Insulating and inner wall covering for a Home Depot shed.

Subject: insulating and inner wall covering the upper story of a Home Depot shed. Hardy Plank sided.
My husband is going to insulate the upper story walls with R-19 roll insulation from HD. ( this upper level gets REALLY HOT in the summer)
He does not want to use drywall for the inner walls over this insulation but wants instead to use 4 by 8' wood paneling as it will be less work and will not need painting.
He intends to air-condition this area for his hobby room.

I have been giving my opinion that I think using the paneling is a bad idea... not as fire proof and he should not just butt these panels together without stripping the seams.
I wonder about a moisture barrier. The insulation is the pink stuff with the paper.

The lower floor will get the insulation with drywall and paint... this will be my hobby area.

Any opinions out there? I would really like to be wrong about my concerns.
carmen

carmen stuart wrote:Subject: insulating and inner wall covering the upper story of a Home Depot shed. Hardy Plank sided.
My husband is going to insulate the upper story walls with R-19 roll insulation from HD. ( this upper level gets REALLY HOT in the summer)
He does not want to use drywall for the inner walls over this insulation but wants instead to use 4 by 8' wood paneling as it will be less work and will not need painting.
He intends to air-condition this area for his hobby room.

I have been giving my opinion that I think using the paneling is a bad idea... not as fire proof and he should not just butt these panels together without stripping the seams.
I wonder about a moisture barrier. The insulation is the pink stuff with the paper.

The lower floor will get the insulation with drywall and paint... this will be my hobby area.

Any opinions out there? I would really like to be wrong about my concerns.
carmen

Hi Carmen,

Cutting corners usually ends in disaster. If air leaks into the wall cavities, it can cause condensation issues, so I don't ever leave unseamed paneling. I typically drywall first, tape and mud and then panel. Fiberglass is the worst insulation on the market. I never use the stuff. If I were your husband, I would hire a crew to dense-pack cellulose into the walls; then he could get away with no drywall since the walls will no longer have draughts.

Now the lower floor. You can plaster directly onto drywall. It seems hard, but you will be so very happy that you went with a breathable wall covering that doesn't offgas for the next 25 years. Yep 25 years.

Moisture barrier?
The pink stuff has a kraft paper vapor barrier built in, but this should be on the outside of the wall in Georgia. If you have detailed your shed properly, you probably don't need one.

The other issue with sheds is that they use 2x4s instead of 2x6s as rafters in the roofing structure, often just ends leaning against each other with flat plate fasteners. There needs to be a ridge beam going down the center peak of the roof with the 2x4s (actually 2x6s or doubled 2x4s in a shed) attached to the ridge beam. The roof will start to sag with the weight of the roof and shingles if it's just 2x4s, not to mention the weight of any kind of dry wall or paneling.

Carmen didn't say how big the shed was, but any expanse over 10 feet needs extra weight bearing support beams, (Or an engineered ridge beam for a longer expanse.) In a tiny space that means an upright post every 10 feet, unless the roofing structure is retrofitted with the proper size lumber, possibly trusses, and built in the proper way.

Hurricane tie down fasteners are a good idea where the top of the wall meets the roof. They are not expensive and can be screwed in easily to the framing.

Hi Carmen,

Welcome...

I usually don't get into "modern building" any more because of the huge issues and misinformation out there about it. I will add what my 30 years has taught me and feel free to ask more questions.

Subject: insulating and inner wall covering the upper story of a Home Depot shed. Hardy Plank sided.

Not much I can say here...its what you bought and have...

My husband is going to insulate the upper story walls with R-19 roll insulation from HD. ( this upper level gets REALLY HOT in the summer)

Pink spun glass insulation is probably the largest "con game" there is in the building trades...Its list of issues (cons) vs pros is extensive.

Suffers greatly from interstitial moisture issues especially when subjected to larger ambient temperature differentials...Leading to mold and other issues.

It is notorious for "conductive air current issues" as it is not dense enough to block this further loosing R value which boarder on false advertising...

As the temperature outside goes down...so does the R value which is basically a show stopper in its own right sense it is meant to "insulate" against inside energy loss, which it does very poorly compared to other materials.

There are more "cons" but you get the idea...

The only "modern insulation" I recommend and it actually has a history of proven performance over the last hundred years plus is mineral wool batt and board systems. Mineral wool can be purchased through HD.

He does not want to use drywall for the inner walls over this insulation but wants instead to use 4 by 8' wood paneling as it will be less work and will not need painting. He intends to air-condition this area for his hobby room. I have been giving my opinion that I think using the paneling is a bad idea... not as fire proof and he should not just butt these panels together without stripping the seams.

