Temporary Wall Tips And Ideas

[kmmcrafts]

Nope.. not talking about the Mexican boarder wall,  

Thinking maybe of splitting my shop in half for heating this winter... I don't really want to or even have the resources to heat the whole shop.. specifically because I ran out of insulation and the only part insulated is the loft ceilings which isn't finished yet either.. LOL and my shop is 24 x 32... with a 14 x 32 Loft.. BUT, the shop can be condensed to just one garage bay area so I was thinking maybe building a temporary wall down the middle to split it in half.. The stairwell would be on the unheated side to avoid having to make a doorway and block off the stairs etc.. as the heat would otherwise just raise upstairs in the loft.. In all honesty.. I could also build two walls in the back corner of the shop and only heat my scroll sawing station.. which maybe what I'll do.. just to cut back on heat cost.. but splitting the shop in half with one wall might be easier as just as cheap to build..

Like the wall to be a temporary wall that can be taken down.. I like the whole shop to be opened up in the summer if possible.. Plus.. since I also use the shop to work on cars at times.. Working on a brake job etc with a crowded wall right there on each side of the car would be inconvenient.. ( should have made the shop 32 wide instead of 24, LOL ).. 

I've considered building a sliding wall system much like a sliding garage door.. the track up on the ceiling could stay there and walls taken down.. and or just slide the wall to either end of the shop depending on what end of a car I'm working on etc.. 

Thought I'd ask here on some ideas and tips etc.. I am sort of a jack of all trades handyman but construction  type stuff I,m at a loss.. Yes I've moved walls in my house, hung drywall, wiring, plumbing etc.. but I'm at a loss with temporary wall building, LOL.. Short of just hanging plastic anyway, LOL.. I'd like a little more insulation etc than just a plastic wall, LOL

 

[Brokentone]

I have almost the same situation, having a house built with 24 by 29 garage. I am seriously thinking of heavy plastic  for a divider which would be more for AC as it has been very hot this year in NC. 2 hours in the garage and soaked in sweat. 

Bob

[Wilson142]

I would consider 2" x 48" x 96"  Rigid styrofoam insulation.  Would require minimal framing easily removable and can be repurposed for what it is intended for. At $21 or so per sheet is cost effective, light, cuts easily and may reflect light better than some options.

[Scrappile]

In my 24 x 36 garage, I threaded heavy plastic blue tarp on a cable and divided off the work area.  Was able to keep the area nice and comfy with just a small wood stove.

[new2woodwrk]

I did this a few years ago to cool off my garage.

I used pvc and plastic - I did a 26' section across my garage floor to ceiling with a pvc door.

Worked really well - I was able to remove/deconstruct the wall and put it away for the following year.

Unfortunately, a hurricane through and ripped my house and garage apart and I no longer need the wall since I installed window a/c.

[teachnlearn]

If your looking at temporary, check out theater sets. Its all about temporary structures that are changed from one act to another to the next play. RJF

[JimErn]

Scrappile has it right, use a a tarp or two, you can peel them back like curtains in the summer or take em down

[kmmcrafts]

Maybe I was overthinking this? But I figured the tarp or hanging plastic wouldn't hold the heat all that great.. I have 5-8 sheets of Styrofoam insulation the good 4 inch thick stuff.. I bought a boatload of the stuff on a awesome deal of $40 for as much as I could load on the truck.. I bought about 8 loads, LOL... it's what I used in my loft.. 

I sort of had in mind of making a wall out of the insulation sheets.. I'd probably need a few more sheets of it.. But I wasn't quite sure how to go about fastening them together and also how to go about fastening them to the floor and ceiling? Maybe frame some wall sections together.. make a section with hinges for a door? Not really wanting to put holes in my concrete floor to anchor it down.. 

[JimErn]

20 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Maybe I was overthinking this? But I figured the tarp or hanging plastic wouldn't hold the heat all that great.. I have 5-8 sheets of Styrofoam insulation the good 4 inch thick stuff.. I bought a boatload of the stuff on a awesome deal of $40 for as much as I could load on the truck.. I bought about 8 loads, LOL... it's what I used in my loft.. 

