Reptile Shed Conversion

[MKeim1989]

Hello all. I'm going to be moving back to my folks house soon and (as they're terified of snakes) it seems I'll be converting their 22'X12'X10' (8' walls, 4' celing) shed into a "snake shack." At any rate, I'm wondering if anyone has ever tackled such a project and has any advice?

I also have a few questions:

1. Any ideas on how to insulate the floor from the inside? The shed has been there for about six years and was never insulated so I can't go at it from the bottom.

2. In the summer time, is there any way to cool the shed if the temps should go insanely high? I plan on installing a vent fan but I'm afraid it won't be enough.

3. I'm pretty sure we've got the insulation of the walls figured out but I'm open to hear what you've used and your results.

Please lend any advice you can. I want to get this thing done as soon as I can so I can trouble shoot long before I move everyone in.

Thanks in advance!

[IW17]

How goes it fellow ohioan?! As far as turning a shed into a snake room, honestly it might be a lot of work. I absolutely wouldn't keep them in there during our summers with no air conditioning. Assuming we have a cool mild summer it probably wouldn't be an issue. But you would want to be ready for the worst if it got hot. You wouldn't want to be scrambling last minute to get things in order.

My suggestionwould be to put pallets on the floor to raise the floor height and insulate the gap. Stud the walls and insulate them as well. You dont need to get all crazy with drywall or anything, just use whatever materials you can get your hands on for cheap. Same should be done to the ceiling/roof.

Then you should have both a way to heat and cool the room controlled by a thermostat. And make sure no animals from outside could get in and cause any issues.

[MKeim1989]

Bitter cold here. But then, you already knew that! :p

Believe me when I say that I would not be keeping them in the shed if I had another option. My mother is deathly terrified of snakes and this is the only option I have short of rehoming them. I'm lucky she's letting me do this much.

We fully intend to insulate the shed and I think we've got that part all figured out. It's a pretty well built shed and we've never had any problems with animals but we're going go over it to find any gaps and seal them just incase.


My suggestionwould be to put pallets on the floor to raise the floor height and insulate the gap. Stud the walls and insulate them as well.


Raising the floor height is a great idea and I never would have thought of that. Thanks so much for the advice.

I have a heater for the shed in the winter that should do the trick but I'm not sure what to do about the summer. Does anyone have any ideas regarding the heat in the summer? I'd rather not put in an air conditioner, but I will if I have to.

[wareagleA5]

You could insulate the bottom with a DIY spray foam kit or have a pro come out and do it.
As long as the nozzle can get under the shed you will be able to spray it on. The nozzle is about 1".

[IW17]

Honestly keeping the temps up in the winter will probably be easier than keeping them down in the summer. Just remember that with both heat and air, go big. Your better off having a heater/ac that's too big and not working hard, than a smaller one tthat's running nonstop

[MKeim1989]

WareeagleA5: I thought about spray foam as well but do you know how much area the spray foam generally covers? Having a professional come out and do it is probably out of my price range but I could possibly do it myself depending on how far it goes.

IW17: My thoughts exactly on maintaining temps. I'm sure the heater I have is up to the task. Unless someone has a brilliant idea soon, I'll probably just purchase a decent air conditioning unit in march before it starts getting hot.

[pdomensis]

What is the shed made of? is it a pole shed with metal siding, or 2x4 wood frames, etc. As for cooling in the summer, I would look at a pretty heavy duty ventilation system with louvered exhaust fans. You might check out a greenhouse supply catalog for ideas. I think it would be pretty similar to heating and cooling a greenhouse. This may be a stretch but also consider planting trees outside for shade if possible (long term solution).

[MKeim1989]

The shed is wooden, frame and all. It's painted with a weather proof exterior paint and has a standard shingle roof. There are trees outside the shed on one side but I don't think I'll be with my folks for more than a few years so planting new ones won't benefit me at all.

[MKeim1989]

So, I think we're going to try and raise the floor with pallets and use some thicker insulation than what we're using on the walls. We're going with standard fiberglass insulation and we'll be putting plastic over the front of it to keep the fiberglass from coming anywhere near the animals. In the summer time, I've found a brand of air conditioner made for buildings without windows that has a vent attached to standard dryer hose that I think will work nicely in a shed this size. I'll post pictures on a different thread when its finished. I'm going to leave this one open for a little bit longer in case anyone else has any other suggestions.

[LarryS]

Not quite sure I'm following the pallet idea.
Are you going to lay them on the floor and stuff them with fiberglass insulation?

Why not just lay some 2 x 4's on edge and lay batt insulation between. Screw some OSB or plywood on top and you have a nice sturdy floor that is easily removable when you leave.

[wrecker45]

I would go with styrofoam insulation and plywood on the floor. Just in case it gets wet.

[LarryS]

I would go with styrofoam insulation and plywood on the floor. Just in case it gets wet.

Great idea, you might not even need the 2x4's with rigid insulation. Maybe a little liquid nails to hold things in place. Wood joists are a terrible insulator anyway.

[MKeim1989]

After considering everything, we've decided to go with polystyrene insulation on the floor. We'll put plywood over the top but instead of 2x4s, we're going to use furring strips. I realize that the furring strips aren't as stable as the 2x4s, but they'll save a buck and keep the plywood closer to the insulation (actually, right on top of it). The pallets were just not going to give us the support I had hoped for. I appreciate all the help and advice you guys gave. I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes!