I like locally grown and sustainably harvested boards and plywood has to many glues that out gass nasty stuff, and are not "permeable enough" for a healthing living/working environment. Fire is not a issue as there are "fire resistant" sprays that are nontoxic that can be apply very easily on them if this is what you husband insists on using...Plywood is not a very sustainable or environmentally positive material in most regards and other wall cladding systems could be used besides wood. There is no reason to tap seams and this is a wasted effort in most applications as the materials (glues) fail much more rapidly than most builders realize and out gass nasty stuff also. You want to achieve a "draft proof" breathable wall...not "air tight" as too many modern builders are practicing...

I wonder about a moisture barrier. The insulation is the pink stuff with the paper.

Not necessary...and do not perform as intended over time. These "moisture barriers" are the leading cause of "black mold" and "building sickness." They are a "concept trend" in building with not proven track record and already beginning to illustrate countless failures...

The lower floor will get the insulation with drywall and paint... this will be my hobby area.

Not my recommendation, but this is the most common practice today...

If you want fast and well insulated...I would fill the stud voids with mineral batt insulation, then cover this with 20 mm or thicker mineral wool board, making sure that everything is "tightly fitted" and then cover this directly with an inexpensive cloth like burlap or related textile. Textile panels could also be made to fit on the walls and ceiling if removal and access to electrical wire is needed at a later date. This system is fast, covers large areas, affords ease of access, and can be done with simple tooling. The panel system isn't any different than creating "stretch canvas frames" for oil painting, which some are as large as 24' x 16' in size for large mural paints. It is an aesthetically pleasing system with huge flexibility in decor modifications with natural paints and other textile and related systems augmenting it...light weight...super fast...flexible and relatively inexpensive comparatively...

My next choice for speed, cost and healthy living is wood board, then the pleasure and luxury of real lime and/or earth plasters....

Regards,

j

I'm insulating my Lavender Boutique/workshop with hemp batting. withhttps://www.hempitecture.com/hempwool
The space is a 10'x12' section of a pre-fab Amish built 22'x12'  barn.
I've lately become very aware of and disgusted by the general toxicity of building materials and the amount of waste generated  and am striving to use more sustainably responsible products.
I really don't want to use a vapor barrier of plastic sheeting and after the last comment in this thread have decided to just staple heavy canvas in my color choices on top of the hemp.
This takes plastic, dry wall, tape/paste, sanding, paneling, paint out of the picture.

I don't know your rodent situation, but mice and squirrels just love fibreglass pink insulation.

Mineral wool batt and packed cellulose, not so much.

carmen stuart wrote:Subject:  insulating and inner wall covering the upper story of a Home Depot shed.  Hardy Plank sided.
My husband is going to insulate the upper story walls with R-19 roll insulation from HD.  ( this upper level gets REALLY HOT in the summer)
He does not want to use drywall for the inner walls over this insulation but wants instead to use 4 by 8' wood paneling as it will be less work and will not need painting.
He intends to air-condition this area for his hobby room.

 

Hot air tends to rise, so especially during the winter it's important to have good insulation at the top of a structure. This is where there's the most potential for heat loss. An ordinary house has a ceiling just above the walls which helps trap in heat, when you have an open ceiling such as this, you get even more heat rising upwards and you need additional insulation at the higher level to make up for it. Pink fiberglass insulation alone is not going to cut it. When I built my tiny home from a similar structure I used pink insulation with foamboard insulation on top of it. Foamboard can replace drywall, particle board, or anything else used as an inside finishing layer, and unlike these other materials it provides an additional layer of insulation. My experience with this is that it worked great and the structure holds heat very well during the winter time.

Foam board insulation below batt insulation for a roof would work well for draftproofing, but never leave it exposed as a finish. It is combustible, and if a fire started it would make tons of toxic smoke very rapidly as well as further fueling the fire. You need to cover it with a fire resistant layer like sheetrock.

Also, if sunlight can get to it, it will degrade over time and turn to powder on the surface.

Glenn Herbert wrote:Foam board insulation below batt insulation for a roof would work well for draftproofing, but never leave it exposed as a finish. It is combustible, and if a fire started it would make tons of toxic smoke very rapidly as well as further fueling the fire. You need to cover it with a fire resistant layer like sheetrock.

Also, if sunlight can get to it, it will degrade over time and turn to powder on the surface.

The foamboard I purchased has a layer of aluminum foil on it. This protects it from light and reduces the fire hazard. Using this material also makes it very easy to cover the cracks, instead of using putty like you would with drywall, you buy a special kind of tape, similar to duct tape, that's made out of matching aluminum foil. The aluminum foil also reflects infrared heat back down and helps with insulation that way. You can buy it this type of foamboard and tape at Home Depot, Lowe's etc.