Shed Ceiling on a Budget, Ideas?

team teri on 02/11/2015 - 13:05

I'm building a shed as a workshop and home gym. To make it comfortable year round I plan to install insulation for walls and ceiling.

To hold the ceiling insulation up I will need a ceiling of sorts. Any ideas for good value options that are not too ugly?

Standard ceiling material would be Gyprock. At $6/m2 it costs more than the insulation it will hold up and would need extra noggins between the rafters, creating additional work and cost.

A dirt cheap but extremely ugly solution suggested by someone was: chickenwire. Just nail it to the rafters and put the insulation on top.

Anything in between?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Davo1111 on 02/11/2015 - 13:17

    signboard? (corflute)

  • mr626 on 02/11/2015 - 14:00

    If you are after cheap sheeting of some kind, your best bet would be to keep an eye on ebay/gumtree/facebook for someone selling it cheap- someone that has just finished a building project that over-ordered.

    When I built a 'shed' (more of a tiny cabin, proper stud frame, insulation etc) I did the interior cladding with sheets of 7mm plywood. A bit unconventional and certainly doesn't look as smooth as normal gyp-rock, but very cheap (I don't remember exactly how much, but it was the cheapest option at the time).

    Regarding thickness, I'd personally got at least 5mm.

    • team teri on 02/11/2015 - 14:38

      It sounds like your 'shed' is very similar to what I have in mind. Steel frame on concrete slab, walls and ceiling properly insulated.

      My internal wall cladding also is 7mm plywood. It turned out a little more expensive than plasterboard, but for the walls I wanted to have something strong enough that I can't punch holes into it by accident. Also, I have never installed plasterboard, but from what I read there are lots of steps involved to get to a nice and smooth finish.

      Did you leave your plywood 'as-is' or did you paint/varnish/oil it? I am tempted to leave it in its natural glory, but the wife wants everything pretty. Funny that after she showed little interest in the project at first…

      • mr626 on 02/11/2015 - 14:59

        Yeah mine is timber frame on brick footings, colorbond roof. Whole thing is warped in heavy duty sarking and have the insulation bats in walls and ceiling.

        I think my 7mm ply worked out cheaper at the time, because I intended on leaving it raw. As it turns out I did paint it with standard interior paint because we had some left over from a different project. As much as I like the 'raw' look, I'm glad I painted it as it makes the space feel a lot more light and airy (if you get what I mean). Raw timber everywhere can make a room feel a bit dark.

        My advice- if the wife wants it pretty, agree but have her help paint!

        • team teri on 02/11/2015 - 15:19

          I am sure she'd be willing to help with painting. I was quite close to agree to painted walls on the weekend, especially seeing that paint is on special at both Bunnings and Masters right now (4l for $9/$10). What stopped us is that the paint manufacturers specify a different undercoat for timber than for plaster. Instead of $10 a tub that stuff costs $45. That's not much in the scheme of things of a $10,000+ project, but things just keep adding up. And although the wife does help with the work involved in building it and will use the half that will be the home-hym she's not willing to share in the cost.

  • subywagon on 02/11/2015 - 18:18

    You could use chicken wire or something similar to hold it up there…

  • PeteM on 21/11/2015 - 15:24

    You could also use sarking, commonly know by the brand Sisalation. It's around $1.50 per square meter and is a lot stronger then it looks. I am guessing you have already considered aircell insulation, it's a single product that insulates and looks reasonable, it is very common in sheds.

    Keep in mind with paint a good primer/undercoat will reduce the required topcoat. Also have a look if you have a Dulux trade centre near by, if they have miss tints they are cheap. When I worked for them in Qld miss tints were $2.20 per litre. They also sell some budget brand products and as long as you don't ask for written quotes you should be able to ask for trade price, they might ask if you have an abn, but won't generally ask for the actual number. Also don't ask them for a written quote, if you do they will quote full retail due to some customers running off to local Dulux retailers and trying to get price matching.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join