Air leaks in pole barn

[Old Gas Nut]

I'm getting ready to start insulating my new 28x36 pole barn with r19 and I noticed that there is a small gap at the bottom of my walls. It is where the big ribs on the outside metal meet the rat guard at the bottom. It's also where the metal siding meets the divider for the wainscot. (wish I had pictures) They are not big enough gaps that a mouse coould crawl through, but insects could get in, or a lot of cold air in the winter time. I think I remember seeing somebody else on here having this problem, and they used expanding foam to fill these spots. My concerns of doing that is will it hold up? or will insects eat through it? And does the building need to breath through these areas? I Have 12 inch overhangs with vented soffits and a ridge vent all the way across the roof.I also framed out with 2x6 studs and plan on putting plastic on top of the insulation then drywall. I just don't want to seal up something I shouldn't, but if I should, what is the best way to do it?

 

[CNGsaves]

What part of country or world you located??

Any way you could post some pictures . . . ie use cellphone and take pic text that is sent your own email address rather than to another phone number??

GJ best responses are when you post up pics.

 

[Old Gas Nut]

After searching some more I found a thread talking about the same thing. At the bottom of the thread he shows a pic of exactly what I'm talking about.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35522&highlight=sealing+metal+walls

 

[Mike Miller]

Yup, I used that spray can foam insulation, put a squirt of it in every one of those spots top and bottom. Keeps the critters and bugs out.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

That's what I used. Spray foam. Don't know if I was suppose to seal it or not

 

[HAY YOU]

When you put up commercial tin buildings you get what is called “closures” strips of dense foam shaped with highs & lows that mimic the profile of the sheets you’re using. They're used on the ends of all the sheets on the roof, around the doors and the bottom of the side walls to make it air tight. Since it’s after the fact now you’d have to take the last screws out of the sheets & slide the closures in & put the screws back in. Fairly simple job that’s how it’s suppose to be done.

 

[cyamaha2007]

I used closure strips that matched the profile of the metal.

 

[samert111]

I also used the foam closure strips at the top and bottom of the steel siding and it was 15 years after the barn was built. If you use the spray foam then if you ever want to remove a pc of the siding for any reason it's not as easy as with the filler strips because the spray foam will stick to the siding.

To install them just remove the bottom row of screws in the siding and slide the closure strip down in between the siding and skirt boards. The strips come glued to a paper and you peel them off. However the glue is there to help the strip stick to the skirt board as the siding is installed. Buw that you're installing them after the fact the glue hinders them sliding in easily. What I did was to rub the strip glue side down on the concrete floor to pick up some dust on the glue and they slid right in nicely.

What are you doing to protect the insulation from touching the inside of the metal siding? Even though you are putting up a plastic vapor barrier, some moisture probably will get thru and could cause condensation on the inside of the metal siding under the right conditions.

Once you install the closure strips or foam to fills the siding gaps there are still all kinds of air leaks in Pole Barns. You can't close them all up but there are a lot of things you can do.

One of the biggest improvements I did was before I framed in between the posts I took a roll of Tyvek house wrap and cut and stapled pcs in between the posts then taped up around the electrical wiring coming thru. (I ran my electrical along the top of the purlins holding the siding up years ago and didn't want to re-wire the entire building. In your case you can run your electrical thru the studs like in a stick built building). I see you have already framed your walls so adding the Tyvek now will not be easy but could still be done I suppose. The Tyvek will allow any moisture to pass thru it from the inside out but will also knock down the drafts coming in and protect the insulation from any moisture coming in from outside. Remember there are joints in the siding every 3 ft and they are not air or water tight.

On the buildings corners where the siding comes together mine had some really large gaps. So I removed the corner trim pcs and used a roll of 4" wide flashing tape the entire length of the joint to close up the gap.

Good luck with your project.

 

[Kels]

I inherited a pole building they used spray foam in the bottom but no rat guard if you use pray foam and those opening are 1/4 inch in any areas I have heard the corners can be bad. Use some sort of metal in there then spray foam that way no mice...

the mice did chew through a few spots of foam because there was no metal to stop them.

 

[davidh73750]

I also used the foam closure strips at the top and bottom of the steel siding and it was 15 years after the barn was built. If you use the spray foam then if you ever want to remove a pc of the siding for any reason it's not as easy as with the filler strips because the spray foam will stick to the siding.

To install them just remove the bottom row of screws in the siding and slide the closure strip down in between the siding and skirt boards. The strips come glued to a paper and you peel them off. However the glue is there to help the strip stick to the skirt board as the siding is installed. Buw that you're installing them after the fact the glue hinders them sliding in easily. What I did was to rub the strip glue side down on the concrete floor to pick up some dust on the glue and they slid right in nicely.

What are you doing to protect the insulation from touching the inside of the metal siding? Even though you are putting up a plastic vapor barrier, some moisture probably will get thru and could cause condensation on the inside of the metal siding under the right conditions.

Once you install the closure strips or foam to fills the siding gaps there are still all kinds of air leaks in Pole Barns. You can't close them all up but there are a lot of things you can do.

One of the biggest improvements I did was before I framed in between the posts I took a roll of Tyvek house wrap and cut and stapled pcs in between the posts then taped up around the electrical wiring coming thru. (I ran my electrical along the top of the purlins holding the siding up years ago and didn't want to re-wire the entire building. In your case you can run your electrical thru the studs like in a stick built building). I see you have already framed your walls so adding the Tyvek now will not be easy but could still be done I suppose. The Tyvek will allow any moisture to pass thru it from the inside out but will also knock down the drafts coming in and protect the insulation from any moisture coming in from outside. Remember there are joints in the siding every 3 ft and they are not air or water tight.

On the buildings corners where the siding comes together mine had some really large gaps. So I removed the corner trim pcs and used a roll of 4" wide flashing tape the entire length of the joint to close up the gap.

Good luck with your project.

can you post some pics of this please..