Garden Office Insulation

[macsecurity2011]

Hi

i am going to build a log cabin type garden office in the garden. The construction will be 28mm thick wood.

It is a pre fabricated cabin but it is not insulated and there is no option from the company im buying it from to insulate it.

It will be used all through the year so insulation with our weather i think is a must.

What is the best way to insulate the cabin? Woulld it be to put insulation board in the roof floor and walls and then cover with gyproc? or is there a better way.

thanks

 

[flameport]

You could do as you suggest, however if you want to use this all year, why bother with the flimsy prefab thing at all?

The better way is to construct the building from scratch, and therefore not use flimsy 28mm timbers for the structure, or windows which have greenhouse glazing in them, or doors which will never fit properly.
You can then have a decent thickness of insulation, a building which is the size and shape you want, and is actually usable for the whole year.

 

[^woody^]

You can't really mean 28mm timbers can you?

Depending on what design this cabin is will depend on the best way to insulate it - ie if its really logs or if its a timber frame with pretend logs or just timber clad

And for all year round use, you would want a substantial thickness of insulation - 200mm quilt or 150mm foil-backed foam

You need some sort of draught and vapour barrier too

 

[foxhole]

28mm timber, ? that's called a SHED.

 

[flameport]

28mm 'logs' means you get a shed something like this:
http://www.tigersheds.com/product_detail.asp?prod=33

Totally unsuitable for all year use, or fitting insulation into.

 

[macsecurity2011]

Hi,

Yeah im sure the logs are 28mm thick.

Not a hundred % on the construction wether it is really a frame with logs nailed on for looks.

It is sold as a log cabin but can be used for an office or whatever you like really.

My wife likes it because it looks good but i worry about condensation and basically the amount of heat it would take to keep it warm but i would just be throwing my money away trying to keep it warm.

We were originally just going to construct something out of wood and solid framed so we could insulate and gyproc it so i think this might be the way to go. Just might not be as nice on the eye!

thanks

 

[flameport]

We were originally just going to construct something out of wood and solid framed so we could insulate and gyproc it so i think this might be the way to go. Just might not be as nice on the eye!

That is what you should do. Cheaper and better.
4x2 for the frame, infilled with 100mm insulation board (such as Celotex). On the inside, fix 50mm insulation board over the frame, tape all joints to ensure the vapour barrier is intact, and fix plasterboard over the top.
With that wall thickness, you can then fit proper double glazed windows and doors.

If you want a similar external appearance to the prefab log cabin thing, clad the outside with T&G boards.

With the prefab effort, you won't be able to keep it warm, no matter how much heating is put in there. it will be freezing in the winter, and boiling hot in the summer.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Whatever you do DO NOT buy anything from Garden Living.

All the evidence points to them being a company run by liars, cheats and thieves, so you can have no guarantee that they won't lie to you, cheat you, or steal from you.

Steer well clear if you have any sense.

 

[tkilmore]

To all the doubters and pessimists above, in have a 28 mm 'shed' (log cabin) from garden buildings d irect, it is insulated with 50mm celotex all round and double glazing, it has a simple thermostatic fan heater. Contrary to your remarks it makes an absolutely wonderful garden office, warm and cosy.
Heating costs are diminutive, especialyl compared to renting an office!!!

Why don't you all get off your high horses and actually give some realistic advice for a change. Just because you think it can't be done on a budget, doesn't mean it can't. Your not always right you know!

Tom
[/img]

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

What is the point of your stupid post and furthermore where's the thanks for replying to your stupid thread about building a conservatory straight off a concrete drive? Muppet!

 

[tkilmore]

Freddymecurystwin, tut tut, nobber!

 

[snapperpaul]

probably an old post , and the log cabin has been built by now, but here is my 2p's worth

i built an L shaped cabin 5m x3m x6m, the office park is effectively 3mx3m
supplied by dunster house

the logs are 28mm, with the roof and floor T&G, i opted for double glazed windows and doors, plus floor insulation, and shingles for the roof material

once built i added 50mm celotex foil on both sides between 67mm CLS timbers, and plasterboard over the top, on both the walls and ceiling

it was completed last november before the heavy snows.

i used it daily without issue and just used a small oil filled rad to take the initial chill out for about an hour. The long pars is 5mx3m and also insulated the walls, but not the roof, the snow on the roof of this section melted faster than over the office, despite only the office being heated.

One thing i would advise, is that you wait at least 1 summer before doing the internal install, as the longs shrunk considerably in width, but the internal plasterboards and battens stopped the whole thing shrinking, so i ended up with about a 5 - 8mm gap between the logs towards the top, this was recified by removing the internal plasterboard and batterns and cutting them down - i royal PIA, the company had advised that the logs would shrink, but i expected that to happen over a period of years NOT months- the cabin is south facing, and it was the facing wall that shrunk the most and the quickest - all this despite 2 liberal coats of preservative

Hope this helps

ps - i still refer to it as a shed, rather than the correct term of bespoke log cabin office- shed rolls off the tongue easier....

here are a couple of pics
office

outside before landscaping

 

[tkilmore]

Looks great, thanks for pics, what was the budget?

Tom

 

[snapperpaul]

The total ended up at 6k, but that included a total landscape of the garden, with a large 8ft wall, gate etc, the removal of the old prefab garage with asbestos based roof, the base alone took 5tonne of ballast, and levelling the plot took 2 skips

The bas eprice of the cabin was a little over 4k, before upgrading doors , windows, shingles etc
Other extras included lights, electrics in both areas (18 sockets in each), 4mm aroured cable run from the house, contract grade carpet tiles, workbench etc etc the list goes on

 

[flameport]

probably an old post

It is.

While it is possible to hag these sheds into some kind of usable space, why bother?
The point I was making back in July was that for the same money or less, you could have built a wooden framed building with proper standards of construction and none of the inevitable problems that these 'log' shed affairs have.

The bas eprice of the cabin was a little over 4k, before upgrading doors , windows, shingles etc
...
the logs are 28mm, with the roof and floor T&G, i opted for double glazed windows and doors, plus floor insulation, and shingles for the roof material
...
once built i added 50mm celotex foil on both sides between 67mm CLS timbers, and plasterboard over the top, on both the walls and ceiling
...
One thing i would advise, is that you wait at least 1 summer before doing the internal install, as the longs shrunk considerably in width

£4000 for a wooden shack which did not include the proper doors & windows, the insulation, the extra timber studwork, plasterboard, roof shingles, electricals or internal finishes.
Essentially a pile of very expensive wooden sticks.