You should skirt the cabin so the wind can't move under it. That alone would probably do as much as this insulation. You can make panels that hinge on old door hinges so you can flip them up for storage access.
Agree. I skirted my cabin with the same material as my metal roof. I built a frame of treated lumber floating on the ground. Whitewood 16" on center with three access panels . 2" rigid insulation behind. WOW! What a difference!
I suppose it's possible, but my cabin is in the middle of the woods, and I have a lot of raccoons and opossum's and skunks. Not once has one dug under it or in any other way gotten into the crawl space.
Came to the comments to recommend skirting of some sort to keep wind and cold air out. Creates a column of warmer radiation from the ground until it completely freezes. Also makes storage underneath more secure.
Skirt the cabin and use styrofoam insulation on the skirting. You should dig down and put styrofoam insulation down 2 feet and out from the wall if you can. You will get some ground heat that way. Bubble wrap has almost no insulation value. Research independent studies.
If you ever wind up doing this under another deck or cabin - I'd suggest not bothering to cut off any nails from above. Just drop down a couple inches and staple it across, trapping an air pocket between the floor and your insulation. The air pocket will act as additional insulation.
I would go even further, and simply stretch one entire roll across multiple joists and staple it to the joists, creating large pockets of air in each joist space. You could even soak old cotton rags, blue jeans, t shirts in borax solution (for fireproofing), shred those, and stuff each joist gap with the cotton batting and then cover the entire underside with the bubble wrap or even thick plastic drop cloth.
AFTER THE BUBBLE WRAP INSTALL, ITS A MUST TO ENCLOSE THE CRAWL SPACE. IT WILL BE A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFRENCE. I DID THIS EXACT INSTALL ON MY CAMP LAST SPRING, AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY ON THE TEMP DIFFERENCE THIS WINTER. GOOD LUCK
You're awesome. I respect all your hard work. In my 40+ years of rolling around under stuff and working over head, I've found a "pillow" under my head helps tremendously. Usually is a piece of wood or an old coat stuffed under my head. Helps with the sore neck my brother! Good job.
Or...use the KISS method.. try the old fashion instant instalation...line the outer perimeter of building with fresh bales of hay, to act as wind, cold & critter barrier, as well as an outside heavy plastic acting as storm windows. With rubber-lined drapes holding heat inside...
Looks nice Ryan, but that double bubble foil wrap is a radiant barrier, not insulation. you can quadruple the R value of it by trapping a 2" air space between two layers of it. however, that will only jump the R value from about 1.5 to about R6, but then you would actually have an insulating radiant barrier. You could easily test this theory by hanging another layer a couple inches below the current layer on one joist void and test how much difference the floor temp is in the run. Spring is arriving here in the SW LP, so not far behind for you.
As long as it has a air gap it works great. Air is the insulator. Bubble foil radiates the heat back up and the cold back down. It serves a double purpose. It’s well underrated. I preach this in our TH-cam channel Earthbound finding our roots. Off grid living.
2" air gap to floor, 1 layer bubble wrap =R6. Add 1 more layer with another 2" air gap = R21. Try it for 3 or 4 joists under the bed. The plastic you use for patterns would make good skirting. Insulated skirting is awesome, but just stopping the wind does wonders.
@@kevinmckinzie it’s not designed to retain heat. It’s a radiant heat barrier . It reflects it back. I’m not going to argue with you. We use it in our cabin and I wouldn’t go any other way. We have a block and pier foundation. Our floors were 65* when it was -30 below zero. And under the cabin never froze. As Boss says, proof is in the pudding.
You're talking about The Boss of the Swamp...he's a very wise man. Been watching him for many years now. I'm so excited for you to get a dog!!! ☺️ I love spending my Saturday mornings sipping coffee, relaxing and checking in on the worm. Take care.
@@phillipg7315 Haha right? The Boss has been doing this for so long he has his methods well dialed in. (I think I've seen him do 3 homesteads now?) I would love to see Ryan take his ideas and add the wild Ringworm/Yooper spin!
@@superiorbuds When I listen to the Boss I feel like I come away with a larger brain...he's very intuitive, wise.....experienced. Ryan has is own gig going, I appreciate his rogue style of building which is what people need to see if they're doubting their own abilities. He says it all the time, "You can and should do this, try it!" Both enjoyable TH-camrs. ☺️
Take it to the bottom of your floor Joyce. Then you'll have a dead ear space between the bubble wrap and your floor up a top and then that way you can wrap it on the outside edge of the rails on each end of the building. Just bring it over and down and then you just have to go down one side and then up the other side.
Other ways to help with heat loss off the bottom... First, skirt the cabin. That will do a ton on its own. Second, you can still use rolled insulation, if you use some kind of nylon and/or wire mesh to hold it up there, for example. Not that you should do any of those, of course, but you could if you wanted to. Probably the XPS sheets on the floor will be more than enough, and it's not like you have any plumbing that needs to be kept above freezing.
The Boss (see vid he referenced)...suggests raised cabin with skirting complemented by more bubble wrap on inside...Boss of the Swamp; the bubble wrap cabin guru
Came here to say this, this is the way, as much depth as he has he could potentially run 2 more layers, one about half way from the floor, then the third at the bottom edge of the boards.
Used for duct wrap ductwork won't sweat in NJ attics in summer keeps cold out of attic ducts in winter ,I would use 4" foam boards then cover with duct wrap and make insulated skirting. Yes installing with air gap and 2cd layer helps .but following manufacturer specs is the way "real " pros build
10 - 12 years ago there were a bunch of people trying to create YT channels in the Van life community. A small portion of them were misinformed on the use of mylar covered bubble wrap as insulation. These so-called van dwellers learned the hard way. All they did was build a giant Easy-Bake oven. You can use this stuff as a barrier, which is what it was designed for, but you can not expect bubble wrap to keep you warm.
Thanks for trying this Ryan. You will be surprised how well it works. We used it in our cabin last fall and our cabin was warm all winter. I could walk barefoot on the floor all winter long. Radiant barrier foil works. Credit goes to JC, Boss of the swamp. 👍👍
Next project should be a "Barn" with a waterproof roof and semi open sides to dry your milled lumber in. Semi open sides allows the wind to blow through.
I more item , you should shirt the lower part of the cabin. It will help make the real difference on the inside temperature . I used the bubble wrap on my cabin and after I shirted it. It helped, but the bubble wrap made the real difference.
As others have mentioned skirting will greatly improve your cold floor situation. Stopping the wind under the cabin is a great help in this. An example is when your outside during the winter is it colder standing out in the wind or behind something that breaks the wind? Not hard to do. On these rim boards you can nail up a inch board along the lower edge. Where the rim doesn't have the joists it will be easy, on the rim where the joists are it will take a. Bit of work fitting around the joists. This will keep the raw edges of the rim boards. Now add 2x pieces on the inside of the boards you just added running down to the ground into a shallow trench deep enough so the bottom board can be back filled to seal out the wind. Thee pieces can be on 2 ft centers. Nail up boards on these 2x pieces to complete the skirting. Insulating this skirting will improve things even more. The 2x pieces on 2 ft centers you can add doors to access the underneath for storage and inspection for damage. During warm weather you can leave doors open for ventilation to dry out any build up of moisture underneath your cabin.
