Pink / Blue / Silver insulating boards at Home Depot ? Foam?

[The Silent Seed]

I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with these, since you guys mostly live in warm places - but if you are, maybe you can help guide me through a project I'm envisioning.

Some of you know that I converted a garage into a plant house - It has insulation, of course, and currently the walls are just covered in plastic sheeting - which is ugly to say the least - sheetrock would obviously begin to break down within days, given the high levels of humidity, and of course, water from the hose! But, this summer I want to give it a more finished look, to make it look nicer, cleaner, and better insulated to boot.

If you know about these boards I'm referring to, I'm wondering how effective they are with insulation? How much does the thickness matter? It seems like a quick, and comparatively cheap, way to give me the end result I'm after. Or do you have better suggestions? I ask, because, if it doesn't matter all that much, then I won't bother spending extra money on the thicker material.

Finally, is there much difference between the pink or blue, and the silver? Simple white foam boards are also available.

Other suggestions ?

[Stevetoad]

id use a tile backer board. like denshield or hardi backer. hardi backer products are waterproof (not water proofing) and you could paint it. hardi has grid lines on it but the den shield is sorta smooth plus is comes 4x8 or 4x5... hope this helps oh and den shield costs 15.42 a 4x5 sheet and hardibacker is 12.32...atleast at my shop

[The Silent Seed]

I have never heard of these - I'll have to check into it - I presume it has no R value, right?

[Stevetoad]

zero r value. but they will not break down from humidity and water. i assume that is your biggest problem right?

[The Silent Seed]

Right - and that cancels out most of the traditional materials - sheetrock/drywall, or wood paneling / plywood.

I just figured that the foam boards might have the added bonus of some insulation value.

Is this stuff easy to drill without cracking ? Is it like rigid plastic ?

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Use white styrofoam boards... the plants will enjoy added light reflection and the extra r value will be good... Sounds like u already knew the answer!

[Stevetoad]

Right - and that cancels out most of the traditional materials - sheetrock/drywall, or wood paneling / plywood.

I just figured that the foam boards might have the added bonus of some insulation value.

Is this stuff easy to drill without cracking ? Is it like rigid plastic ?

the 1/4 inch thick drills easy. its a fiber based cement board. it wont crumble or crack. do not use wonder board (true cement board). hardi backer cuts and drills easy.

[Stevetoad]

Forgot to add that home depot has both types. Fiber rock would also work fine and should be a bit cheaper

[MattyB]

What about PVC wall panels like they use in commercial kitchens? It's white, waterproof.

Or even cheaper, what about a thick guage coroplast. We can get 4' x 8' sheets of 10mil coroplast for about $35 each at our local sign supply shop. The thinner stuff is cheaper. Coroplast has a layer of air in between the outter edges as well so that's added insulation.

He's holding the thick 10mil coroplast in his hand in the pic below.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

What about PVC wall panels like they use in commercial kitchens? It's white, waterproof.

Or even cheaper, what about a thick guage coroplast. We can get 4' x 8' sheets of 10mil coroplast for about $35 each at our local sign supply shop. The thinner stuff is cheaper. Coroplast has a layer of air in between the outter edges as well so that's added insulation.

He's holding the thick 10mil coroplast in his hand in the pic below.

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Or you can wait til the day after election day and collect all the coroplast signs and use them. They are usually a nice 18x24 size and you can't beat the price.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Not mentioning the fact that you'd be doing a public service for all those politicians that litter our streets by not picking up after themselves...

[Stevetoad]

Not mentioning the fact that you'd be doing a public service for all those politicians that litter our streets by not picking up after themselves...

yet all of them are "trying" to save the enviroment...