Add insulation or finish?

[USAFpj]

Haven't even wired the shop yet, but wanted to seek some opinions. This vapor barrier/insulation is throughout this pole barn. The company advertises it as a R-6, but the builder himself said he thinks it's a great vapor barrier, but not much on insulation.

In our milder climate of Upstate SC, I'm eager to get busy with placing steel liner throughout now, but another part of me says that you better insulate more now, then place the steel liner. I don't really want to start studding walls now, but I also don't want to waste my time either?

 

[ItsNemo]

Insulate now...it's cheaper than going back and re-doing it. I've never heard anyone say they regret having a well insulated building, it'll be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter regardless of climate.

 

[larry_g]

The answer depends on what the intended use of the building is. If your goingto be in the building working year round and expect to heat and cool the building all the time then yes now is the time to insulate. If like me the building is not used full time and I have the choice to work out in the shop or something else then you'll find that what you have will suffice. Both of my building have that style of insulated vapor barrier and I find that it is enough. The old shop I could get things up to 55 or so when it was below freezing outside with minimal heat input, 4500 watts of infloor heat. The current shop I have the machine shop walled off and better insulated for that space only.

Part of my thinking is why heat the whole space when your only using a small part. I highly recommend infloor heat. For the shop the floor is warm and the ambient air is a bit cooler allowing physical work to happen without a lot of sweat. The infloor heat also keeps the machines warm to the touch. You know the feeling of touching cold machines even in a warm shop, that doesn't happen with floor heat.

So the bottom line is; I have perty much what you show there and it serves me fine and I believe your in a bit more temperate climate that we are.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[USAFpj]

Nemo, I'm sure that your recommendation is the smartest way, but I may have to learn a life lesson by agreeing with Larry. My Uncle, down the same road, has a shop with similar insulation and has it set up for Propane heat. He built the shop in 92- said he used the heat the first 2 years, then never turned it on again after that.

 

[matt_i]

Every time I get excited to get on to the next step and think of something I should be doing "before" this step, it always comes back to bite me.

So based on that I would stop, clear your head, and insulate. Any rough-in wiring for outlets in the walls should be done at this time. Then you can get your interior wall panels up.

As above, if you intend to *work* in the building, high premium on insulation. If you intend to *store only* in the building, then I could see bypassing that, but I'd also bypass finishing the walls....

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you are on a budget AND because you lve in a more moderate climate, you can consider just adding additional insulation to the ceiling. Most heat loss/gain is through the roof.

If one or 2 of your walls gets a lot of direct sunlight, insulate those.