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I'm thinking about insulating my pole barn this winter. I was told by 84 Lumber that a "bubble foil" insulation was best suited for pole barns. My barn is 30 x 40 and is heated by a wood stove which is generally worthless in the middle of the winter. Any opinions or experiences in this area?
Thanks
Buck [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
If you've already got it built either that or the spray on are your best options. The spray on is rather expensive though at about $2 per square foot.
Buck,
I concur that bubble foil is a good way, however might be more expensive $.35PSF for a R10-12 range.
I would also investigate using the foil faced board 3/4"-1" or so as this is semi rigid, are in 4'x8' sheets and may be more cost effective at $7-10 per sheet.
Carl
My pole barn has horizontal 2x4 or 2x6 boards every few feet up the walls between the poles. I cut 1 1/2" foam board to fit in the spaces between the 2x braces and then faced everything with 1/2" plywood to keep animals from damaging the insulation.
-Mike
I'm thinking about doing the same thing. At times the pole barn "rains" on the inside from the condensation running off. I know the spray on nisulation will absolutely stop that but what about the rigid foam? It seems to me that unless you can completely prevent moisture laden air from getting to the cold surface, you're still going to get condensation.
I have a shed type pole barn (no roof vent since no peeked roof).
condensation? Hmm .... no different than any other insulation .... you'll need a vapour barrier!
The advantge of the spray foam is that there are no voids or spaces where moisture can collect ... and shape is no obstacle.
However, buying the rigid foam insulation boards helps to pay my wages ... so I can't, in good conscience, recommend spray on foam! [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]
How do you keep condensation from forming and then dripping on the rigid insulation. I don't see how a vapor barrier can completely seal the all of the possible openings for air to get to the cold metal. Once you have the metal fastened to the wood purlins you have all sorts of openings like the ones formed by the ribs in the metal.
No matter if you install the insulation first and then the vapor barrier or vice versa, any opening and you've got condensation.
Darren,
Keeping moisture from getting through the rigid foam is easy, but rather messy. I used rigid foam in the house roof (vaulted ceilings), and had bats custom cut to fit. Basically, the proceedure is to shove the bat in place. (The bat needs to be slightly smaller than the space to be filled.) Hold the bat in place with some temporary braces made of scrap plywood. When all of the bats are installed, the messy job starts. Using cans of spray foam, go back along the edges of each bat and fill the voids. When the foam is dry, pull off the plywood strips and fill any spaces underneath. Using spray foam on the ceiling, you will find that the product was never intended for use upside down, so wear old clothes. (The stuff drips terribly for the first 30 seconds or so.) After the foam has completely set up, you can cut, scrape, or grind off the excess. I used one of those rotary sanding brushes in my 3/8 drill to grind it off. Worked pretty good and did a neat job. Just watch for gaps where the spray might not have reached properly. Then, before you close the walls/ceiling, put heat in the building and go outside on a frosty morning and just look at the walls/roof. On mine, I could see every little air leak on the roof, because the frost would thaw in those places first.
The spray foam holds the rigid bats very tightly and I had no problem with them falling out or moving around after the spray had dried.
SHF
sounds about right, SHF ... only difference I've had is using a hot wire to trim the boards for as best a fit as I can get and just using coat hangers (belnt out, of course) to hold them in place while the "cement" - spray foam - hardened.
I find that using fats expand foam and doing several layers keeps the dripping to a minimum.
Wingnut,
Actually, I tried the hot knife for cutting the foam, with me on the scaffold and the wife doing the cutting. Unfortunately, she inhaled too many of the fumes and was sick for most of the rest of the day. So, I used my sawzall with a real long general purpose blade and did all the cutting on the windy side of the house. Made a heck of a mess, but it all blew away.
Wish I'd thought of coat hangers though. It was kind of a pain working with the little wood blocks. Our batts were 8" thick and 8' long. Only real problem was working around things. Light boxes, etc. Sawzall made a quick (if not neat) job of it, but by then I was working alone. Up the ladder, down the ladder, up the ladder... You know, I hate ladders--I'm gonna run those dang things over with my truck! [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
shf