W'shop insulation ideas?

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santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
.....Fill the walls with pop corn.

..........


He means styrofoam popcorn insulation. Or the packing popcorn.

box-full-protective-packaging-peanuts-tape-dispenser-ready-to-be-sealed-up-shipping-29944750.jpg
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
We call that styrofoam stuff "peanuts" and the curly stuff is "ghost doo-doo."

Be careful = we get some which is foamed starch, it disappears in water & biodegradable.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I need to be reminded of of your construction, but it is a concrete slab, low brick walks, then shiplap?


In a wooden skinned construction you need a vapour barrier (type plastic) closest to the room, and a breathable water barrier under the cladding.
There are specific products fir the outer barrier. That is how 99% of all houses are constructed in Sweden and Norway.

I think you used standard UK shed construction, which means very, very thin outside horisontal tongue and groove - shiplap, thin battens and an uninsulated and not water proofed floor construction?

As it has already been erected, it is not possible to insulate and humidity proof the walls properly, as the outside barrier should have been placed on the frame, before the outside cladding.
To put the outside barrier from the inside, covering the wall construction, will only make it rot quicker.

I would say this: make a semi airtight insulation. Type Rockwool or shredded paper ( if you use a semipermeable membrane) Do not put any "solid" barriers anywhere. Just do a plywood inner wall, but leave a small gap in the bottom and top, for the airflow.
Why? Britain is humid. You need the airflow to dry the inside of the wall.

Floor: Will be difficult to insulate, as the floor has already been laid. To put insulation and a new floor on top of that = the floor will rot out is a few years.
 
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C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,354
2,365
Bedfordshire
I know its too late, but when I had to insulate my shed, much the same situation, I used: http://www.insulationexpress.co.uk/ for 45mm Celotex. 12 sheets cost me £251.57 in the spring of 2012. This supplier was the cheapest I found, and they delivered.

My shed was built by the previous home owner and is a catalog of how not to construct an out-building. As such, I simply jammed the foam board between the studding and clad inside with 9mm Stirling board. No air gaps, no wall ventilation. With all the other bits of poor building, messing around with trying to insulate "properly" would have been like putting lipstick on a pig!
 

ol smokey

Full Member
Oct 16, 2006
433
2
Scotland
Don't know what you think about polystyrene foam ? I wanted some to use as bouncy for some Scout canoes or rather kayaks, I approached my local sewing machine shop to see if I could get some of their packing in which their machines
come packaged in. No problem and free of charge if collected by me. I was a little later than intended in going back for
some, and the whole back shop was. Stacked to the ceiling. To cut a long story short, I got as much as I could manage,
and more. For free. They were glad to get rid of it. This may be one thing to consider, as long as it does not enfringe on
health and safety regulations. It would greate a lot of acrid smoke if the place went up in smoke.
 

Swallow

Native
May 27, 2011
1,545
4
London
I don't pretend to know in detail what's involved in the processing but I'm sure that the fleeces need to be at least cleaned/washed out to rid them of misc. debris and stuff that might not remain stable and rot-free. I seem to remember that they need some kind of physical manipulation to get them wadded up, so to speak.

I once tried to clean up a single fleece in a basic way and that was some heavy, wet and messy work. Like most things it's probably made quite simple if you have experience and are set up for doing it........

Lady Swift once found that she could get complete fleeces for free and ordered 14 for her and her mates presumably for felting of a similar activity.

None of them were prepared for the volume of a single fleece. I remember the look of horror on her mates face as I delivered 4 of them. The look of horror continued when she asked could I take 2 away again and said no.

(she hadn't even opened the bag and seen that "complete" included minor dags).

I can't remember what happened to ours (we had six of them). I do remember a fair bit of washing.

I got a jumper recently made of undyed black sheeps wool. It smelt just like one of those fleeces. So wondered how much washing they actually need and it was a very large volume of free material.
 

Fadcode

Full Member
Feb 13, 2016
2,857
894
Cornwall
One of the best materials for insulation is straw, its vermin and fire resistant and has excellent thermal properties, don't get confused with hay which is animal feed, not sure of the cost but a lot of farmers actually burn the straw as its not much good to them, has been used to insulate homes for hundreds of years so its well tested.Might be worth a look.
 

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