Now, lest you think there isn't much weight being put on here, I stepped on a scale. This pic is pretty poor, but I did have additional weight on my shoulders when I stepped on the scale, and while standing on the insulation.
The pic shows the scale, which max's out at 330 lbs.
That's right - 358 lbs total. All being supported by a 1.5 x 6 x 30 inch piece of insulation, with thin plywood on each side. This one did bow more than the other 2, obviously, but was in no danger of breaking.
So with a little math - 6 x 30 = 180 sq inches / 144 = 1.25 sq ft. 358 lbs / 1.25 = 286.4 lbs per sq ft. The 144 is sq inches per sq ft.
Probably, if I had not seen it myself, I would have trouble believing it.
So, it looks like even with thin plywood glued to insulation, it does indeed create a relatively stable wall.
Now, this does not take into account all the stresses associated with a motor home driving down the road, but it does give some idea of how well it would take weight.
And by the way, that plywood, was only $10 a sheet.
The pic shows the scale, which max's out at 330 lbs.
That's right - 358 lbs total. All being supported by a 1.5 x 6 x 30 inch piece of insulation, with thin plywood on each side. This one did bow more than the other 2, obviously, but was in no danger of breaking.
So with a little math - 6 x 30 = 180 sq inches / 144 = 1.25 sq ft. 358 lbs / 1.25 = 286.4 lbs per sq ft. The 144 is sq inches per sq ft.
Probably, if I had not seen it myself, I would have trouble believing it.
So, it looks like even with thin plywood glued to insulation, it does indeed create a relatively stable wall.
Now, this does not take into account all the stresses associated with a motor home driving down the road, but it does give some idea of how well it would take weight.
And by the way, that plywood, was only $10 a sheet.
Well now, lets see how far we can take this....
So, next I took a 1.5 inch piece of blue board, and glued the el cheapo plywood from the Depot, onto both sides, let it cure, and decided to step on this.
Let's let the pic speak for itself, and no, my left foot is not touching the floor.
So, next I took a 1.5 inch piece of blue board, and glued the el cheapo plywood from the Depot, onto both sides, let it cure, and decided to step on this.
Let's let the pic speak for itself, and no, my left foot is not touching the floor.
So, I thought, hey, what happens if I take only 2 pieces of blue board, 1.5 inches thick and glue them together?
Well, lets find out. So, I glued them together, again with gorilla glue, and then went to Home Depot, and bought a piece of 2.7mm plywood. That stuff is less than 1/8 inch thick, about .100 of an inch thick, instead of .128.
Next step, (pun intended), is to support them about 30 inches apart, and see what happens.
You guessed it - nothing but a little more bow in the center. So, now we have a 3 x 6 x 30 inch sandwich, which didn't break when I stepped on it.
Well, lets find out. So, I glued them together, again with gorilla glue, and then went to Home Depot, and bought a piece of 2.7mm plywood. That stuff is less than 1/8 inch thick, about .100 of an inch thick, instead of .128.
Next step, (pun intended), is to support them about 30 inches apart, and see what happens.
You guessed it - nothing but a little more bow in the center. So, now we have a 3 x 6 x 30 inch sandwich, which didn't break when I stepped on it.
So, after gluing those 4 pieces back together, I glued 1/8 inch plywood to the top and bottom of the assembly. So, we are back to about a 6 x 6 inch stack of blue board insulation, sandwiched between 2 thin pieces of plywood, again supported about 30 inches apart.
This was only cheap stuff from one of the box stores, and nothing special. Just a piece I had laying around.
I stepped on it, and nothing happened. Oh, it bowed very slightly in the center, but not much. So, the plywood sandwich made a huge difference.
This was only cheap stuff from one of the box stores, and nothing special. Just a piece I had laying around.
I stepped on it, and nothing happened. Oh, it bowed very slightly in the center, but not much. So, the plywood sandwich made a huge difference.
Here is something I have been wanting to post for a while, and now seems like as good a time as any.
This first pic is one where I glued 4 pieces of blue board insulation together with gorilla glue. They are roughly 3 feet long and 6 inches wide, and 1.5 inches thick, so we had 6 inches thickness total. I was curious as to how much weight they would support.
They were supported on each end, and the supports were about 30 inches apart. The moment I stepped on them, boom - straight to the floor. I didn't even get all my weight on them.
This pic does not show that - forgot to take a pic, but afterwards, I glued them back together in the middle where they had broken. That you can see inside the red rectangle.
More to come in the next couple of pics and posts.
This first pic is one where I glued 4 pieces of blue board insulation together with gorilla glue. They are roughly 3 feet long and 6 inches wide, and 1.5 inches thick, so we had 6 inches thickness total. I was curious as to how much weight they would support.
They were supported on each end, and the supports were about 30 inches apart. The moment I stepped on them, boom - straight to the floor. I didn't even get all my weight on them.
This pic does not show that - forgot to take a pic, but afterwards, I glued them back together in the middle where they had broken. That you can see inside the red rectangle.
More to come in the next couple of pics and posts.
The next area was on the passenger's side, indicated above by the red square.
This is where the generator was, that I removed. Since the genny is not going back into that same spot, I decided that I needed some steel floor joists, in order to have some support for the floor, that is going to installed back there.
In the pic below, you can see the new pieces of steel that I added, indicated by the red arrows. This area will be used for something else, so I need flooring there.
This is where the generator was, that I removed. Since the genny is not going back into that same spot, I decided that I needed some steel floor joists, in order to have some support for the floor, that is going to installed back there.
In the pic below, you can see the new pieces of steel that I added, indicated by the red arrows. This area will be used for something else, so I need flooring there.
Back out with the welder today. I concentrated on 2 different areas in the rear of the motor home.
The first area was on the drivers side, indicated by the red circle. There was some welding that I hadn't completed on the bottom of the steel, between the flooring steel, and the wall steel.
I had welded everything on the top side, and about 1/2 of the bottom side, and I wanted to complete that, and finally did, today.
The first area was on the drivers side, indicated by the red circle. There was some welding that I hadn't completed on the bottom of the steel, between the flooring steel, and the wall steel.
I had welded everything on the top side, and about 1/2 of the bottom side, and I wanted to complete that, and finally did, today.
