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Insulating a V berth?

view29

Junior Member
I'm looking for any suggestions, experience, ideas.... for insulating a v birth.
- I'm thinking about 1" rigid with 1/8" cork on top
- and maybe rockwool for inside the shelves

I of course have a budget
I'm a bit cautious around adhesives
A bit uncertain around moisture, I've never quite understood how that works. Not sure if the rockwool would pick up moisture over time. I think the rigid would be fine if glued, but as said a bit nervous using glue.

Why insulate?

I'm on the pacific NW coast, so it can be cold, I think it would help with the heat, and actually privacy is the main motivation. I'm at a marina and looking to reduce noise transmission so it's quieter.

Any suggestions on what worked / didn't work would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
What boat? Please put model, year and engine in the Signature line. Click on Username (top of page)/Signature.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I corrected the thread title spelling just to make searching easier. (good play on words in the original, but possibly rude...) :)
 

view29

Junior Member
No worries, totally missed any awkward reference myself!

And that query came up a goose egg to boot!
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I know from experience that the V-berth gets VERY cold when the outside temperatures are below freezing.

There is about half an inch of space between the hull and the liner in the V-berth area. Maybe an inch between the liner and the deck. I’ve been toying for years with the idea of pouring two-part foam into that space. In my mind, it would add insulation and make the whole area much stronger by bonding the liner to the hull. It would require drilling a series of holes high and low. I have some experience with using one-part foam around the hatch area, but it didn’t flow very well.
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
As far as "the shelves" or lockers, or whatever they are... My idea was just to put doors on them and fill them with my clothes. Seems insulated. I suppose one could glue some foam board along the hull in there, at the cost of storage volume. But it's not a continuous flat surface - bit of a hump or lip along the hull-deck joint. Getting something to conform could be a bit of a pain.

Also the chain locker bulkhead is just a thin (3/16"?) sheet of fiberglass. One could glue foam board to the inside, but it might get damaged if one actually stores chain in the chain locker. Maybe back the foam with fiberglass and get the side-benefit of making a decent structural sandwich out of that wall? But it would be a messy job and not sure if more strength is really needed there.
 

Navman

Member III
Rock wool would be the very worst of choices in my opinion. Lots of 1/2 rigid foam out there. Some good You Tube videos on installations. By scoring the back of the panel you can get it to fit radius's and its easily adhered to the hull with a spray adhesive like 3M.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Goose down comforter and Bose noise-cancelling headphones.

V berths are hard to insulate and cabin heat never seems to get there. Down will keep us warm with ice on deck, and in summer you can leave it home.

The Bose headphones have multiples uses, from airplane to wives watching TV. Yeah, it adds up to $600, but still less than the insulation job.
 
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