Lining my shed

[FarmerJones 0]

Hi all

I could do with a bit of advice please....

I have just put up a new shed (10 x 14) to use as a sort of hobby room / office. Anyway, I want to insulate it, and make it look a bit less like a shed on the inside. So I thought I'd line the walls and roof with polystyrene and attach thin (say 5 or 6mm) plywood over the polystrene. The polystyrene will fit in between the wooden up rights and will be 50mm thick.

The shed itself is installed on 6 x 6 tannelised timbers and is clear of the ground. I want to insulate the floor somewhat, but a bit more strength would be good. I thought about say 2 - 5mm polystyrene sheets and covere with plywood, say 12mm?

So the advice bit:

Walls & ceiling: is this a good approach? Should I screw or nail the plywood?

Floor...is this OK, any other ideas ?

Cheers...

Adrian (FJ)

[Rich 2]

Adrian

Personally, I would have used plastic driveway grid bases, and set them on firm, compacted level ground, then laid big slabs on them, as the base... Get the base up off the ground, away from moisture, and allow water to drain away, as this method would have the base at least 3" higher than surrounding ground. Then I would have set out either 2x2 or 4x4 in a grid to build the base on... Overkill, probably, but extremely effective, given you want to use the shed far more regularly than its intended purpose, no doubt have a chair rolling about on the floor too?

As for insulation, polystyrene should be fine but remember its plastic, it doesnt breathe, so in winter, your shed will have trapped moisture in the walls/floors etc..

I would used recycled loft insulation, and add batons across the walls/ceilings to hold it all in place, as this will then bring the walls out a bit, give room for the insulation, and also give you more structural strength, and timber to fix things too :-)

Avoid plywood where you can, as it really mis-behaves if it gets wet, buckles, warps etc... Chipboard floor panels are easier to manage, and replace if they rot, and are just as strong, and cheaper. You could also then put foam rubber floor tiles over it to keep the cold out, and give you a nice soft floor if your standing for a while :-)