HELP ME! Garden studio ( 2WW chapel) Insulating probs

[grincaster]

the story....
During the second World War, a chapel was erected when the local church was bombed. 10 yrs ago, my parents cut this to size, plasterboarded, carpeted, installed electricity, radiator,phone line.... & was used as a studio...roof leaked-roof relaid. I decided it needed renovating... gutted it a bit too far....

I stripped off the wall paper, scrapped filler & paper joining plasterboard, & hiding nails,to expose 0.5-4cm gaps between joints. started filling this with painters chaulk? rubbery filler. Behind the plasterboard there is a plastic membrane sheet & 50 yr old timber cladding. I'm worried im sealing the airgap between the layers? what is this joining paper? will lining paper cut to size or masking tape do?

I want to insulate the interior, making it mould & condensation proof, wallpaper it with lining paper & paint it, strip the hideous green paint on the truss & windows fixing the holes, & seal a 1cm gap by 10cm between the floor & wall, the floor is suspended wood over a concrete base. (im worried there may be a rat inbetween. ) question is how?

Please look at the photos.... any advice or ideas will be a godsend (sic)
I have 1 week to put it back together before my parents return

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[paintycait]

I think that you haven't had any replies because the project is so big and the time limit is so short and you've kind of got so many issues to deal with here that it seems impossible.
First off I think I would advise you to take a step back and reassess your time frame. I admire your intention and think your parents will be thrilled that you have taken the project on but I would present them with the idea started but not finished and think through how you are going to achieve this properly otherwise I think you may end up giving them half a job.

OK, the paper tape you removed is necessary, it is jointing tape that goes over the joints in plasterboard that allows the board (or rather the timber that is holding it in place) still to move but the seal to remain intact and not crack. So you need to fill and tape the joints. You can get sticky backed scrim made of plastic which wouldn't be my choice but is easy for a DIY job. Alternatively go and buy more of the original style of tape...just ask for joint tape at the decorators suppliers. I don't do much taping so I hope that Zampa or one of the others will step in here and give you the easiest method of achieving this given that you have already filled with caulk.
Insulating the interior is a bit of a difficult one, can't really be done just by decorating, it's more of a remove the plaster board and put insulation behind it and re-plasterboard sort of a job...not possible in the time frame and on your own IMHO.
Inhibiting mould is an easier one, there are a whole gammut of products on the market that inhibit mould from primers through to topcoats. Unfortunately many of the topcoats come in only very basic colours and you can't paint over them as this stops the mould inhibition. If there is a major problem with damp though, you may never kill the problem unless you get to the source and sort that. Any old mould needs to be sorted before you continue so you need to wash down with a mould/mildew killer. You can use a normal antibcaterial product such as Dettox but it is cheaper to buy a wash from the decorators suppliers. Condenstaion can only be stopped at source, extraction or a dehumidifier might help.
This range of products may be helpful given your problems:
http://www.zinsser.com/subcat.asp?CategoryID=4

I wouldn't bother to strip the painted timber (mainly because of the time factor), I'd sand it all down, removing any flaking or unsound paint, prime any raw wood, fill, calk etc, undercoat it and then put a new coat of gloss or eggshell on top (if it's eggshell you can put two coats of eggshell as opposed to u/coat and gloss).

The gap between wall and floor sounds like a joinery job. If you buy rat poison make sure you get the stuff that renders the rat smell-less after death optherwise that studio space won't be fun for a while.

I'm about done with what I can suggest except to say that you should find yourself a really good decorators merchant and builders merchant where you can ask advice and get good products. Look in the yellow pages. Let us know how the project progresses.
Cait