The way you installed it will only really be an air barrier with maybe R1. You want a whole sheet nailed to the bottom of the floor joists. So it traps 5"+ of air between the floor and outside. You also want it as air tight as possible. Trapped air between the top and bottom of the floor joists would be at least R3 to R6. I'm an HVAC system designer and insulation is so important for comfort! As it's installed now it's an air barrier and a reflective barrier; that's a good start! Fill the floor joists with R30 insulation and then put another monolithic and sealed layer of reflective barrier or air barrier. Blocking airflow is just as important as Insulation.
I've been wondering this same thing... I put the foil faced bubble wrap over the joists. Then, put the floor on top. I figured it was better than nothing!
Epic as always. I did think a solution to the fold out bed bowing might be storage boxes - hear me out. If you make them so that one way they fit under the bed, but turned the other way they’re just the right height to support the fold out, then less bowing. Yeah, you probably need mesh or a lid to keep the box contents inside, but that was a random thought I came up with
Your channel is awesome Ryan! Big fan! I watch every Saturday when I get off work. I'm trying to move away from TH-cam due to all of their massive censorship. Here is to hoping you start uploading to rumble as well. Keep up the great videos. Just food for thought.
Thank you for your life! It's funny today that you would use this product, because I have it glued to my exterior cement walls to reflect the sun... It has worked very well to lower the inside of my house by 15 degrees. Like you I live outside 80% of my day...I live in Vietnam,but I have really enjoyed your winter... Cheers from Vietnam
The insulation idea makes so much sense and it looks great. Hang onto your little piece of tranquility and forget about going for an office job. Take care and be safe.
Ryan, if you'd like to insulated with faced fiberglass rolls, you could easily suspend them between your joists with either poultry netting (chicken wire) or even Tyvek stapled to the irregular lower edges of the floor joists. If it were me, I'd probably use both. The Tyvek first to provide more of an air barrier and then the poultry netting to discourage the larger critters. The holes in the chicken wire would not be small enough to stop mice, voles, and even ground squirrels. To get that level of barrier, you'd have to use hardware cloth and that could get pricey.
@@silvursprings Exactly. Same reason he isn't skirting the cabin -- you're just giving raccoons and squirrels a warm place to hold up. They will chew through just about anything you put in place to try and stop them, too.
That bubble insulation with add R value, you can also add R19 insulation. Then put you nailer strips and add you scrap 1x on top of nailer to keep critters out. The bubble will act as your vapor barrier. Night and day difference.
Good day Ryan … hey body , once you insulate the bottom … with your wood cutting talent , you could cut up some wood and boarder around the outside of your cabin … maybe put a bunch of hinges on them so they lift straight up or side to side with some nice handles .. and that would help keep your floor and the cabin even warmer …. And you can still store things underneath 👍🏆😁
My apologies in advance for the unsolicited advice. Now.. I've never done this, but it sounds like it would work. Add the reinforced foil tape to edges, then add another layer of that wrap with a 1-2" spacing and tape all of that. The spacing offers its own R-value.
If you have 3X the floor space in insulation, insulate, then do an air gap, insulate again, air gap again, insulate again. Easy. So says a twit watching a master pragmatic builder. Go figure.
Ryan if your worried about the middle of the bubble insulation drooping down get you some of those insulation rod supports for holding up insulation on floor joists, less then 20 buck for 100, that would solve the wind problem. I think the bubble strips will help a lot, great job 👏 Like other’s have said, skirt the cabin and it will make a huge difference! ✌🏼❤️🙏🏼
Use the leftovers for all types of cooking/warming items - a pouch to put a dehydrated meal in, around a mug to keep your drink warm, covers for an ice chest, line your crates to keep water from freezing, etc. Love this stuff - can you tell :D
Boss of the swamp knows his stuff. Options are open for more insulation if you decide. Could use rigid foam and then some chicken wire to hold it up, or stick it up with fence staples? Or stick it up with the foam stuff?
Why not make some covers for the water buckets if you have some left after the man cave. Like beer koozies that keep the beer cool and your hand warm. They will just have the opposite effect and stop the sweating.
FYI, I installed 8" unfaced fiberglass insulation under a porch area in my house. The friction fit held the batts up against the floor but I insured aga9nst their drooping by stretching some mechanic's wire nailed to the joist bottom edges. It was an easy solution to keep the batts in place. I think you'll find that the foiled bubble wrap doesn't prevent a lot of heat loss. The best solution in your cabin may be to install foam board that is protected against rodent infestation. As mentioned, skirting would result in better heat retention.
it will actually make a huge difference. not so much in R-value but it will stop the cold air from coming up through. i have a cabin that half was built with nothing in the floor and the other half has this stuff and its a big difference.
Reflectix works better if it isn’t touching the surface…the radiant properties work instead of conduction heat loss. I know you just finished but it wouldn’t be too much hassle to move it down an inch. But I don’t have broken ribs so it’s easy for me to say. Also can add Tyvec onto the bottom of the joists and tape the seams and this will have a similar effect as skirting the cabin but you won’t see it unless you’re laying on the ground. It will block the wind which is undoubtedly getting behind the reflectix some. Also allows moisture to escape so you won’t have to worry about that element.
Good stuff. I like the idea of adding skirting around the perimeter, but why not staple some heavier mil clear plastic to create an air pocket between the insulation and the added plastic would be cheap and not much more time to do it. Maybe do a test, staple plastic under one section and see if you get any better insulating from it. Oh, and build something you can rest you back/neck against while you’re doing this kind of work.
I saw Old Man In The Swamps video years back as well. When I built out my 10x20 Purple Tiny House I did the same as you and put between my bottom floor joist. I also wrapped the bubble foil behind my metal underpinning. When putting down the interior snap together floor I put silver foil down under it. I believe it made a huge difference. CVK
You’re the best bud! So much work, hope your ribs are ok after all that. Everyone has an opinion, you just keep doing you, that’s why we’re here in the first place. Looking forward to the first houseguest 🥰. Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦
It’s looking great. You might consider using a styrofoam insulation for under the floor. You can cut them as wide or as thin as needed and can be just pushed up into place.
The Boss of the Swamp used this bubble wrap, but the air space below it was not open like your structure. Since you have air flow under your structure, I'd expect your experience not to be the same as with his cabin. I've noticed that mobile homes all have blocking around the lower structure so that wind doesn't blow through...
R value around 1.1 on the foil wrap. I need to do something similar. I’m not sure on the skirting idea. Eliminates airflow that can create mold. A wood stove hearth on the floor will spread quite a bit of radiant heat. I routinely stay in my cabin below zero temps and after a few hours of heating the floor is usually comfortable.
should have also put a layer across the whole bottom. not just between the joists. it would create a pocket of air. also, a carpet/rug would help. i have also noticed, if kept dry, corrugated cardboard would trap air layers between the bubble wrap
My folks had an old icebox in one of our farms when I was very young (4). I remember the iceman coming by once a week with the block of ice for it. Worked fine for keeping the food cool.
You have to create a few inch air gap between the floor joists and floor for that to be insulation. Trapped air is the key to making that work! Plus it can create an air barrier if you seal it all up with tape. It will help a little as it's installed right now, mostly as an air barrier and reflective barrier.
My laugh for the day was genuine and from the gut. Scrolling through I think why is an astronaut cutting away insulation at the space station? Then I focused and saw the true meaning then I saw the name of the channel….. thanks!! 🙏🏻
My husband and I had a cabin in northern British Columbia. Clean out underneath cabin, let ground dry out. Put down a plastic moisture barrier over ground and then skirt the cabin, in prebuilt panels with one serving as door on hinges. Insulation board stapled to inside of panels. Difference in warmth of floor and loss of heat was like night and day. Try it, you will be amazed. Cabin will be also cooler as well in hot summer days.
