Protecting the insulation: The vapour barrier

The advantage of doing a project like this, whether it’s Audrey or me, is that we are complete novices at it and we learn something new every step of the way. So, now we know: if you insulate, it’s important to protect the insulation from humidity. This is done with a vapour barrier. It could be paper or plastic on the one side, but the other side will always be aluminum. The vapour barrier serves to keep humidity from getting in and rotting away the insulation which always needs to be kept dry.

There were several types to choose from and, after reading about remodeling vehicles, the multilayered type seemed to be the best solution, but it isn’t to be found in Quebec. We therefore opted for a simple plastic vapour barrier that is very resistant. The bright (aluminum) side goes on the inside! Once we had put fibreglass insulation from wall to ceiling, we tackled the vapour barrier.

The wooden braces that we used to hold the fibreglass proved to be like faithful friends, because we were able to staple the plastic onto them. We thus avoided huge bubbles. (Later on we would realize that we hadn’t done a very good job of this, which would complicate things during the next step). There is sticky red paper that is used not only to cover the cuts in the vapour barrier but also to cover the holes that are bound to pop up (notably around the staples), so you end up with a van that is decked out in its finest clothes.

Also published on Medium.