Insulating/Framing steel shed in FL

[crustycorcus]

Let me start off by letting y'all know how non-handy I am. Not even in the slightest. With that said, I'm kinda diving headfirst into the DIY realm after moving into a new space. Bought a tent, but it takes up too much room(just a little 2br house). The plan is to instead insulate my 12'x20' steel shed, and frame/finish a couple smaller rooms within it to grow in. Before I get started on a list and head up to home depot, is there anyone with any foresight?

 

[oldskol4evr]

depends on if there is a concrete floor or dirt floor,either way a steel building is harder to keep cool than you think

 

[crustycorcus]

Plywood in there now. Guess I haven't looked under it to see, but I'd assume dirt. Planned on using a couple window units til I can afford a mini split. Is this a pipe dream? Itll be 70 degrees here today.

 

[Anthem]

Plywood in there now. Guess I haven't looked under it to see, but I'd assume dirt. Planned on using a couple window units til I can afford a mini split. Is this a pipe dream? Itll be 70 degrees here today.

You can achieve your goals with some pretty simple building materials.
#1. Your Floor, make sure of what is under the floor. At this time consider how you would ultimately want to grow. If you want to ultimately do something that requires the pots to have run off, plan it now.. Do not wait for later and doing a remodel. Consider a floor drain with 1/4" per foot of slope. You can get away with 1/8" per foot. Also you are going to want to waterproof the floor since it is wood. Consider an elastomeric coating. Also install insulation in the floor if it is not concrete or consider pouring a concrete floor.
#2. Walls and ceilings. Use metal studs, there are charts to show you the gauge required. At the same time consider what sort of insulating properties you are going to need to keep the rooms at the correct temperature. Look on line for your climate zone and you can get an idea of the needs by looking at your zone. Word of caution here, as mentioned above steel buildings get hot, so while the zone chart may say you can get away with R-13 insultation plan on a factor of like 2 for the walls, floors and ceilings. Look into Polystyrene sheets for added R values. I would use drywall rather than plywood for the walls. Plywood is wood and gives bugs a better place to live/hide. You can achieve your goals but you are going to have to pony up some money and one last point forget the window units and go straight for the mini splits. If you are that tight on cash I would probably wait until I had the cash to do it right the first time rather than a remodel.

 

[Chad.Westport]

Don't forget about the vent holes! I've built plenty of outbuildings but its hard to give a step by step without eyes on the material / location. In general, I have used youtube for a variety of projects that I needed more info on. Bob Villa is a dude most people trust, so I look at his info. There are also many other good sources and I like the fact I can watch a video. I am more of a visual learner than one who learns best by book.

 

[oldskol4evr]

Plywood in there now. Guess I haven't looked under it to see, but I'd assume dirt. Planned on using a couple window units til I can afford a mini split. Is this a pipe dream? Itll be 70 degrees here today.

im more interested in whats above,with metal you have to treat it just like a mobile home,you can pack insulation in there too you turn green,but there has to be a dead air spot.
the older homes had about 6in of insulation sandwiched in the roof,during a hot summer day it gets so hot in the house you just melt,i always found my best way while living in them was to go out about 6pm in summer and taking a water hose and watering the top of house ,were at least i could sleep in a cold house,you can laugh but sure enough that how they are.
that said all you have to do is leave enough dead air space in the walls were air can still breath between the steel building and the insulation,like sandwich your insulation into your studed walls and have a inch of air space from steel to insulation backing.
what we did in the day was build a snow roof over the mobile home,lean too which ever you call it,but the 4x4 post ran down sides of home and then the roof was over the steel roof,that little bit of room usally 4inches between steel roof and new roof made all the difrence in the world,also stopped all water leaks,the air gets caught in between and cools as it exits.
so that is the sides explained,with the ceiling just do the same except build a complete ceiling as you would in your home,all air you exhaust out will go out the attic,a plus is no one see the lights on

 

[crustycorcus]

@oldskol4evr What's above it? As in above the roof? Or inside the ceiling? Unfortunately it's wide open above the building. We've only got one decent sized oak on our whole lot, no coverage whatsoever. Inside the shed it's still wide open to the metal. Shed only about 6 months old. Hadn't put much thought into venting quite yet, wanted to gather opinions on the project being doable on a budget first. Was thinking 1.5" foam board insulation, then drywall. Thought of putting up some sort of screen or something that could block the sun a bit? Like you say a lean to or a big awning type deal. Would have to be strong though, hurricane season is a bitch.

