Over the last week I got all the materials together for the completion of the large ceiling in the big machinery and maintenance shed.

In my Walter Mitty dream, I imagined that I would be able to collect together sufficient old recycled corrugated iron roofing to do this ceiling. But alas, I couldn’t find enough to do the job. I was sort of counting on one particular old rusty corrugated iron roof being replaced before now, and I had my name on it. But it stubbornly remained in place. I have run out of time now. I need to start to put some machinery in the shed soon, and once that is done, there is no chance of moving the mobile scaffolding around on the empty floor.

I managed to recover over 130 sheets of iron from the old feed mill demolition job, that my friend Andy helped me with, but that was only enough to finish all the internal walls and do 2 ceilings. I had 5 sheets left over at the end of that saga. That left 2 more ceilings to be insulated and lined. I decided to use some very cheap bracing plywood sheets to do the last two ceilings in the gallery and pottery. I was more or less out of options, as any other material is too expensive for our increasingly restrained budget. So I decided to ask Andy what he could think of, as he is a clever and very experienced builder, and I am running out of energy and ideas. He came up with the great thought of using rolls of ‘anticon’ style insulation. This is a type of wide roll of insulwool insulation bonded to a heavy duty layer of aluminium foil blanket.

This provides three solutions in one product.

1. It’s not too expensive.

2. it provides insulwool insulation 75mm thick, at an R factor rating of 1.8. Only moderate, but just enough to be useful. Better than the existing aluminised foil backed foam that I had the builder put up under the roofing as anticon. That aluminised foil backed foam only has an R rating of 0.2 So almost anything is better than not having any more insulation up there.

3. The silver fabric can be screwed to the ceiling top-hat rafters to hold it up in place with some wide washers. A little bit difficult, slow and fiddly, but not impossible.

4. It’s non flammable!

I had Andy and Tim here for one more day last week. That’s the 5th day that I have employed them, and we have completed 5 ceilings. We managed to get this ceiling up in the one day. Installing 11 rolls of insulwool and using almost 600 x 40mm. dia. wide washers and metal ‘tek’ screws to hold it all up.

This quilted looking ceiling is not my best option, but is what is achievable and affordable. It’s done now and will have to do.

A total of R2.0 insulation is OK and the 3 layers of silver foil with a confined, still air, gap will cut the summer heat very well I’m reasonably confident. it looks a bit Dr. Who – space age – 2001 A workspace odyssey. But I’ll be busy working in there and won’t be wasting any time spent looking up.