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So, looking at a house with a good size workshop in the garden. Single skin concrete block walls, good solid wooden door, couple of double glazed Windows and a timber truss roof with tiles. The eves are open, very open. I think something will need doing there to stop it turning into an avery!
There's no heating in there that can be left to itself, just a bit of a stove that vents out through a hole in the wall. Useful for when I'm in there but only that.
I'm planning on storing bikes and tools in there. Is it best left as a "cold room" with maximum ventilation or should I double skin and insulate wall and build a roof as well to seal the room and run a dehumidifier? Was the best way to stop toys and tools from rusting?
Cheers.
They shouldn't be getting wet so why would they rust, stuff in my garage doesn't anyhow (and that's far from air tight). Maybe use chicken wire in the eaves?
I'd not expect them to rust if the building it well ventilated. If I seal it, I might well get condensation issues.
Warm air may hold moisture that I then trap in the room.
My workshop is single skin concrete blocks, with Celotex on the inside. It's virtually airtight with no gaps in the insulation and double glazed windows etc. Stays very dry all winter. I did run a dehumidifier the first winter as there was some damp but it turned out that was from the timber I'd used to build all the furniture which was treated stuff and had sat in the rain in the builder's yard and soaked up a lot of water.
To answer the original question - either will work.
However sealing, heating and dehumidifying will give the most control over the environment in the shed.
The other option is not to heat it and live with the drafts and accept that a good through-put of air will minimise condensation (which is where the moisture comes from). However the air in the shed will always be as humid as the air outside the shed.