Thread: Roof insulation help for shed

If you opt for foil board be aware that birds love it for nesting material.

Lemery

The cheapest and probably best value for money would be to paint your brown tiles a light colour. White would be best, but consider cream too if white is too stark.

While I built a house many years ago we squatted in a very crude corrugated iron shed. I had sourced some secondhand concrete tiles, which I used on the roof. They were a blue/ dark grey colour and got very hot. I painted them white with some old paint I had to hand. However, I ran out of paint about two thirds of the way across the roof. Consequently, because of the staggered method of laying, some of the tiles were half white and half the original dark blue colour. I could hold my hand on the underside of those tiles and one half was hot and the other cool. A good demonstration of how dark colour absorbs heat.

If you have a spare tile, experiment with painting just half of the tile in a light colour and leave it out in the sun. You may have to wait for the temps to warm up a bit, but won't be long now at this time of year.

Regards
Paul

PS: Gloss reflects heat better than satin or matt, but the paint I used was not high gloss.

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Lemery

The cheapest and probably best value for money would be to paint your brown tiles a light colour. White would be best, but consider cream too if white is too stark.

...

That would certainly be a great first step. "White to the sky" works wonders.. Gloss would also make a difference in that it will self-clean more readily than other finishes

Be aware there are some council areas/estates that don't allow white/light coloured roofs due to the reflection into neighbouring homes' living areas. Best to check with council

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Lemery

The cheapest and probably best value for money would be to paint your brown tiles a light colour. White would be best, but consider cream too if white is too stark.

PS: Gloss reflects heat better than satin or matt, but the paint I used was not high gloss.

Good idea, thanks. Had not thought of that. I wonder what would have more impact? Insulation or painting it white?

Originally Posted by r3nov8or

Be aware there are some council areas/estates that don't allow white/light coloured roofs due to the reflection into neighbouring homes' living areas. Best to check with council

Given our neighbours new house has a white roof which makes our back balcony feel like standing on the surface of the sun, I think my council is not fussed

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Lemery

The cheapest and probably best value for money would be to paint your brown tiles a light colour. White would be best, but consider cream too if white is too stark. ...

Your experience is actually reflected in the Building Code of Australia.
BCA requirements for insulation | BUILD

If you have a light coloured roof the recommended minimum ceiling insulation is R = 4.1. However, if you have a dark coloured roof then the recommended minimum ceiling insulation is R = 5.1. Basically, the colour of your roof means that you need an extra inch of insulation.

However, and to my mind rather weirdly, the same ceiling insulation levels are recommended for Darwin, Alice Springs, Millmerran, Sydney and Hobart, in spite of their widely variant climates. Weird? Only Alpine regions like Thredbo and Liaweene get higher recommendations.

Originally Posted by lemerv

Given our neighbours new house has a white roof which makes our back balcony feel like standing on the surface of the sun, I think my council is not fussed

Send it straight back at 'em