Thread: Shed roof insulation help needed

That's very interesting. I'm building a 12 X 9m shed - excavators knocking on the door at 7.00am tomorrow morning. I researched roof insulation & searched these forums. My thoughts were that 100mm R2.5 Vapa-chek would be the go. Shed guy that I'm dealing with thinks not. Says that if I want to use this material they will have to increase the thickness of the roofing tin to avoid distortion due to thickness of the 100mm Vapa-chek installed between roof tin & battens. Hell, it's only fibreglass batting on foil - it would easily compress down to the same thickness of aircell R2.0, which is what they are pushing.
My concern is that I want to maximise thermal & sound insulation qualities & that shed guy is pushing ease & comfort of installation over my requirements.
Any thoughts??

My mates shed is nearly the same size as yours. He used 55 mill thick Vapa-Chek @ $76.00 per 15 metre roll.

Borderboy, I think we have all had a bit of exposure to the contractor that wants what he wants and tries to make it unattractive to go down any other path.
You have to make sure that what he's saying isn't blowies or not. Try ringing other shed people of sheet metal people.
When I built my office I jammed insulation into the walls double thickness and it did cause problems trying to get the Gyprock fixed but with no visible bow in the sheets once fixed.
From the sounds of it you must be going to put on very thin guage roofing sheets or the builder is full of it....but get a second opinion.

EDIT I used insulation bats from a cinema in my roof also installed a split AC system. It only takes a 5 min blast of the AC to cool the whole place down.

Additional insulation type question -

Is it impractical / illegal / infeasible to have a shading system above the shed ? I was thinking of some sort of light-weight standoff for my 6x3 shed, ie, suspended shadecloth or such (attached to the roof)

Originally Posted by inflex

Additional insulation type question -

Is it impractical / illegal / infeasible to have a shading system above the shed ? I was thinking of some sort of light-weight standoff for my 6x3 shed, ie, suspended shadecloth or such (attached to the roof)

Certainly none of those things. If you use shade cloth you would really want to use the highest shade grade 90% I think to get the most benefit. I reckon it would want to be separated from the roof by at least 150mm.

You could make some upstands to fix at the top and the bottom of roof using the roof fixing screws and weld some water pipe on the top something like the attached sketch and strech the shade cloth over it.

Thanks for the feedback Jim & Bleedin. Good luck with your project this weekend Jim. I'm trying to get the Bobcat buzz out of my head - the guy did a great job today for what I thought was a very reasonable price.
Hmmm - back to insulation. I'm sure that air cell is good stuff. Clean & easy to install & will do the job. So I'll run with that. I have a large mobile swampy that will keep me cool enough so all is good.

Originally Posted by Barry_White

You could make some upstands to fix at the top and the bottom of roof using the roof fixing screws and weld some water pipe on the top something like the attached sketch and strech the shade cloth over it.

Thanks Barry, that's pretty much what I was aiming for, I figured out here that every bit of extra shading/insulating can only help.... just waiting for all the trees in the yard to grow *faster faster faster*

Border Boy
For what it is worth - consider ensuring all the joins in the aircell on the roof are fully taped. This will ensure both better thermal insulation 'cos air won't "leak" between and also ensure any condensation etc wont find it's way to drip on that freshly coated piece on the bench!
good luck with the shed - post some pics...

Peter

Well, it's officially happening here - I've aquired ownership of this shed (off my inslaws) and now starts the delightful process of converting it.

Insulation will be a big factor. I'll start another thread rather than hijacking this one

Inflex , why dont you go the whole hog and make a Coolgardie safe window opening. A little water feature pump to recycle the water.

I am serious BTW.

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

Inflex , why dont you go the whole hog and make a Coolgardie safe window opening. A little water feature pump to recycle the water.

I am serious BTW.

Did I say somewhere that I had put the hose on the roof to cool it down - or did I just imagine it... because I just today threw the flat-clear sprinkler hose up there as a desperate measure.

You're right though, it'd be a very neat feature to also have the water pump solar-powered (though I'm not sure if the pressure would be sufficient). . . . mmmm definately a LOT cheaper than running a new Aircon unit.

Paul.

Thanks for the info Happy.
I'll be watching like a hawk. The mob I'm dealing with have a great reputation around town, so I don't anticipate too many dramas. Spent today (in 35 degree heat) taking tin off old small garage/shed. Have to pull it down for access with the new project. Man, talk about a dodgy bros build. I'm amazed it's still standing.
Saving tin for lining part of new - I'll wack some batts in there as I go.
I'll post pics soon, although at the moment backyard looks like a clay tennis court - French open venue maybe??
Cheers.

Originally Posted by inflex

You're right though, it'd be a very neat feature to also have the water pump solar-powered (though I'm not sure if the pressure would be sufficient). . . . mmmm definately a LOT cheaper than running a new Aircon unit.

Paul.

You can get bilge pumps that a solar panel will drive and they give about an 8 m head from memory. You just match the pump with the panel.
I saw a whole wall once set up as a Coolgardie safe and it was as cool as AC when you stood infront of it. Cant rermember what they used as the core, sorry.

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

I saw a whole wall once set up as a Coolgardie safe and it was as cool as AC when you stood infront of it. Cant rermember what they used as the core, sorry.

On a building? That would be cool!