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Outbuilding, not heated - to insulate or not?
Poured a floor (excavated, laid gravel and 100mm cellular plastic under reinforced slab) inside the concrete base last year in our old wooden outbuilding (15 m2) from the 1920s.
The exterior walls currently consist of studs and horizontal exterior paneling directly on them. No interior walls, therefore.
Planning to enhance the appearance a bit (and improve storage options) by placing tongue-and-groove boards on the inside of the studs. Installing three new windows of an older model, and a new exterior door.
But then comes the question - should one install windproof paper + insulation (without plastic in this old building) between the studs, an insulated exterior door, even though one will probably very rarely want to heat the space?
The idea is that with a new floor, roof, windows, doors, wall cladding, there's still the potential to use the house as a guesthouse in the summer, at which point one might want to heat up. Alternatively, heat it up occasionally in the winter if it’s to be used as a workspace...
But worried about condensation in the insulation of the exterior wall when it's cold inside and the outside warms up in the spring.
For the same reason, we skipped insulation in the newly built carport storage, which we also don't heat. The only issue 6 years later is a bit of black mold in a corner of the plywood wall inside the storage. Maybe that's to be expected on untreated plywood in an unheated storage room (probably should turn off the exhaust fan in the summer to not pull in warm air).
Feels a bit strange to have uninsulated stud walls, but is it perhaps the right choice from a moisture perspective if one can forgo the possibility of heating in the winter?
The exterior walls currently consist of studs and horizontal exterior paneling directly on them. No interior walls, therefore.
Planning to enhance the appearance a bit (and improve storage options) by placing tongue-and-groove boards on the inside of the studs. Installing three new windows of an older model, and a new exterior door.
But then comes the question - should one install windproof paper + insulation (without plastic in this old building) between the studs, an insulated exterior door, even though one will probably very rarely want to heat the space?
The idea is that with a new floor, roof, windows, doors, wall cladding, there's still the potential to use the house as a guesthouse in the summer, at which point one might want to heat up. Alternatively, heat it up occasionally in the winter if it’s to be used as a workspace...
But worried about condensation in the insulation of the exterior wall when it's cold inside and the outside warms up in the spring.
For the same reason, we skipped insulation in the newly built carport storage, which we also don't heat. The only issue 6 years later is a bit of black mold in a corner of the plywood wall inside the storage. Maybe that's to be expected on untreated plywood in an unheated storage room (probably should turn off the exhaust fan in the summer to not pull in warm air).
Feels a bit strange to have uninsulated stud walls, but is it perhaps the right choice from a moisture perspective if one can forgo the possibility of heating in the winter?
Perhaps it matters that the studs are 95mm; if I use the "Ekovillaskivan" cellulose insulation from Bauhaus, it is 75 mm. Reduced risk of condensation inside the wall with thinner insulation?
Should one lay the air gap at 2cm outward toward the already installed exterior panel, or? It's a rather airy panel, small gaps here and there, so I'm not really worried that it can't dry out.
Should one lay the air gap at 2cm outward toward the already installed exterior panel, or? It's a rather airy panel, small gaps here and there, so I'm not really worried that it can't dry out.
One solution is to nail on strips between the outer edge studs and then nail the wind barrier to them so that you get a small air gap.
I would definitely add insulation while you're at it! Suddenly, the conditions change and you want a little base heating in the storage.
I would definitely add insulation while you're at it! Suddenly, the conditions change and you want a little base heating in the storage.
Yes, it's definitely time to insulate now if you're already slicing/grooving up the walls on the inside.
But you become thoughtful when reading about the problems with condensation in the walls of unheated buildings:
https://www.lfs-web.se/kallstallt-hus-mogel.htm
But you become thoughtful when reading about the problems with condensation in the walls of unheated buildings:
https://www.lfs-web.se/kallstallt-hus-mogel.htm
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