I sort of had in mind of making a wall out of the insulation sheets.. I'd probably need a few more sheets of it.. But I wasn't quite sure how to go about fastening them together and also how to go about fastening them to the floor and ceiling? Maybe frame some wall sections together.. make a section with hinges for a door? Not really wanting to put holes in my concrete floor to anchor it down.. 

To make a temporary wall, you need a frame for each 4x8 sheet, or at least one running frame with vertical studs to secure the 4x8 insulation sheet to.

the problem I have with this, is that it is not really temporary the way I think of temporary, lot of construction to both put it up and take it down, and while have have a lot of space - that temporary wall has to be stored somewhere.  The wall needs to be secured to the floor and the ceiling or rafters too.

We used to sell at a trade fair where the booth was inside old turkey barns, no heat no A/C, a tarp hanging (not even to the top of the rafters) held the heat in to our space just fine from a 5# propane heater bottle.

I would go with a tarp, what the hell if it does not work you have a  tarp and you can always nail up some 2x4s

[teachnlearn]

Insulation is dead air space. If you create dead air space by Styrofoam or double hung tarp, some how sealed, the more air space the more 'insulation capacity. Other materials will insulate, by their capacity to not move heat, ie energy. Metal will move heat fast and is a poor insulator. Foam doesn't and so on each side of the scale. RJF

Edited August 24, 2019 by teachnlearn

[flarud]

I have a 12' x 22' shop.  It started out as a 12' x 14'.  When I added 8' to the length of it I cut out a doorway which is about in the middle.  I have the old part, the 12' x 14' insulated on the walls and ceiling and have a window a/c unit in it.  On the doorway separating the two rooms I have a clear shower curtain, it may sound funny but there is a 20° difference between the 2 rooms.  

I know that my "rigged contraption" doesn't help you in your situation, but it may give you some kind of idea. 

Edited August 24, 2019 by flarud

[CharleyL]

Stopping the air flow between the two areas will make a huge difference. It doesn't need to be of thick insulation if you won't be conditioning the space in use 24/7. Of course, insulation is the best way, but you can manage to heat a tent in the Winter time. It just takes a relatively good seal to separate the heated and unheated from each other. It isn't very efficient, but if only being used a few hours at a time it isn't that wasteful either.  But It will just loose the heat quickly when you turn off the heat source.

I once rebuilt my car motor by building a sheet plastic tent over and around the engine compartment of my car with enough work space all around for me to move around. I had removed the front fenders, grill, and hood before enclosing it. A 2 X 4 frame was built and then it was covered with the plastic. It had a flap door that I could hold shut with a weight on the bottom, and sand bags and rope to hold the plastic to the car body, with more sand bags and old blankets stuffed under the car to seal between the car body and the ground. It wasn't a tight seal, but adequate enough to let me work with just an electric space heater in there with me, and the outside temperatures were at or below freezing most of the time that I was working on the engine. The inside temperatures were usually around 60 degrees and I was able to completely rebuild that engine in the coldest New York State January that we had had in years.  I would turn the heater on when I got home from work. Then I would go into the house and eat dinner, and then go to work on the engine from about an hour later until usually about 11 pm when I would quit for the night. Many of those nights it was in the teens and 20's outside that tent.  It even snowed a couple of times while the tent was in place. Two weeks later my motor was fully reassembled, the fenders, hood, and grill were back on and I was a 2 car family again. 

If you won't be working in your shop for extended periods I think you will do fine by just separating the heated and unheated areas with a plastic sheet or tarp wall. True, it won't be the most economical way, but it will work.  You might consider doing this and then adding your full sheets of foam board against the plastic for more insulation and better heating efficiency, without the need to cut or modify your foam panels. The more of the surface that you can cover, the better, but the air circulation between the two areas will be stopped by the plastic sheet.

Charley

[Brianr24]

If I were going to do it I would frame it with 2x3 or 2x 4 but instead of framing the the whole wall in one like normal I would build 4 x 8 panels with only one stud in center which would essentially be roughly 2 foot on center studs. ( this will save on the weight) sheet them with whatever you can get cheap. Maybe luan. I wouldn’t use sheet rock. too heavy  and would probably start to crumble from moving around. Then just screw or lag panels together. Insulate if want.

Edited August 24, 2019 by Brianr24