The bubble rap works really good if you leave an air gap between the floor and the bottom of the floor joists, I used on my garage ceiling and left a gap and cut the radiant heat and half when you have metal roof in Florida .
I gotta agree with what someone else suggested. Build something around the bottom to block wind and trap in any heat you get from natural ground temperature. And seeing as you’re storing stuff under there I’d also suggest make it with an access door so you can still have the storage. The ground is naturally warmer than the surrounding air, it’s the wind hitting it that’s chilling it.
Man I'm really looking forward to seeing how well this works (if at all)! What I know about that foil is that it's very, very good at reflecting radiated heat. It should do pretty much nothing to convective heat loss (heat via contact), but I could see this bouncing some of that radiation back up into the wood board and keeping the floor a handful of degrees warmer. If you get 5 degrees out of this I'll be impressed, and I think that would probably be worth it.
enjoy your videos,keep up the good work.I would suggest to skirt the cabin and use the bubble foil on the skirting like another person commmented and also would put down 6 mil plastic on the ground for moisture and freezing and storing whatever underneath the cabin.Peace
You have added a moisture trap under your floor. A perfect place for mold to grow. Dual moisture barriers, the house wrap allows moisture to settle down and not rise, then the foil will seal it in. With green wet wood and your propane producing moisture also.
Seeing what the cabin is sitting on I recommend some structural connections between the posts it's sitting on to increase rigidity. Big winds at some point may cause you a big problem.....
One difference I see with his cabin is the skirting he has around the crawl space. That creates an air layer as well as the bubble foil under the floor boards. I wonder if that would help even more Ryan? Also I remember the builder Mike Holmes talking about using the 4x8 pink foam boards taped and seemed to form an air tight area when doing basements. Basically making an interior insulated foam cooler. He always said you could then heat the room with a candle. I know you would lose even more head space when doing the floor like that, but I think the benefits would out weigh the lose in interior height?
I did this on my cabin after I installed hydronic heating from under the sub-floor, a 4" airgap under the hydro, then fiberglass, then plastic sheeting. I put skirt around with plastic on the ground for vapor barrier. I can walk around in socks all winter long when it's -30F outside and howling wind (I'm on a lake and get the brunt of winter winds out of the west.)
Bubble wrap is nice stuff. We use it to wrap our ductwork I think it's only rated r4 but with air space, I can go up to R6. It's great for a base insulation and you can always add to it later.👍👍👍 good job
I put it under the floor of my little cabin, and It made a difference I'm in Virginia, and don't spend a lot of time there in the winter, but my floor doesn't freeze. I think it's less about insulation and more about an air tight barrier and keeping insects out. Along with your propane heater, the bubble wrap will likely solve your freezing floor problem. It'll be a big improvement over the floor you've got right now. I also had to grind off all the nails that came through my roof. It's an odious job.
I haven't read all the comments, but you have to skirt the entire cabin period. To stop any moisture, you need to cover the ground under the cabin with tarp. You will get critters if your skirting is just placed on the ground. I suggest digging a good 4 inch trench to place your bottom into the ground (pressure treat), then cover your plywood and bottom row with the backfill. Its not 100% but the idea is to get the under cabin as leak free as possible. Once the ground freezes, you should be good for the winter critter free.
Glad you got this done, I believe you'll see a noticeable difference. Instead of the mancave, why not use the leftovers on the deer castle ? (Note to Tito) When you do your cabin, put the foil bubble wrap across the top of the floor joists before you put down the decking & frame your walls, like the Swamp Boss does his from scratch builds, it will work more gooder. Cheers 🍻
You could use tyvek to hold up insulation and then skirt the cabin. We built our 28 by 30 addition and thats how we did it. Worked great. Love your cabin.
Big fan I’d like to see ya build a pantry and also a stone or block cooking pit it’s a lot of work to put in but they last a life time cheers to spring
Maybe you don't know it but there is a recall on some EYE drops. It has caused blindness and several people have died. Please go on line and find out. This is NO JOKE ! 4/8/23. We had those at a steel mill where I worked. Ice Boxes were filled every couple of days in the summer months. Ice company would come and fill them all over the plant. Bushradical use fiberglass wall installation under neat his floor and then put plywood to keep the rodents out, its a lot of work but he said the cabin stays much warmer.
I have a cheap solution, go to around the bottom of the cabin skirt, go to a lumber yard, they give thermal water proof tarp as a temporary solution to cover everything up with T 50 staples, for that stink cut some onions cut in quarters , they remove the varnish smell. Good job out there
Regarding the other video that you linked. All that is happening is that he has so much heat loss through his "insulated" floor that he is heating the crawl space. The heat lost through his floor is contained by the skirting he has in place. Your cabin is raised, without skirt boards. The wind will whisk away any heat that you lose through the floor. The best answer by far would be closed cell spray foam. It would also be helpful to have ceiling fan mounted high pushing heated air down onto the floor. Good luck!
Ryan, I am talking from experience your best bet is to use the blow in foam inulation on the bottom side of your floor. Then install skirting around the bottom of cabin and use blow in insulation on the inside of skirting. This was the only way to keep my cabin truly warm in the winter. The bubble foil you are installing will not do what you want.
I see comments recommending skirting around your cabin. I would suggest that you just continue to follow the experience of The Boss of the Swamp. I just watched the video you referred to from The Boss of the Swamp and it is certainly working for him.
I've now got a few things to say about this stuff. I just completed installing this underneath our sunroom/3 season room and I'm not impressed. First off, we don't have actual floor joists there, so it was interesting to put up. Also, there isn't a consistent spacing between the 2X4 studs used to create the floor. I admit this whole thing is odd, but I didn't build it. We bought this house which was built in the late 70s and owned 3 or 4 times prior to us. I've heard of a few iterations of this place from locals. Every year so far, especially during winter, there is a sliding glass door that separates the main part of the house from the sunroom that we keep closed and just let the cold air have it to itself. Once Spring arrives, the door is open more than closed and once it gets consistently warmer outside, the door stays open all day until bedtime. That lasts until about late September when we begin to reverse the process. I realize that you and others who have done these videos are in the likes of Alaska, possibly other well known cold climates and you are using various heating elements to heat the spaces. Such as wood stoves. Our wood stove is in the main area of our house. We put a silly fake fireplace heater out there a couple years ago but since moved it to our bedroom. We've never taken the temperature in that room before, so it's too late to do a comparison. The only possible upside here is that the whole thing gets cold air blowing under the room during the winter and of course more seasonal winds during the warmer months, so if I put this same stuff on skirts where all the openings are perhaps that will make a marked difference. But it's only mid October and it's already chilly in that room. I'm in the upper Midwest, not quite to Canada. So we'll see how it goes this winter. I can already tell we'll be closing that door again for the winter before long. Also, I can't say I did the best, most professional job of putting this stuff up, and I'll use the excuse of lack of proper joists, but actually what I encountered should have made it easier. I think anyone doing this alone and I certainly thought of it, but was too lazy is to make a template of the width of the space between joists to help hold the stuff in place while you staple it. I can't recall without watching again what you used to attach it, but I bought a hammer stapler which made it fairly easy. It's a two part issue with holding the stuff in place, tightly against the surfaces and stapling it in the right spots so you aren't making unnecessary holes in the insulation. It would be best if anyone doing this had a second pair of hands. Additionally the size these rolls come in doesn't help. This room is roughly 10 or 12 feet by 20' and those rolls while 50' long are only 4' wide. I'd prefer a totally different size, but you can only buy what's available. I wound up making about 3 1/4 runs. I made one run from end to end on a main separated section, then did the other section the same way, which left a gap in the middle of about 2 1/2 feet, so I made another run lengthwise down that strip. Also there is a spot on each end, one where there is kind of an alcove inside the house and the other end where there is a closet, which I went ahead and covered. Without me paying attention and someone to help, the rolls, once they took off didn't go straight, so the strips weren't installed straight. This made it more difficult as well. When I was essentially done, there was about a 7" space out near the outer most edge that needed protection, so I cut ridiculous looking strips and tacked those on as well. Then I bought some aluminum duct tape and taped all the seams. I'm not happy with any of it; the way I installed it, or how it seems to perform. Although as I may have said, if I had a cabin in Alaska and was trying to keep it warm with a wood stove, I imagine this would help a lot.
