Hello, thanks for the tips. I am fortunate my shed has been wrapped with a breathable membrane up the walls, would I still need an air gap to insulate?
Ideally, the air gap comes between the outer cladding and the breathable membrane. if the membrane is already on the inner walls of the shed you'd be creating an air gap between this and the insulation. The purpose of the gap is to stop water from penetrating the inner layers of the wall and to protect the cladding from rot. If you put an air gap between your membrane and the insulation your cladding isn't protected, nor is it ventilated. TL;DR - you can still do this, but your cladding may rot over time because any moisture that does penetrate the cladding doesn't have anywhere else to go.
Hi, I also have a shed with a vapour barrier, the barrier is on the outside of the frame then external cladding directly on top, so there is no gap between cladding and barrier if that makes sense. Is this built wrong and if so where should the vapour barrier be. Also what's the problem with using foil wrapped bubble wrap. Thanks in advance
@@jcorchards Hello. The problem with having the vapour barrier right against the cladding is that the cladding is much more permeable to water than the vapour barrier. This means that any water that penetrates the cladding will be trapped against the vapour barrier and over time this leads to water damage and rot. Ideally, the vapour barrier is between an air gap and your insulation material, leaving your cladding to absorb and expel moisture without affecting the inside of the building. There's no inherent problem with using foil-wrapped bubble wrap, but I'd steer clear of this if you have electrics in the building. The main thing to appreciate is that this is a cheaper, much less effective alternative to foam board insulation. If you're on a budget you can use this, but it won't work as well as thicker, sturdier insulation.
Thanks for the reply and explanation, when I bought my shed I had the option of a vapour barrier, which I went for thinking it would be much better to have it built with the barrier in place. I. E the frame wrapped before cladding, rather than retro fit afterwards where you can't get under the framing. Does this mean in my construction with the frame wrapped then cladded I can't really insulate, as I can't now make an air gap between vapour barrier and cladding. Thanks for any Inpuy and advice. Just to add the membrane does make the shed feel altogether different than just timber cladding, so maybe I don't need to insulate 🤔
You don’t need an air gap, if you maintain the outer walls and roof properly it won’t get penetrated with rain water. It’s impossible to get an air gap when using standard insulation, you have to pack the cavity, for ventilation you need a small vent in the floor as in static caravans.
What do we know - we've only been doing this for 35 years! We build and install our buildings in Scotland and the North of England, where there's often biblical amounts of rain, and despite our customers' best efforts, water penetration still happens. This video and the one that follows it show a successful way to prevent this problem.
@@multipreach2674 In our experience, if you want a fully watertight building, you need more than one layer of cladding. Our single-skinned sheds are pretty excellent, but sometimes water ingress still happens. That's why our 3-Tier Sheds exist for customers who don't want to take the chance. We've also seen what happens when our customers insulate their buildings without an air gap - any moisture that does penetrate the cladding gets trapped and causes rot. That's why we recommend leaving the air gap.
Ok, so here's a question for you, why do you think it's important to leave a gap between the insulation and the wood... tell me exactly what you think the unventilated gap achieves.
Oh, I don't think it's important to leave a gap. I know so. However, the video should say to ventilate the cavity by drilling ventilation holes. I made a load of videos that day and forgot to mention the ventilation.
thank you for your instructions on insulatation i really needed ta know all of your info thank yiu again..
Hello, thanks for the tips. I am fortunate my shed has been wrapped with a breathable membrane up the walls, would I still need an air gap to insulate?
Ideally, the air gap comes between the outer cladding and the breathable membrane. if the membrane is already on the inner walls of the shed you'd be creating an air gap between this and the insulation. The purpose of the gap is to stop water from penetrating the inner layers of the wall and to protect the cladding from rot. If you put an air gap between your membrane and the insulation your cladding isn't protected, nor is it ventilated.
TL;DR - you can still do this, but your cladding may rot over time because any moisture that does penetrate the cladding doesn't have anywhere else to go.
@@GilliesMackayLtd thank you
Hi, I also have a shed with a vapour barrier, the barrier is on the outside of the frame then external cladding directly on top, so there is no gap between cladding and barrier if that makes sense. Is this built wrong and if so where should the vapour barrier be. Also what's the problem with using foil wrapped bubble wrap. Thanks in advance
@@jcorchards Hello. The problem with having the vapour barrier right against the cladding is that the cladding is much more permeable to water than the vapour barrier. This means that any water that penetrates the cladding will be trapped against the vapour barrier and over time this leads to water damage and rot.
Ideally, the vapour barrier is between an air gap and your insulation material, leaving your cladding to absorb and expel moisture without affecting the inside of the building.
There's no inherent problem with using foil-wrapped bubble wrap, but I'd steer clear of this if you have electrics in the building. The main thing to appreciate is that this is a cheaper, much less effective alternative to foam board insulation. If you're on a budget you can use this, but it won't work as well as thicker, sturdier insulation.
Thanks for the reply and explanation, when I bought my shed I had the option of a vapour barrier, which I went for thinking it would be much better to have it built with the barrier in place. I. E the frame wrapped before cladding, rather than retro fit afterwards where you can't get under the framing. Does this mean in my construction with the frame wrapped then cladded I can't really insulate, as I can't now make an air gap between vapour barrier and cladding. Thanks for any Inpuy and advice. Just to add the membrane does make the shed feel altogether different than just timber cladding, so maybe I don't need to insulate 🤔
You don’t need an air gap, if you maintain the outer walls and roof properly it won’t get penetrated with rain water. It’s impossible to get an air gap when using standard insulation, you have to pack the cavity, for ventilation you need a small vent in the floor as in static caravans.
What do we know - we've only been doing this for 35 years! We build and install our buildings in Scotland and the North of England, where there's often biblical amounts of rain, and despite our customers' best efforts, water penetration still happens. This video and the one that follows it show a successful way to prevent this problem.
@@GilliesMackayLtd I’m not saying that it’s wrong or a bad idea.
@@multipreach2674 In our experience, if you want a fully watertight building, you need more than one layer of cladding. Our single-skinned sheds are pretty excellent, but sometimes water ingress still happens. That's why our 3-Tier Sheds exist for customers who don't want to take the chance.
We've also seen what happens when our customers insulate their buildings without an air gap - any moisture that does penetrate the cladding gets trapped and causes rot. That's why we recommend leaving the air gap.
Ok, so here's a question for you, why do you think it's important to leave a gap between the insulation and the wood... tell me exactly what you think the unventilated gap achieves.
Oh, I don't think it's important to leave a gap. I know so. However, the video should say to ventilate the cavity by drilling ventilation holes. I made a load of videos that day and forgot to mention the ventilation.
Please check out the next video in this series, where I demonstrate exactly how to ventilate the gap in a retrofit insulation job.
@GilliesMackayLtd saw it, the 2 little holes drilled through the bottom. Genius🤣