[poomwah]

Let's just hope the weather finally breaks so you can get started. How's the weather in Kent? We're about to get snow up here in the NW corner AGAIN.

I sort of have a snake shed. I have a shed, and every year I have garter snakes in my cabinets :P does that count, LOL

[drumcrush]

Let's just hope the weather finally breaks so you can get started. How's the weather in Kent? We're about to get snow up here in the NW corner AGAIN.

I sort of have a snake shed. I have a shed, and every year I have garter snakes in my cabinets :P does that count, LOL

I wish I could find garter snakes in my cabinets -.-

[MKeim1989]

Actually, we're leaving Kent bound for Holmes County, but there's plenty of snow and cold here too. blizzard last night.

I'm actually planning on finishing the shed tomorrow. I ran the electricity a while ago and we've been putting up insulation for the last few days by a space heater. It's been staying warm inside the un-insulated shed, so prospects are looking good. The hardest part of the whole thing was digging up the frozen Ohio clay to burry the pipe with the electrical wire inside from the fuse box. It was kind of like digging through a rock. If I finish on schedule I'll post pictures in the next few days.

After the initial shock, I think I'd love to find a garter snake in my cabinet too!

[poomwah]

hi drum, someone sorta close, I'm about an hour from Fort Wayne :] was just over there actually. A guy on craigslist sold me a super clean 55 gallon tank for 20 bucks :]
MKeim,
can't wait to see some progress pics on the shed. Have fun with the rest of the project with the weather coming in. Be glad for the space heater. I get to work on my car in the driveway :P and it looks like i'm going to be changing an engine.

a couple of the locals
http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt126/poomwah/20130619_094401_zps1xsdaryu.jpg (http://s604.photobucket.com/user/poomwah/media/20130619_094401_zps1xsdaryu.jpg.html)
http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt126/poomwah/20130430_140540_zps4yxqy6wm.jpg (http://s604.photobucket.com/user/poomwah/media/20130430_140540_zps4yxqy6wm.jpg.html)

[MKeim1989]

Well I got the shed finished and the animals in. It's holding heat fine, keeping the ambient air temp at seventy three. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I want to upload pictures so badly, but my computer is back at my apartment and my mom's won't let me upload photos for some reason. Stay tuned I guess! I'll post them soon.

[poomwah]

73 ambient with the current outdoor temps, NICE job!!!
Congrats on the shed . can't wait to see the pics when you get home.

[MKeim1989]

Hopefully no one was on edge waiting for these mediocre pics. The shed is up and running, as I said. I still have a lot to bring and put in (shelves, tanks, etc.) but here's a bare bones idea of what I did and the end result.

I'll start from the beginning. There was a lot more junk in the shed before I took the first pic, but here's what I started with:

[MKeim1989]

Once the shed was clean, we ran electricity under ground and into the shed. I only put five outlets in the shed (on on a switch for a light) because I'm running the whole thing off of one breaker. At any rate, here's what it looked like at that stage:

[MKeim1989]

Following the electricity, we began insulating. I used fiber glass insulation with an R13 value for most of the shed. By the vents of the shed, I used 1" thick polystyrene insulation board (I figured I'd get a better air current if I put insulation the air could flow over in front of the vents.) The insulation is held in with thick plastic sheeting and twine so that it is removable when I move out. The ceiling was by far the hardest part, as a 3 - 4" gap needs to be left between the insulation and the roof to prevent condensation and eventual rotting of the roof. It's all hanging from twine :D

[MKeim1989]

Here are a few shots of the final product. None of my animals are moved in yet in these photos. I'll post better pics in a different thread later after I get everything moved in and ready to go.

The giant wooden thing on the side is a retic enclosure I was working on in the fall. The winter forced me to put that project on pause but I'm hoping to finish it soon (I'll make a thread on that when its done too!)

Like I said, I've been keeping my ambient temps at about 73 degrees with a small forced air heater on low and that's when its about 15 degrees outside. I actually had to turn it off today when it was 55. Going to get a thermostat in the coming week.

I didn't need to insulate the floor after all. We just put a rug down and it seems to work alright.

All together, this project only cost around $400 dollars. It could have been more, and there are definitely corners I cut, but I'm happy with the results!

[MKeim1989]

Just for giggles, here's a picture of the closet I had before I moved. Quite and upgrade!

[IW17]

Very nice. Things turned out great!

[poomwah]

a lot of work and a lot of thought went into that.
great job

[drumcrush]

Wow, looking good so far!

[sharthun]

Very nice!!!

[MKeim1989]

Thanks! I appreciate it! It was a lot of work, but I think it was worth it.

[Tonka14]

For summer time you can get exhaust fans for the roof area that are controlled with a thermostat. Depending on how how it gets out there a window A/C unit with the exhaust fan will do the trick at keeping it from getting to hot. I had a buddy in Utah that did that with his shed for his Black Throat enclosure.

[poomwah]

For summer time you can get exhaust fans for the roof area that are controlled with a thermostat. Depending on how how it gets out there a window A/C unit with the exhaust fan will do the trick at keeping it from getting to hot. I had a buddy in Utah that did that with his shed for his Black Throat enclosure.

if its anything like last summer, its going to need AC, lol
it was awful up here last year

[Tonka14]

if its anything like last summer, its going to need AC, lol
it was awful up here last year

I highly recommend it, I am putting one of the exhaust fans in my monitor cage to help regulate temps.