On 2008-07-24 13:15:07 +0100, JP Coetzee said:


I have a new 20'x7' shed which my wife will use as an artist's studio.
The shed is heavy duty T+G. I want to insulate the walls and roof.

My local Sheffield Insulation trade Counter recommends new-fangled
stuff called "Frame Foil" stapled onto the uprights of the shed walls,
with "moisture board" directly on top of that. But it will be pricy -
I reckon about £600 for the Frame Foil alone.

1. How good is "Frame Foil"?

2. What alternatives are there? Preferably cheaper...


This seems unnecessarily complicated.

Have a look at Celotex and Kingspan. This is polyisocyanurate foam
with foil front and back as a vapour barrier. 50mm would be fine for
this application or thicker if you don't mind losing some space.



3. Could I use T+G pine cladding?

Yes




4. What gaps do I need between "moisture board", insulation and
outside walls?

I did a similar project for a cabin. I put vertical studs of
pressure treated timber fitted to the outside walls and 75mm deep. The
whole inside was then sprayed with Cuprinol clear wood preservative -
the solvent based proper one as opposed to the watery girls version.

The Celotex sheet was sandwiched in between and taped using the special
foil tape, thus leaving a space of about 25mm between the backside of
the sheet and the outside wall for ventilation. The same thing was
done for the pitched roof. I had already done the floor by laying in
Celotex on spacers before butting down the floor boards.

I then used a 9mm T&G cladding secret nailed to the studs (hint an air
nailer is good here) and finally used a clear acrylic matt varnish
(watery girls one).




5. There will be a 5-socket ring in the shed. What is the best way to
get the connections to the electricity sockets through any wall
covering/plastic membrane/insulation?

I put in 20mm plastic conduit throughout for hidden sockets and ran PVC
single conductors inside.

I then ran three compartment trunking around the whole thing. This
allows for easy modification.




Many thanks to all