Ryan, sorry I haven’t been able to be online for a couple of weeks. I was hospitalized with blood clots and bypass surgery! Now to rehab! Sucks! Went back a rewatched this video. It appears to me that in a large portion of the floor joists you have space for another layer of the foam insulation as well as 1-2” of additional dead air space between the layers! The extra bubble wrap insulation w/foil backing and dead air space might give you an almost 10 degree rise in temperature at floor level! Here’s another thought! Siding! House trailers have their plumbing ran under the floor with ONLY siding and heat tape to protect critical joints! If it works for them it could work for your situation. BUT that would have the effect of more rodents trying to nest underneath the cabin! So I guess a second layer of the same insulation would work best! Hope that helps! ❤
That radiant barrier doesn't work well as insulation. But It's good for reflecting the hot sunlight in the summer. If you put fiberglass insulation in there, you'll have to seal it in to keep the mice out of it. The mice love to party in the fiberglass and the Styrofoam insulations.
I did my cabin floor exactly like the Boss of the swamp. Covered my joists with bubble wrap before applying the subfloor. Then skirting all the way around the perimeter with bubble wrap on the inside of the plywood skirting... Floor is pretty warm. I can go barefoot in very cold weather. It works. I believe the skirting is key.
Nice build man. I've been repairing a 1970s single wide trailer that was inhabited by drug addicts for years. The stuff I find in this house is insane. melted outlets and connections, t shirts stuffed in walls for insulation, a toilet bolted to a piece of plywood screwed to the drain supported by a log underneath. We get temps in the sub zero region every winter and there is really no insulation to be found on this trailer! So yeah I can appreciate a well built home at this point and yes I consider this home!
I absolutely love Refletix. I love winter camping. I throw some Reflectix on the snow then my Klymit. I stay cozy warm. It stops the convection and reflects your heat back at you. Started giving it to the homeless in my community and it has become a quality of life changer and saver. This stuff that Ryan is using is on the thinner side but it should work great.
This was a quick and low cost way to add a little Rvalue, but if you didn’t want to leave an airspace between the foil and the floor, then you should have installed the foil differently. Instead of cutting pieces of foil to go between the joists you should have installed the foil by taking the full width of the roll of foil and installed across the joist cavities by going up across the floor then down and around the floor joist then up to the floor again etc. without making any cuts at all in between the joists. The way you have installed it, there will be thermal bridging from the bottom of your floor joists right through to your floor surface. So you will have an ice cold 2” strip on your floor everywhere there is a joist. Skirting your crawlspace will make a difference, but will cost you much more and a lot of work. Also once you have a warm space under the cabin, you are inviting rodents in for sure. And they are very persistent in tunnelling in under your crawlspace walls to gain entry so if you do install the walls be sure to also install wire mesh running at least 12” deeper than the bottom plate of the knee wall .
The bubble insulation will give some insulation because it traps air - but nothing like adding even more. Hold fibreglass insulation in place with netting to get around the live edges. As another commenter mentions below, blocking the "basement" so no air circulates there will also help a lot. Indeed, simply blocking the air with snow will go a long way...
I built a treehouse 25 feet up and used the bubble wrap underneath the floor, and for the roof. Work great to keep it warm in the winter time and cool in the summertime. That is if you install it right.
I've done this in homes and a 300 capacity church....... I had concrete floors and block walls... I did the ceiling and wall on homes.... Just furred out walls with 2x4 turned sideways and then gave me 1.5" air gap .... You roll 48" strip over the entire studs and use aluminum foil tape to seal the pieces together... You need to seal the area inorder to make it work.... Then drywall The stuff I used had R value of 16 and 1/4 " thick... It had some type of material like you see on flat screen TV.... The church heating bill during January at 15 degrees F was $900 the bill after was $200... I even taped up ac boxes to seal air out also... This stuff you using is reflectix bought at home Depot.... The stuff I used you can't buy at local stores
Hello Ryan I saw that you installed the bubble wrap insulation. Very nicely done. But the other cabins that had the bubble wrap insulation had Skirting To the ground around the perimeter of the cabin so there was no air flow underneath the floor. Thank you for your time from Bob Dawson.
You should skirt the cabin so the wind can't move under it. That alone would probably do as much as this insulation. You can make panels that hinge on old door hinges so you can flip them up for storage access.
Agree. I skirted my cabin with the same material as my metal roof. I built a frame of treated lumber floating on the ground. Whitewood 16" on center with three access panels . 2" rigid insulation behind. WOW! What a difference!
Another thing that skirting would do is, make a home for skunks, and raccoons.
I suppose it's possible, but my cabin is in the middle of the woods, and I have a lot of raccoons and opossum's and skunks. Not once has one dug under it or in any other way gotten into the crawl space.
Critters will make a home under it if it's closed off.
@@MrThenry1988 As long as they don’t do any harm critters aren’t a problem!
Skirt the cabin and use the bubble foil on the skirting, that’s how it works the best. Cabin is looking great Ryan nice job 👍
Came to the comments to recommend skirting of some sort to keep wind and cold air out. Creates a column of warmer radiation from the ground until it completely freezes. Also makes storage underneath more secure.
That's a good idea. It's all about spacing. Plus you'll get less moisture on the floor pieces.
Yeppers skirt the bottom. This stuff is amazing.
We used it on our cabin we built last fall. Boss of the swamp rocks.
⛔️ A ‘BIG,’ Astounding ‘YES on the refrigerator ⚠️ : J. ❤
Skirt the cabin and use styrofoam insulation on the skirting. You should dig down and put styrofoam insulation down 2 feet and out from the wall if you can. You will get some ground heat that way. Bubble wrap has almost no insulation value. Research independent studies.
If you ever wind up doing this under another deck or cabin - I'd suggest not bothering to cut off any nails from above. Just drop down a couple inches and staple it across, trapping an air pocket between the floor and your insulation. The air pocket will act as additional insulation.
But then the little critters once they find an entrance will live in there.
Critters or mold...take your pick.
Plastic afterwards
I would go even further, and simply stretch one entire roll across multiple joists and staple it to the joists, creating large pockets of air in each joist space. You could even soak old cotton rags, blue jeans, t shirts in borax solution (for fireproofing), shred those, and stuff each joist gap with the cotton batting and then cover the entire underside with the bubble wrap or even thick plastic drop cloth.
