Insulating a brick shed?

Irish_wolf

Hey guys looking for some advice as google wasn't exactly helpful.

I have a shed down the back that's made from concrete construction blocks. It's large enough, and I've turned it into a games room type thing.

I've done some DIY already, new double glazed doors, insulating roof, sealed the floors and put in wood floorboards, expanding foam into any crack or hole. But the walls are essentially the wall of the garden with a bit of white paint and in the winter the place gets very cold very fast when no one is down there so pretty sure I'm losing most of the heat through there.

Plastering or putting up dry lining would be a nightmare due to the shape, there's not really enough space for it anyway but if that's the only way then maybe I'll do that.

Is there anything else I can do though, lash on a thick layer of masonry paint or something? Or would that just be a waste of time and money.

djr15

All depends how much your willing to spend, materials/labor.

Irish_wolf

Well I'm thinking that if we ever decide to sell the house the way it's set up now it's quite a nice addition, but if it were insulted properly it'd add a good bit extra to the value of the house. But it's still a shed at the end of the day, so not really sure what I'm willing to spend, couple hundred at most for now anyway.

As for labour I can do all that myself with my brothers.

djr15

I would suggest that insulated slap with taped joints and paint would be the easiest option, maybe fit a small solid fuel stove for heat to keep warm overnight and prevent dampness. External render would also help the thermal properties of the wall. Mind you insulated slab isn't cheap, shop around for leftovers or damaged sheets on adverts etc... best of luck

Macspower

insulated slab or a spray on product called walltite. neither are a cheap option.

ART6

I had a similar situation -- a concrete block boiler house which, having replaced to old internal oil boiler with a new outdoor one, I wanted to turn the boiler house into a workshop. Like yours it was just single course construction, and was cold and damp. First I lined the walls with 1000 grade HDPE membrane, bought from a builders providers for €25. It comes in an enormous roll and was enough to line the boiler house ten times over if I wanted to! Next I fixed rough sawn timber battens ay 2 ft intervals floor to ceiling, and then fixed 15mm ply (€15 per sheet) to the battens with screws. The advantage of that was that I was then able to run power and lighting cables in the gap behind the ply, and could fit socket outlets, shelves, etc wherever I wanted by simply screwing them to the ply. Fixing the ply with screws had the additional advantage that if I wanted to add another poser socket or whatever later, I could simply take off the panel to reach the cables.

The most expensive component was the ply, but it was cheaper, stronger, and easier to handle than plasterboard. My workshop is always warmer than the outside, and is bone dry, so while it was not a cheap job (I think about €200) it was well worth doing. The overall inside size was reduced by only about 30mm all round, so not a great loss of space.