Insulation

I don't know how much it costs now, but you shouldn't have any problem getting Rockwool in 2" thick. That's what I used for a similar job in my workshop. Much pleasanter to handle than glass fibre insulation.

If you get blank looks when enquiring, ask for 'partial fill cavity batts' at a decent builders' merchants.

HTH Tim

Tim Leech Dutton Dry-Dock

Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs

You could try the 8' X 4' X 1" expanded polystyrene sheets sold for the purpose you mention.

Don't forget a vapour barrier and maybe 'tank' the inside of the wall before you start. You need to keep the insulation dry.

Kevin

Have you costed up the 8 x 4 sheets of plaster board with insulation on the back. They make a powdered glue you mix up like plaster and gob it on the walls. When I did part of my workshop I managed to get some damaged sheets from the depot are reduced cost. These had chipped corners etc but you often have to trim. You have to visit the Depot the week before you need them and kick a few in when no one is looking, then go back the following week and ask if they have any damaged ones :-)

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Here in the France all new houses are lined with this stuff. I t has

100 mm of polystyrene and a moisture barrier built in. It works very well but don't expect to be able to fix heavily laden shelves to it.

Russell.

You might try polyurethane, which is fairly impervious to moisture as well. May not be cheaper, but is much better insulation.

Haven't tried them, but seriously considered them before going to structural insulated panels for my new workshop.

Mark Rand RTFM

Thank you to everyone who replied, either on-list or by e-mail. Many useful suggestions. After looking into some options the following seems about the best value for money solution. I will seal the walls with a paint on sealant (just to make sure no moisture gets through) then line them with

40mm of polystyrene which I will cover with 12mm chipboard. 8'x4' 40mm polystyrene sheets are just over £5 each and 12mm chip is just under £5 a sheet. Although chipbeard isn't as good as plywood, it is about a quarter of the cost and much better than the only other alternative at this price -plasterboard. All I have to do now is clear enough space to put twenty sheets of each while I fit them to the walls (needs to come in one lot to minimise delivery charges).

Regards

Kevin

We used to buy shuttering ply or "good one side" plywood. Cosmetically it is usually OK on one side and rough on t'other, but cheaper than regular ply and better than chipboard.

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:

Hello Kevin, What are you doing to damp proof the floor? Cheers GeoffH Norfolk - UK

If I could see enough of it I might try and paint it

ROTFL. You sound as bad a John S !? Must admit I'm not far behind :-)

Are you only going to paint it? Nothing else? GeoffH

. . . mmmm . . how can you ROTFL if you can't see the floor !!!!!!!!!

Andrew Mawson

I like it. Curled up very tight. Like a dormouse. [nearly spelled that doormouse :-)] GeoffH

Should I be doing anything else? As it is such a new building (2 year old brick built double garage) I thought it would be fairly OK. It would be nice to put polystyrene insulation down and flooring grade chipboard, possibly capped off with oil tempered hardboard -but my budget is pretty well blown just lining the walls (£5 a sheet doesn't sound much till you work out how many sheets you need).

Regards

Kevin

No idea. Was hoping someone in the ng would offer advise. I'm not using my garage as a workshop yet, but the underside of cardboard boxes on the floor have rotted away from damp.

I wouldn't have thought the age of building would prevent damp ingress via unsealed floor.

Sound like a good method. Hope someone comments or gives suggestions Damp cold coming up would be my concern.

sound much till you

Yeah sounds nice and cheap per sheet, and then you start adding up. Luckily I will only have to insulate one long side and one short side. My garage is on the side of bungalow so that wall is cavity.

What are you doing about the main garage door? Mine is the normal up and over, so will either take it down and brick up and fit double doors, or fix polystyrene sheets to it and use draught strips on edges. Cheers GeoffH

sound much till you

We laid a new floor in the main workshop when we rebuilt the old Church Hall at the back of the house. A very heavy duty membrane was laid to make sure we had no damp problems, and so far it's been pretty good.

We walls are double brick but we can't see any damp course, so we had the exterior rendered as well.

We would like to seal the floor properly and put screed over it all, but at present it's just bare concrete with an Applied Chemicals concrete sealer over the top, which works great.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

In my last house I sealed up the edges of the up & over door with the expanding foam sealer that you get in DIY shops. It worked very well and stopped all the draughts getting in. Of course, you can't open the door after doing this -when I moved I had to cut the door open with a hacksaw blade, but it cut easily didn't take too long. To keep things warm you would need to put polystyrene sheets on to insulate it. Cheaper than bricking up, and you can always open the door if you ever need to (big machines in or out for example).

I have two separate doors in this garage, one I will be sealing up but the other I want to use so it will have to be insulated and have draught strips round the edges.

Regards

Kevin

Kevin, What type of lighting are you going to use, and how many? My garage is only 17' x 10' so won't need as many as you. Does anyone in the ng have any advise on what type of tubes to use? Should spot lighting be used for specific areas? ie lathe, milling etc Regards Geoff

My workshop is 16' x 9' with white painted walls. Despite installing twelve, yes twelve, 4 foot fluorescent lamps I found there was not enough light over the lathe, so I had to fit 3 x 60 watt tungsten lamps over that part of the bench! I know my sight is not as good as it was but there must be a better way.

Cliff Coggin Kent UK