Converting a garage to reptile room

[Slurm]

Im thinking about converting the garage into a reptile room.

My garage is not in any way insulated and gets very cold aswell as very hot. So im going to need to insulate the roof and double skin the garage door.
Whats best to insulate the roof, its a standard flat roof with rafters.

Im also thinking i need to possibly put in a extractor fan for when its gets too hot in the summer.

New Door and frame also....

Has anyone else done this and got any advice.

[Big Red One]

Originally Posted by Slurm

Im thinking about converting the garage into a reptile room.

My garage is not in any way insulated and gets very cold aswell as very hot. So im going to need to insulate the roof and double skin the garage door.
Whats best to insulate the roof, its a standard flat roof with rafters.

Im also thinking i need to possibly put in a extractor fan for when its gets too hot in the summer.

New Door and frame also....

Has anyone else done this and got any advice.

I haven't done it yet but have certainly thought about it !
My problem is there's too much other stuff in there too that I would have to house elsewhere ..

I think the other thing to bear in mind is you will probably need building regs and planning permissions sorting out as it's a change of use/design...
I think in my case it may just be cheaper/easier to have a new extension built and start from scratch (or kick out the kids onto the streets and use their rooms... hmmm ? )
Let me know if you get a plan of action - I might nick it !!!!

[Rewired]

Depends how cold your garage gets? I think it should be fine if u have adequate heating inside the enclosures it should be fine. Im assuming you would have your heatlamps etc on thermostats so in the summer they switch emselves on. put a few whirley birds in maybe a ceiling fan should be ok.

[Joshuashaw]

I imagine it would keep your garage roof insululated if you box the ceiling in with a basic timber frame (could possible put a hatch in for storage, would have to put supports in so no items are resting on the plasterboard below, wood used for floor boards would be fine) and put some slabs of rock wool above plasterboard, the rock wool lying on the plasterboard. Hope this makes some sense, very brief I know.

[Meko]

a few people have done this on here before, should be some threads in the habitat section.

i think the usual is:
timber frame
kingspan
plasterboard
fit electrics
paint the plasterboard

and use an aircon unit as it's easier to get the heat up than it is to get it down.

[NBLADE]

my rep rooms a large garden shed, but it does need to be fully insulated, for the roof check out b and q, has some thin space lining insulation stuff, that works very well, if you can line the inside of the roof with that, then line that with mdf and that should help greatly, in the summer will need some fans, i run 2 air conditioners pretty much non stop in summer on hot days, if i dont it can get up to 120 in there, with the air conditioners i can hold it at around 85/ 90 on really hot days, in winter if it gets below zero outside then i have 2 oil radiators that keep the temp at around 70 inside

[bruceybonus18]

ive not done my garage but ive done loads of other peoples
all depends how much you want to spend realy

if i was turning one into a rep room i would prob insulate between the ceiling timbers with celetex(insulation boarding comes in different thicknesses) then poss plasterboard the ceiling.

maybe put a floating floor down and possibly battern and insulate the walls,like i said depends how much you wana spend

as for the door depends if you want to be able to open it, if not jus put a stud wall up in front of it,thats if you got a side door or internal door!

[Slurm]

yes im going for the wool/polystyrene between rafters and plasterboard to hold it all in.

I am happy to put up a stud wall infront of the main door as we dont use it and have a side door, which i will replace.

with a low wattage extractor fan/s i reckon i would not need air con to keep cool as long as i can pull in cooler air somewhere.

As for all the crap that in their i can put alot in the loft or just be ruthless and thrown loads out.

I think half of the garage(its quite a long one) should suffice anyway.

I would get a small fridge for food preservation(mealworms).

not thought about the floor

[Reptileazza]

wow mate, that would be awesome, i would love something like that, but sadly i will only be owning around 2 reptiles. im getting a bearded dragon soon, then when i learnt more about them and their habitats, i will buy another of oposite gender to bread them, then buy a horsefield tortoise. my misus loves them. so me personally, i wont need that much room lol.
but great idea mate, hope it works out for you

[jools]

We are currently converting part of a barn for a rep room. The walls are stud with sheets of Xtratherm insulation. The ceiling and the floor are insulated with this too. Ppl often forget how much heat is lost through the floor. It has a new window too so hopefully it won't get too hot in summer.