AFTER THE BUBBLE WRAP INSTALL, ITS A MUST TO ENCLOSE THE CRAWL SPACE. IT WILL BE A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFRENCE. I DID THIS EXACT INSTALL ON MY CAMP LAST SPRING, AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY ON THE TEMP DIFFERENCE THIS WINTER. GOOD LUCK
You're awesome. I respect all your hard work. In my 40+ years of rolling around under stuff and working over head, I've found a "pillow" under my head helps tremendously. Usually is a piece of wood or an old coat stuffed under my head. Helps with the sore neck my brother! Good job.
Thanks for sharing the Boss of the Swamp video! The key to his success was adding foil-insulated skirting. It created a warm zone under the structure.
Or...use the KISS method.. try the old fashion instant instalation...line the outer perimeter of building with fresh bales of hay, to act as wind, cold & critter barrier, as well as an outside heavy plastic acting as storm windows. With rubber-lined drapes holding heat inside...
Thanks for posting early every week. Great way to wake up and have morning coffee. Keep doing what you’re doing!!
It is easier to roll that out and then put subfloor on over it. Makes a huge difference on floor temps.
Looks nice Ryan, but that double bubble foil wrap is a radiant barrier, not insulation. you can quadruple the R value of it by trapping a 2" air space between two layers of it. however, that will only jump the R value from about 1.5 to about R6, but then you would actually have an insulating radiant barrier. You could easily test this theory by hanging another layer a couple inches below the current layer on one joist void and test how much difference the floor temp is in the run. Spring is arriving here in the SW LP, so not far behind for you.
As long as it has a air gap it works great.
Air is the insulator.
Bubble foil radiates the heat back up and the cold back down.
It serves a double purpose.
It’s well underrated.
I preach this in our TH-cam channel Earthbound finding our roots.
Off grid living.
2" air gap to floor, 1 layer bubble wrap =R6. Add 1 more layer with another 2" air gap = R21.
Try it for 3 or 4 joists under the bed. The plastic you use for patterns would make good skirting. Insulated skirting is awesome, but just stopping the wind does wonders.
@@dubehigh Bubble wrap has zero insulative properties.
@@kevinmckinzie it’s not designed to retain heat.
It’s a radiant heat barrier .
It reflects it back.
I’m not going to argue with you.
We use it in our cabin and I wouldn’t go any other way.
We have a block and pier foundation.
Our floors were 65* when it was -30 below zero.
And under the cabin never froze.
As Boss says, proof is in the pudding.
@@dubehigh That's fine, don't argue, it would be a wise decision. Because bubble wrap is not insulation.
You're talking about The Boss of the Swamp...he's a very wise man. Been watching him for many years now. I'm so excited for you to get a dog!!! ☺️ I love spending my Saturday mornings sipping coffee, relaxing and checking in on the worm. Take care.
That’s exactly who I thought he was referring to as well! If Ryan taps into the Boss’s ideas and puts his own crazy spin on things - holy s***!
@@phillipg7315 Haha right? The Boss has been doing this for so long he has his methods well dialed in. (I think I've seen him do 3 homesteads now?) I would love to see Ryan take his ideas and add the wild Ringworm/Yooper spin!
@@superiorbuds When I listen to the Boss I feel like I come away with a larger brain...he's very intuitive, wise.....experienced. Ryan has is own gig going, I appreciate his rogue style of building which is what people need to see if they're doubting their own abilities. He says it all the time, "You can and should do this, try it!" Both enjoyable TH-camrs. ☺️
Take it to the bottom of your floor Joyce. Then you'll have a dead ear space between the bubble wrap and your floor up a top and then that way you can wrap it on the outside edge of the rails on each end of the building. Just bring it over and down and then you just have to go down one side and then up the other side.
That will help a little, but skirting all around the cabin is much warmer. Especially if insulated as well.
Other ways to help with heat loss off the bottom... First, skirt the cabin. That will do a ton on its own. Second, you can still use rolled insulation, if you use some kind of nylon and/or wire mesh to hold it up there, for example. Not that you should do any of those, of course, but you could if you wanted to. Probably the XPS sheets on the floor will be more than enough, and it's not like you have any plumbing that needs to be kept above freezing.
the downside of a skirt is that the enclosed space might attract critters like skunks.
The Boss (see vid he referenced)...suggests raised cabin with skirting complemented by more bubble wrap on inside...Boss of the Swamp; the bubble wrap cabin guru
It'd suck to do it all again, but if you put a 2nd layer and have roughly a 2" to 4" air gap between the two layers that should make a big difference.
Came here to say this, this is the way, as much depth as he has he could potentially run 2 more layers, one about half way from the floor, then the third at the bottom edge of the boards.
Tape seal the edges of the second layer also will help significantly.
Used for duct wrap ductwork won't sweat in NJ attics in summer keeps cold out of attic ducts in winter ,I would use 4" foam boards then cover with duct wrap and make insulated skirting. Yes installing with air gap and 2cd layer helps .but following manufacturer specs is the way "real " pros build
The Boss of the Swamp is a pretty smart guy , I have been watching his channel longer then any other you tube channel.
10 - 12 years ago there were a bunch of people trying to create YT channels in the Van life community. A small portion of them were misinformed on the use of mylar covered bubble wrap as insulation. These so-called van dwellers learned the hard way. All they did was build a giant Easy-Bake oven. You can use this stuff as a barrier, which is what it was designed for, but you can not expect bubble wrap to keep you warm.
So what actually are you saying here? You seem to contradict yourself
Thanks for trying this Ryan. You will be surprised how well it works. We used it in our cabin last fall and our cabin was warm all winter. I could walk barefoot on the floor all winter long.
Radiant barrier foil works.
Credit goes to JC, Boss of the swamp. 👍👍
Next project should be a "Barn" with a waterproof roof and semi open sides to dry your milled lumber in. Semi open sides allows the wind to blow through.
It does not seem that long from you starting this. Time flies when your having fun.
I more item , you should shirt the lower part of the cabin. It will help make the real difference on the inside temperature . I used the bubble wrap on my cabin and after I shirted it. It helped, but the bubble wrap made the real difference.
As others have mentioned skirting will greatly improve your cold floor situation. Stopping the wind under the cabin is a great help in this. An example is when your outside during the winter is it colder standing out in the wind or behind something that breaks the wind?
Not hard to do. On these rim boards you can nail up a inch board along the lower edge. Where the rim doesn't have the joists it will be easy, on the rim where the joists are it will take a. Bit of work fitting around the joists. This will keep the raw edges of the rim boards.
Now add 2x pieces on the inside of the boards you just added running down to the ground into a shallow trench deep enough so the bottom board can be back filled to seal out the wind. Thee pieces can be on 2 ft centers. Nail up boards on these 2x pieces to complete the skirting. Insulating this skirting will improve things even more.
The 2x pieces on 2 ft centers you can add doors to access the underneath for storage and inspection for damage. During warm weather you can leave doors open for ventilation to dry out any build up of moisture underneath your cabin.
The way you installed it will only really be an air barrier with maybe R1. You want a whole sheet nailed to the bottom of the floor joists. So it traps 5"+ of air between the floor and outside. You also want it as air tight as possible. Trapped air between the top and bottom of the floor joists would be at least R3 to R6. I'm an HVAC system designer and insulation is so important for comfort! As it's installed now it's an air barrier and a reflective barrier; that's a good start! Fill the floor joists with R30 insulation and then put another monolithic and sealed layer of reflective barrier or air barrier. Blocking airflow is just as important as Insulation.