 

[crustycorcus]

@Chad.Westport had planned on venting from the rooms to the ceiling space. Then scrub it out a vent from the ceiling. Figured scrubber exits one side, passive intake on the other? I'm definitely a visual learner as well. Words make no sense lol just show me. Youtube and reddit are my best buds. I'll check out Bob, the name sounds familiar.

 

[Anthem]

To be honest, if you are going to consider dumping the cash to build a setup like that, you will probably want to consider a sealed room with CO2 enrichment. That being said, no venting just a carbon filter attached to a 6" fan in each room is all you need.

 

[crustycorcus]

@Anthem you've got my attention with the floor drain and slope. A detail I would've regretted breezing right past. Was unsure as to where I should start with waterproof flooring, you're a godsend
Can't even lie, you kind of lost me a little with the metal studs and insulation ratings. I'm sure they will make more sense as I delve into researching my climate zone. Is there a site or two that you would call reputable and up to date?

 

[oldskol4evr]

@oldskol4evr What's above it? As in above the roof? Or inside the ceiling? Unfortunately it's wide open above the building. We've only got one decent sized oak on our whole lot, no coverage whatsoever. Inside the shed it's still wide open to the metal. Shed only about 6 months old. Hadn't put much thought into venting quite yet, wanted to gather opinions on the project being doable on a budget first. Was thinking 1.5" foam board insulation, then drywall. Thought of putting up some sort of screen or something that could block the sun a bit? Like you say a lean to or a big awning type deal. Would have to be strong though, hurricane season is a bitch.

the foam board would work just fine,without a pic of building hard for me to direct you right,i know all about hurricane season mate haaha,if the buildng has room to just leave open that fine too,just make booths in there ,just like your tent but in the building,only issue is wind and breeze,you can tend to light leaks but keeping it cool is a whole difrent critter,as soon as you mention hurricane season,yep you gonna need ac no doubt.
so this is my setup ,when im growing,i have a utility room about 5 ft wide and around 15 ft long,ceiling is 7 ft,door opens to outside,the other door of course is from the basement to go outside,but i set my 2x4x5 tall tent up in there and use forced wind,that meaning i have a intake fan and filter setup for fresh air into tent,then i have a fan filter combo for exhaust ,then a small ocscalating fan inside,so cant leave door open at night,dont want no varmites up in my house ,you dig,during day i leave it open,problem is i cant run summer plants,i live were the triple digit weather is 4 months out the year,so august 1st i pop seeds,and 1 month later i run them girls into the tent for flower,i try really hard to get 2 full runs before the heat is on,i run first run in soil,second in coco,then i have enough smoke for the year,just using forced wind,no ac no heat

 

[crustycorcus]

@Anthem never grown in a sealed room or used CO2. It's really as simple as ensuring it's sealed and releasing the gas on a timer? And is the scrubber still just for smell in this scenario?

 

[Anthem]

@Anthem you've got my attention with the floor drain and slope. A detail I would've regretted breezing right past. Was unsure as to where I should start with waterproof flooring, you're a godsend
Can't even lie, you kind of lost me a little with the metal studs and insulation ratings. I'm sure they will make more sense as I delve into researching my climate zone. Is there a site or two that you would call reputable and up to date?

Start out by using Google and look up Title 24 temperature zones. I think that is a good place to start. What I would basically do is make a box with a ceiling so you have the air space being talked about above. Secondly, I would not even think about air venting just add CO2 in bottle form. You could do a burner but then you have to vent because the burners give off some other gas that I cannot remember the name of but it messes up the plants. In a perfect world, 6" rock wool cubes and drain to waste would be my recommendation. But bear in mind this is no cheap endeavor.

 

[Chad.Westport]

@Chad.Westport had planned on venting from the rooms to the ceiling space. Then scrub it out a vent from the ceiling. Figured scrubber exits one side, passive intake on the other? I'm definitely a visual learner as well. Words make no sense lol just show me. Youtube and reddit are my best buds. I'll check out Bob, the name sounds familiar.

That sounds like a great plan for venting, up up and away.

Bob Vila was the ultimate 80's handyman, he's the guy with the orange coat. lol. Yeah, he's old school trusted. Probably some new science to things, but I know he wouldn't cut any corners and that is the important part to me.

 

[Anthem]

@Anthem never grown in a sealed room or used CO2. It's really as simple as ensuring it's sealed and releasing the gas on a timer? And is the scrubber still just for smell in this scenario?

Co2 is actually really simple. You have the tank and a controller that turns the tank on an off. The controller I use is by trolmaster. It has varies modules you can plug in to manage tasks. The sensor has a light sensor and only turns on when the lights are on. Sealed room, it is not that difficult some peel and stick Weather stripping and a door sweep and the door is sealed. The rest of the room should already be sealed.