Help needed with insulation please

[richharris]

Hello all, I am in the process of building a new tropical fish room. I would of liked to build it in block and kingspan insulate the cavity but this is out of my price range, what I am asking is what would you guys build it out of and what insulation would you use it will be 30ft by 10 ft on a Insulated base, sand, DPM 50mm kingspan concrete and a mesh if that is right? I was thinking of using a concrete sectional garage battoned out and insulated? The most important thing is that its very well insulated, all ideas are welcome,please help.

 

[onecog]

Polystyrene.
You can buy it in sheet form from most builders merchants.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I was thinking of using a concrete sectional garage battoned out and insulated? .

This is possibly the worst type of construction you could actually do. Either timber framed or single skin blockwork + very thick polystyrene will be far easier than trying to insulate a concrete sectional garage.

 

[richharris]

Would the timber frame not rot with the condensation caused by the large temp differances insid to outside the temp inside has to be around 25?

 

[JohnD]

why do you think you need a timber frame? You can get bonded foam/plasterboard made by Kingspan.

You will need a vapour barrier on the room side to prevent warm, moist indoor air reaching the wall. This is often done using foil-backed plasterboard but you must tape all joints and seal any gaps at floor and ceiling.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Speaking from experience, tropical fish enclosures (ie in aquariums) running at 25°C require air conditioning to remove the moisture. Otherwise you are gonna face the condensation no matter what you do or how you build it. A good vapour barrier should protect the timber structure if that was the route you went.

Going back to initial post, pre-fab garages just do not lend themselves to adding insulation easily, that is the reason for avoiding them in this situation.