I've been wondering this same thing... I put the foil faced bubble wrap over the joists. Then, put the floor on top. I figured it was better than nothing!
Epic as always. I did think a solution to the fold out bed bowing might be storage boxes - hear me out. If you make them so that one way they fit under the bed, but turned the other way they’re just the right height to support the fold out, then less bowing. Yeah, you probably need mesh or a lid to keep the box contents inside, but that was a random thought I came up with
@My Cancer Journey Do whatever brings YOU Joy and Peace of Mind.
🌸 🌳
Your channel is awesome Ryan! Big fan! I watch every Saturday when I get off work. I'm trying to move away from TH-cam due to all of their massive censorship. Here is to hoping you start uploading to rumble as well. Keep up the great videos. Just food for thought.
Thank you for your life! It's funny today that you would use this product, because I have it glued to my exterior cement walls to reflect the sun... It has worked very well to lower the inside of my house by 15 degrees. Like you I live outside 80% of my day...I live in Vietnam,but I have really enjoyed your winter... Cheers from Vietnam
The insulation idea makes so much sense and it looks great. Hang onto your little piece of tranquility and forget about going for an office job. Take care and be safe.
Ryan, if you'd like to insulated with faced fiberglass rolls, you could easily suspend them between your joists with either poultry netting (chicken wire) or even Tyvek stapled to the irregular lower edges of the floor joists. If it were me, I'd probably use both. The Tyvek first to provide more of an air barrier and then the poultry netting to discourage the larger critters. The holes in the chicken wire would not be small enough to stop mice, voles, and even ground squirrels. To get that level of barrier, you'd have to use hardware cloth and that could get pricey.
Run the reflexives on the bottom of the joists perpendicular You would add an air gap. You could suspend insulation that way also.
I thought that was what he had planned. Trapping air, cold air? I have no clue.
Seems right...but it creates a cavity for vermin.
@@silvursprings Exactly. Same reason he isn't skirting the cabin -- you're just giving raccoons and squirrels a warm place to hold up. They will chew through just about anything you put in place to try and stop them, too.
A space for vermin or not without an airspace this product is useless as its a radiant barrier not an insulation
That bubble insulation with add R value, you can also add R19 insulation. Then put you nailer strips and add you scrap 1x on top of nailer to keep critters out. The bubble will act as your vapor barrier. Night and day difference.
Good day Ryan … hey body , once you insulate the bottom … with your wood cutting talent , you could cut up some wood and boarder around the outside of your cabin … maybe put a bunch of hinges on them so they lift straight up or side to side with some nice handles .. and that would help keep your floor and the cabin even warmer …. And you can still store things underneath 👍🏆😁
My apologies in advance for the unsolicited advice. Now.. I've never done this, but it sounds like it would work. Add the reinforced foil tape to edges, then add another layer of that wrap with a 1-2" spacing and tape all of that. The spacing offers its own R-value.
If you have 3X the floor space in insulation, insulate, then do an air gap, insulate again, air gap again, insulate again. Easy.
So says a twit watching a master pragmatic builder. Go figure.
Do a skirting around the crawl space and insulate it with the same bubble wrap. That's the Boss' idea.
Insulating just the floor won't do much.
Ryan if your worried about the middle of the bubble insulation drooping down get you some of those insulation rod supports for holding up insulation on floor joists, less then 20 buck for 100, that would solve the wind problem. I think the bubble strips will help a lot, great job 👏 Like other’s have said, skirt the cabin and it will make a huge difference! ✌🏼❤️🙏🏼
Use the leftovers for all types of cooking/warming items - a pouch to put a dehydrated meal in, around a mug to keep your drink warm, covers for an ice chest, line your crates to keep water from freezing, etc. Love this stuff - can you tell :D
Boss of the swamp knows his stuff. Options are open for more insulation if you decide. Could use rigid foam and then some chicken wire to hold it up, or stick it up with fence staples? Or stick it up with the foam stuff?
Why not make some covers for the water buckets if you have some left after the man cave. Like beer koozies that keep the beer cool and your hand warm. They will just have the opposite effect and stop the sweating.
FYI, I installed 8" unfaced fiberglass insulation under a porch area in my house. The friction fit held the batts up against the floor but I insured aga9nst their drooping by stretching some mechanic's wire nailed to the joist bottom edges. It was an easy solution to keep the batts in place. I think you'll find that the foiled bubble wrap doesn't prevent a lot of heat loss. The best solution in your cabin may be to install foam board that is protected against rodent infestation. As mentioned, skirting would result in better heat retention.
it will actually make a huge difference. not so much in R-value but it will stop the cold air from coming up through. i have a cabin that half was built with nothing in the floor and the other half has this stuff and its a big difference.
Reflectix works better if it isn’t touching the surface…the radiant properties work instead of conduction heat loss. I know you just finished but it wouldn’t be too much hassle to move it down an inch. But I don’t have broken ribs so it’s easy for me to say.
Also can add Tyvec onto the bottom of the joists and tape the seams and this will have a similar effect as skirting the cabin but you won’t see it unless you’re laying on the ground. It will block the wind which is undoubtedly getting behind the reflectix some. Also allows moisture to escape so you won’t have to worry about that element.
Good stuff. I like the idea of adding skirting around the perimeter, but why not staple some heavier mil clear plastic to create an air pocket between the insulation and the added plastic would be cheap and not much more time to do it. Maybe do a test, staple plastic under one section and see if you get any better insulating from it. Oh, and build something you can rest you back/neck against while you’re doing this kind of work.
Great idea but : The plastic should be sealed Air tight .
Never thought I would see the day where you were laying down on the job. Regards, Randy in Arizona (90+ degrees next week)
I saw Old Man In The Swamps video years back as well. When I built out my 10x20 Purple Tiny House I did the same as you and put between my bottom floor joist. I also wrapped the bubble foil behind my metal underpinning. When putting down the interior snap together floor I put silver foil down under it. I believe it made a huge difference. CVK
You’re the best bud! So much work, hope your ribs are ok after all that. Everyone has an opinion, you just keep doing you, that’s why we’re here in the first place. Looking forward to the first houseguest 🥰. Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦
Hey Ring you should also skirt the cabin, will keep it warmer.
It’s looking great.
You might consider using a styrofoam insulation for under the floor. You can cut them as wide or as thin as needed and can be just pushed up into place.
hey buddy watch the video he has linked in the description . its pretty good and explains why not to use foam . have a nice day .
Yep The Boss of the Swamp in my area uses this bubble foil in his cabin/house. He swears by it!
My Saturday routine can now commence :)
The Boss of the Swamp used this bubble wrap, but the air space below it was not open like your structure. Since you have air flow under your structure, I'd expect your experience not to be the same as with his cabin. I've noticed that mobile homes all have blocking around the lower structure so that wind doesn't blow through...
R value around 1.1 on the foil wrap. I need to do something similar. I’m not sure on the skirting idea. Eliminates airflow that can create mold. A wood stove hearth on the floor will spread quite a bit of radiant heat. I routinely stay in my cabin below zero temps and after a few hours of heating the floor is usually comfortable.
