed a big rotted out hole under the window. The hole opened up into the engine compartment, which itself is not insulated and basically open to the outside air, so that explained the draft.

Using our advanced human brains, we (Ryan) came up with an idea to seal it. FOREVER. He used spray foam insulation, this stuff is totally sweet. We used it around the windows and to plug some small gaps in the walls and next summer we will probably use it to spray all over the inside of the hull to keep the boat REALLY draft free. WE HATE DRAFTS AHOMFG$@% 

AND THEN, Ryan used fiber glass (yeah, the kind you use to fix your car!) and sealed that puppy up. It doesn't look pretty, but it should hold us over right on through the apocalypse.  

Below are some pictures of spray foam sealing up some rotted out parts around the windows. 

 

Below are some pictures of Ryan repairing the giant hole. I think in retrospect he would have liked to figure out a different way of using the spray foam, because it kept sliding down and getting all over the dang place.  But, once it dried and was sealed over with fiberglass it was all good

 

 

 

Then we covered the whole thing with Reflectrix.

(The dark patch on the wall to the left in the picture below is the sealed up hole)

Then we covered the insulation with the new walls we picked out. We used a material called luan.

Why luan you ask? Great question.  Well for starters its fairly cheap, cause you know we aint rich over here. mmhmm.  Plus if it gets wet it wont be hard to just replace. Also, It has a pretty nice, smooth finish, although we painted over it. The underlying walls in the boat are plywood, and framing out over them to put in heavier duty walls would have taken away precious space. You can just nail the luan to the plywood. Lastly, luan is light and thin compared to some other materials.

So that’s why we picked luan. Get off my back about it.

 

 

There you have it folks. A long over due post about walls. Your welcome.

We actually have a lot more done on the boat than these pictures show, Im really behind. I will try to be more diligent!  

So, lastly, on a Star Wars note (SPOILER!)....

I was re watching the newest movies since I bought the complete saga, collectors edition on blue ray (go me). I figured I should remember why I disliked them so much, and I had a few thoughts.

A. The first movie still totes blows. Its a kids-sci fi-space-disney movie. Full of slap stick comedy and ridiculous one liners.

B. Second movie is not as bad as I remembered. meh. I wont elaborate.

C. ANAKIN IS DARTH VADER!#$%.   heh.

I want to start another blog so I can ramble about important things such as these. Maybe someday.

LOVE YOU!$%^@

Kristina

just some old fashioned caulking

This post isn't the most exciting.

Like the title says, it was a nice warm day and there was some caulking that needed to be banged out on the upper decks (haha. SOooo many jokes).

The areas around the fly bridge where it met the deck, all had caulk that was deteriorated from the sun and weather and was flaking off. Some of these problem areas were allowing water to drip in and clog the wood in the ceiling. The water run off was also contributing to some of the rot in the paneling on the inside walls.

So, first thing first, we got some scrub brushes and soap and water and cleaned the areas we were gonna peal the old caulk from. We used a shop vac to suck up the gross water.

Then we peeled the caulk off using special caulk peeling tools (although I thought a flat head screwdriver worked the best, heh)

AND THEN, we re-caulked the gaps.

After you put the caulk on, you carefully run your finger over it. You don't want to squish it in, just make a seal along the edges.

So there you have it. One task, done. The lower decks all need this, but that will have to wait.

Heres a picture of mine and Ryans feet. Adorbs.

And here is a picture of a tiny storm trooper. Also adorbs.

PEACE OUT YO

Kristina

the fun stuff (sort of)

Ryan and I really wanted to redo the entire interior of the boat from scratch. So this post is basically rando pictures of the demolition. We didn't leave much behind.  Paneling got ripped off the walls, carpet got ripped out (that sucked real bad), cabinets were torn off, walls were knocked down, you get the picture.

Amazingly, Ryan and his friend ripped out everything in like, 2 days. I showed up and was all, "alrighty guys, i'm here to help, thank me later" Except it was mostly done. So. That was pretty shweet.

This is a picture of the helm. The boxes hanging from wires are the radio and some other instruments like the depth finder. They were unscrewed from the ceiling to make ripping off the paneling and painting easier. Also, they are pretty grimy. I'm pretty sure that 100 packs of cigarettes were smoked a day inside this boat prior to us buying it. There's a nice orangey, brown film on everything.

Ryan taking down the light fixtures and capping the exposed wires. The original lights were like super hot spotlights that always managed to shine directly into your eyes no matter where you were standing. We are going to hopefully put in recessed lighting, and some other types of indirect lighting to warm up the inside

Blurry shots of tearing down the kitchen.




The down stairs gettin worked over.



Paneling coming down.
...

Below are some totally AWESOME action shots of me ripping up carpet tacks.

Pulling out carpet tacks and tack strips is living hell. Especially since the person who put in the tacks on our boat, apparently used some sort of tack-machine-gun, where by they stepped onto the boat and rambo style, shot tacks haphazardly into EVERY SURFACE of the interior (while screaming, most likely). If I never see another tack, It will be to soon.

Also, it may look like I have a gut in these pictures, but its actually my rippling abs distorting the shirt.

Chris took on the removal of the wall tacks while I handled the floor tacks. Both were equally terrible.

Even though the process has been new and mostly awesome, I can't wait to kick back on our finished boat and enjoy the scenery.






And the baby ducks.

Video of the baby ducks. If you listen closely, you can hear them peeping/quacking. Also, Its unfortunate that the video ended right before Ryan shouted at me "Are you filming ducks?! Do you think maybe you could come in and help?"

(After you watch the video, you might have to refresh the page to view the gif below correctly. It sometimes freezes after the video is played)

And to get our Star Wars fix ...

PEACE,
Kristina