Install vents for airflow once the skirting is done
should have also put a layer across the whole bottom. not just between the joists. it would create a pocket of air. also, a carpet/rug would help. i have also noticed, if kept dry, corrugated cardboard would trap air layers between the bubble wrap
My folks had an old icebox in one of our farms when I was very young (4). I remember the iceman coming by once a week with the block of ice for it. Worked fine for keeping the food cool.
You have to create a few inch air gap between the floor joists and floor for that to be insulation. Trapped air is the key to making that work! Plus it can create an air barrier if you seal it all up with tape. It will help a little as it's installed right now, mostly as an air barrier and reflective barrier.
My laugh for the day was genuine and from the gut.
Scrolling through I think why is an astronaut cutting away insulation at the space station? Then I focused and saw the true meaning then I saw the name of the channel….. thanks!! 🙏🏻
My husband and I had a cabin in northern British Columbia. Clean out underneath cabin, let ground dry out. Put down a plastic moisture barrier over ground and then skirt the cabin, in prebuilt panels with one serving as door on hinges. Insulation board stapled to inside of panels. Difference in warmth of floor and loss of heat was like night and day. Try it, you will be amazed. Cabin will be also cooler as well in hot summer days.
where's your building winter skirt? Something you really need to make.
The bubble rap works really good if you leave an air gap between the floor and the bottom of the floor joists, I used on my garage ceiling and left a gap and cut the radiant heat and half when you have metal roof in Florida .
You won’t be disappointed with that foil wrap insulation, if you saw the Swamp Boss video. Nice job! Love those shelves and the transformer bed!
Looks great keep going. Everything will help the people that complain haven't been in your shoes.
I gotta agree with what someone else suggested. Build something around the bottom to block wind and trap in any heat you get from natural ground temperature.
And seeing as you’re storing stuff under there I’d also suggest make it with an access door so you can still have the storage.
The ground is naturally warmer than the surrounding air, it’s the wind hitting it that’s chilling it.
Man I'm really looking forward to seeing how well this works (if at all)! What I know about that foil is that it's very, very good at reflecting radiated heat. It should do pretty much nothing to convective heat loss (heat via contact), but I could see this bouncing some of that radiation back up into the wood board and keeping the floor a handful of degrees warmer. If you get 5 degrees out of this I'll be impressed, and I think that would probably be worth it.
enjoy your videos,keep up the good work.I would suggest to skirt the cabin and use the bubble foil on the skirting like another person commmented and also would put down 6 mil plastic on the ground for moisture and freezing and storing whatever underneath the cabin.Peace
You have added a moisture trap under your floor. A perfect place for mold to grow. Dual moisture barriers, the house wrap allows moisture to settle down and not rise, then the foil will seal it in. With green wet wood and your propane producing moisture also.
Seeing what the cabin is sitting on I recommend some structural connections between the posts it's sitting on to increase rigidity. Big winds at some point may cause you a big problem.....
One difference I see with his cabin is the skirting he has around the crawl space. That creates an air layer as well as the bubble foil under the floor boards. I wonder if that would help even more Ryan?
Also I remember the builder Mike Holmes talking about using the 4x8 pink foam boards taped and seemed to form an air tight area when doing basements. Basically making an interior insulated foam cooler. He always said you could then heat the room with a candle.
I know you would lose even more head space when doing the floor like that, but I think the benefits would out weigh the lose in interior height?
I did this on my cabin after I installed hydronic heating from under the sub-floor, a 4" airgap under the hydro, then fiberglass, then plastic sheeting. I put skirt around with plastic on the ground for vapor barrier. I can walk around in socks all winter long when it's -30F outside and howling wind (I'm on a lake and get the brunt of winter winds out of the west.)
Just sister 1x4 or 2x4 on the bottom of each floor joist and level the bottom out then insulate and cover !
Bubble wrap is nice stuff. We use it to wrap our ductwork I think it's only rated r4 but with air space, I can go up to R6. It's great for a base insulation and you can always add to it later.👍👍👍 good job
I put it under the floor of my little cabin, and It made a difference I'm in Virginia, and don't spend a lot of time there in the winter, but my floor doesn't freeze. I think it's less about insulation and more about an air tight barrier and keeping insects out. Along with your propane heater, the bubble wrap will likely solve your freezing floor problem. It'll be a big improvement over the floor you've got right now.
I also had to grind off all the nails that came through my roof. It's an odious job.
You look fine.
Can't smell a thing.
Take care. Thanks for the Sat night entertainment in Australia.
I haven't read all the comments, but you have to skirt the entire cabin period. To stop any moisture, you need to cover the ground under the cabin with tarp. You will get critters if your skirting is just placed on the ground. I suggest digging a good 4 inch trench to place your bottom into the ground (pressure treat), then cover your plywood and bottom row with the backfill. Its not 100% but the idea is to get the under cabin as leak free as possible. Once the ground freezes, you should be good for the winter critter free.
You could still do the roll insulation on the under-floor and hold it in place with plastic netting stapled to the bottom of the floor joists.
Glad you got this done, I believe you'll see a noticeable difference. Instead of the mancave, why not use the leftovers on the deer castle ? (Note to Tito) When you do your cabin, put the foil bubble wrap across the top of the floor joists before you put down the decking & frame your walls, like the Swamp Boss does his from scratch builds, it will work more gooder. Cheers 🍻
not a good idea - You need an air gap
You could use tyvek to hold up insulation and then skirt the cabin. We built our 28 by 30 addition and thats how we did it. Worked great. Love your cabin.
Big fan I’d like to see ya build a pantry and also a stone or block cooking pit it’s a lot of work to put in but they last a life time cheers to spring
Maybe you don't know it but there is a recall on some EYE drops. It has caused blindness and several people have died. Please go on line and find out. This is NO JOKE ! 4/8/23. We had those at a steel mill where I worked. Ice Boxes were filled every couple of days in the summer months. Ice company would come and fill them all over the plant. Bushradical use fiberglass wall installation under neat his floor and then put plywood to keep the rodents out, its a lot of work but he said the cabin stays much warmer.
I have a cheap solution, go to around the bottom of the cabin skirt, go to a lumber yard, they give thermal water proof tarp as a temporary solution to cover everything up with T 50 staples, for that stink cut some onions cut in quarters , they remove the varnish smell. Good job out there
You are hilarious, always excited for saturday to come to watch the latest and greatest. keep up the amazing
Regarding the other video that you linked. All that is happening is that he has so much heat loss through his "insulated" floor that he is heating the crawl space. The heat lost through his floor is contained by the skirting he has in place. Your cabin is raised, without skirt boards. The wind will whisk away any heat that you lose through the floor. The best answer by far would be closed cell spray foam. It would also be helpful to have ceiling fan mounted high pushing heated air down onto the floor. Good luck!
Ryan, I am talking from experience your best bet is to use the blow in foam inulation on the bottom side of your floor. Then install skirting around the bottom of cabin and use blow in insulation on the inside of skirting. This was the only way to keep my cabin truly warm in the winter. The bubble foil you are installing will not do what you want.
I see comments recommending skirting around your cabin. I would suggest that you just continue to follow the experience of The Boss of the Swamp. I just watched the video you referred to from The Boss of the Swamp and it is certainly working for him.
I've now got a few things to say about this stuff. I just completed installing this underneath our sunroom/3 season room and I'm not impressed. First off, we don't have actual floor joists there, so it was interesting to put up. Also, there isn't a consistent spacing between the 2X4 studs used to create the floor. I admit this whole thing is odd, but I didn't build it. We bought this house which was built in the late 70s and owned 3 or 4 times prior to us. I've heard of a few iterations of this place from locals. Every year so far, especially during winter, there is a sliding glass door that separates the main part of the house from the sunroom that we keep closed and just let the cold air have it to itself. Once Spring arrives, the door is open more than closed and once it gets consistently warmer outside, the door stays open all day until bedtime. That lasts until about late September when we begin to reverse the process. I realize that you and others who have done these videos are in the likes of Alaska, possibly other well known cold climates and you are using various heating elements to heat the spaces. Such as wood stoves. Our wood stove is in the main area of our house. We put a silly fake fireplace heater out there a couple years ago but since moved it to our bedroom. We've never taken the temperature in that room before, so it's too late to do a comparison. The only possible upside here is that the whole thing gets cold air blowing under the room during the winter and of course more seasonal winds during the warmer months, so if I put this same stuff on skirts where all the openings are perhaps that will make a marked difference. But it's only mid October and it's already chilly in that room. I'm in the upper Midwest, not quite to Canada. So we'll see how it goes this winter. I can already tell we'll be closing that door again for the winter before long. Also, I can't say I did the best, most professional job of putting this stuff up, and I'll use the excuse of lack of proper joists, but actually what I encountered should have made it easier. I think anyone doing this alone and I certainly thought of it, but was too lazy is to make a template of the width of the space between joists to help hold the stuff in place while you staple it. I can't recall without watching again what you used to attach it, but I bought a hammer stapler which made it fairly easy. It's a two part issue with holding the stuff in place, tightly against the surfaces and stapling it in the right spots so you aren't making unnecessary holes in the insulation. It would be best if anyone doing this had a second pair of hands. Additionally the size these rolls come in doesn't help. This room is roughly 10 or 12 feet by 20' and those rolls while 50' long are only 4' wide. I'd prefer a totally different size, but you can only buy what's available. I wound up making about 3 1/4 runs. I made one run from end to end on a main separated section, then did the other section the same way, which left a gap in the middle of about 2 1/2 feet, so I made another run lengthwise down that strip. Also there is a spot on each end, one where there is kind of an alcove inside the house and the other end where there is a closet, which I went ahead and covered. Without me paying attention and someone to help, the rolls, once they took off didn't go straight, so the strips weren't installed straight. This made it more difficult as well. When I was essentially done, there was about a 7" space out near the outer most edge that needed protection, so I cut ridiculous looking strips and tacked those on as well. Then I bought some aluminum duct tape and taped all the seams. I'm not happy with any of it; the way I installed it, or how it seems to perform. Although as I may have said, if I had a cabin in Alaska and was trying to keep it warm with a wood stove, I imagine this would help a lot.
Ryan, sorry I haven’t been able to be online for a couple of weeks. I was hospitalized with blood clots and bypass surgery! Now to rehab! Sucks!
Went back a rewatched this video. It appears to me that in a large portion of the floor joists you have space for another layer of the foam insulation as well as 1-2” of additional dead air space between the layers! The extra bubble wrap insulation w/foil backing and dead air space might give you an almost 10 degree rise in temperature at floor level!
Here’s another thought! Siding! House trailers have their plumbing ran under the floor with ONLY siding and heat tape to protect critical joints! If it works for them it could work for your situation. BUT that would have the effect of more rodents trying to nest underneath the cabin!
So I guess a second layer of the same insulation would work best! Hope that helps! ❤
That radiant barrier doesn't work well as insulation. But It's good for reflecting the hot sunlight in the summer. If you put fiberglass insulation in there, you'll have to seal it in to keep the mice out of it. The mice love to party in the fiberglass and the Styrofoam insulations.
Time to build a hand rail for those gnarly steps 😇
If you put another layer of insulation 2" below the other, it will give you an air-gap, and more insulation.
I did my cabin floor exactly like the Boss of the swamp. Covered my joists with bubble wrap before applying the subfloor. Then skirting all the way around the perimeter with bubble wrap on the inside of the plywood skirting...
Floor is pretty warm. I can go barefoot in very cold weather. It works. I believe the skirting is key.
Nice build man. I've been repairing a 1970s single wide trailer that was inhabited by drug addicts for years. The stuff I find in this house is insane. melted outlets and connections, t shirts stuffed in walls for insulation, a toilet bolted to a piece of plywood screwed to the drain supported by a log underneath. We get temps in the sub zero region every winter and there is really no insulation to be found on this trailer! So yeah I can appreciate a well built home at this point and yes I consider this home!
I absolutely love Refletix. I love winter camping. I throw some Reflectix on the snow then my Klymit. I stay cozy warm. It stops the convection and reflects your heat back at you. Started giving it to the homeless in my community and it has become a quality of life changer and saver.
This stuff that Ryan is using is on the thinner side but it should work great.
This was a quick and low cost way to add a little Rvalue, but if you didn’t want to leave an airspace between the foil and the floor, then you should have installed the foil differently. Instead of cutting pieces of foil to go between the joists you should have installed the foil by taking the full width of the roll of foil and installed across the joist cavities by going up across the floor then down and around the floor joist then up to the floor again etc. without making any cuts at all in between the joists. The way you have installed it, there will be thermal bridging from the bottom of your floor joists right through to your floor surface. So you will have an ice cold 2” strip on your floor everywhere there is a joist. Skirting your crawlspace will make a difference, but will cost you much more and a lot of work. Also once you have a warm space under the cabin, you are inviting rodents in for sure. And they are very persistent in tunnelling in under your crawlspace walls to gain entry so if you do install the walls be sure to also install wire mesh running at least 12” deeper than the bottom plate of the knee wall .
The bubble insulation will give some insulation because it traps air - but nothing like adding even more. Hold fibreglass insulation in place with netting to get around the live edges.
As another commenter mentions below, blocking the "basement" so no air circulates there will also help a lot.
Indeed, simply blocking the air with snow will go a long way...
I built a treehouse 25 feet up and used the bubble wrap underneath the floor, and for the roof.
Work great to keep it warm in the winter time and cool in the summertime.
That is if you install it right.
A sauna would be a cool build for out there!
Have a layer of double bubble and 3/4" foam with 1" pine siding on our cabin and it insulates pretty good!
I've done this in homes and a 300 capacity church....... I had concrete floors and block walls... I did the ceiling and wall on homes.... Just furred out walls with 2x4 turned sideways and then gave me 1.5" air gap .... You roll 48" strip over the entire studs and use aluminum foil tape to seal the pieces together... You need to seal the area inorder to make it work.... Then drywall The stuff I used had R value of 16 and 1/4 " thick... It had some type of material like you see on flat screen TV.... The church heating bill during January at 15 degrees F was $900 the bill after was $200... I even taped up ac boxes to seal air out also... This stuff you using is reflectix bought at home Depot.... The stuff I used you can't buy at local stores
Your very good at doing things the hard way!😂
Some rugs on the floor would help . I thought you had white foam with aluminum flashing on both sides it's better than the bubble stuff in my opinion.
Hello Ryan I saw that you installed the bubble wrap insulation. Very nicely done. But the other cabins that had the bubble wrap insulation had Skirting To the ground around the perimeter of the cabin so there was no air flow underneath the floor. Thank you for your time from Bob Dawson.
Now your cabin, from below, looks like a giant Easter Egg 😛Like it!