Hi there!
I'm at the point in my shop refurb (remodel?) project that I'm ready to insulate. I got a quote earlier for blown cellulose (wet), then I realized that I wasn't thinking clearly when I talked to him and told him the wrong wall depth... Oh well, he did the estimate over email and didn't come out so at least he didn't waste a trip. I may invite him out to see the shop and give me another estimate.
Thing is, I know it's going to be over $4500 do to my 36x50 pole barn here in Paris, KY (about 20 miles northeast of Lexington,KY). I looked at Roxul batt insulation online, and I liked what I saw, and my back-of-the-envelope math says I'm in for a bit more than $2000 in batts for the walls, plus another $1200 for blowing in cellulose myself in the attic, plus a few hundred for incidentals. So, easily $1200 cheaper, maybe more.
The building is a metal-siding pole barn, 6x6 wood posts. It was originally wrapped wtih this vinyl-faced insulation, vinyl facing the interior and the exposed fiberglass facing the steel shell. I didn't build the building, but it looks like the posts were set, the girts attached, the building wrapped, then the metal attached.
That wrap was dirty, torn in many places, it had deteriorated from water in some places, harbored some bugs, and I found what I'm sure was mouse droppings in one corner (but no obvious signs of recent activity). I removed all of it that I could with a utility knife. There's "fuzzies" still around the edges of the posts and girts, and I can clean a lot of that up, but it won't be perfect. It's pretty close.
I framed the walls with 2x4s flush with the posts so I can hang 7/16" OSB on the walls that I'll paint later (I'd likely wreck drywall within the first year of working in the building). They are 24" OC though that spacing varied some due to the posts' location.
That leaves a gap between the 2x4s and the girts of about 5 1/2", and a gap between the back of the 2x4 and the metal of about 7" (7 1/4" depending on where you measure on the metal).
If I were putting batts in the walls, I assume I'd use batts for 2x8s? That would fill the cavity but I'd need to do something behind the studs between the batts. and cutting and fitting insulation there behind every 2x4 would get to right tedious.
I could fill in the space between the metal and the 2x4s, but with what?
I don't mind doing the work and prefer doing a lot of things myself, but at some point I am willing to write a check. I'm at the point where I'd rather do things *in* the shop than *to* the shop!
The Roxul "rock wool" bats claim to be unbothered by moisture. The steel shell has no membrane or sheathing on it to stop moisture from condensing on it or stopping it from possibly coming through where the steel overlaps (though I have not noticed any air leaks, so maybe that's not an issue?) I'm concerned about whether the blown cellulose in the walls would be damaged over time from moisture by being stuck against the steel shell.
I do heat the building in the winter when I'm out there, and that's currently kerosene but I'd like to switch to something else (propane, maybe -- we don't have natural gas at my house). I don't plan on cooling the building though the idea of putting a window air conditioner in the wood shop section of the shop has crossed my mind. So, I don't think I need a vapor barrier on the interior side? KY weather gets to freezing in the winter and hovers around there, and probably 20%RH, and int the summer it's 90 degrees and 75-85% RH (muggy!).
Here's a shot of the wall showing a post, stud, and metal with a tape measure for reference -- though parallax makes the numbers kind-of meaningless :/
Thoughts?
I'm at the point in my shop refurb (remodel?) project that I'm ready to insulate. I got a quote earlier for blown cellulose (wet), then I realized that I wasn't thinking clearly when I talked to him and told him the wrong wall depth... Oh well, he did the estimate over email and didn't come out so at least he didn't waste a trip. I may invite him out to see the shop and give me another estimate.
Thing is, I know it's going to be over $4500 do to my 36x50 pole barn here in Paris, KY (about 20 miles northeast of Lexington,KY). I looked at Roxul batt insulation online, and I liked what I saw, and my back-of-the-envelope math says I'm in for a bit more than $2000 in batts for the walls, plus another $1200 for blowing in cellulose myself in the attic, plus a few hundred for incidentals. So, easily $1200 cheaper, maybe more.
The building is a metal-siding pole barn, 6x6 wood posts. It was originally wrapped wtih this vinyl-faced insulation, vinyl facing the interior and the exposed fiberglass facing the steel shell. I didn't build the building, but it looks like the posts were set, the girts attached, the building wrapped, then the metal attached.
That wrap was dirty, torn in many places, it had deteriorated from water in some places, harbored some bugs, and I found what I'm sure was mouse droppings in one corner (but no obvious signs of recent activity). I removed all of it that I could with a utility knife. There's "fuzzies" still around the edges of the posts and girts, and I can clean a lot of that up, but it won't be perfect. It's pretty close.
I framed the walls with 2x4s flush with the posts so I can hang 7/16" OSB on the walls that I'll paint later (I'd likely wreck drywall within the first year of working in the building). They are 24" OC though that spacing varied some due to the posts' location.
That leaves a gap between the 2x4s and the girts of about 5 1/2", and a gap between the back of the 2x4 and the metal of about 7" (7 1/4" depending on where you measure on the metal).
If I were putting batts in the walls, I assume I'd use batts for 2x8s? That would fill the cavity but I'd need to do something behind the studs between the batts. and cutting and fitting insulation there behind every 2x4 would get to right tedious.
I could fill in the space between the metal and the 2x4s, but with what?
I don't mind doing the work and prefer doing a lot of things myself, but at some point I am willing to write a check. I'm at the point where I'd rather do things *in* the shop than *to* the shop!
The Roxul "rock wool" bats claim to be unbothered by moisture. The steel shell has no membrane or sheathing on it to stop moisture from condensing on it or stopping it from possibly coming through where the steel overlaps (though I have not noticed any air leaks, so maybe that's not an issue?) I'm concerned about whether the blown cellulose in the walls would be damaged over time from moisture by being stuck against the steel shell.
I do heat the building in the winter when I'm out there, and that's currently kerosene but I'd like to switch to something else (propane, maybe -- we don't have natural gas at my house). I don't plan on cooling the building though the idea of putting a window air conditioner in the wood shop section of the shop has crossed my mind. So, I don't think I need a vapor barrier on the interior side? KY weather gets to freezing in the winter and hovers around there, and probably 20%RH, and int the summer it's 90 degrees and 75-85% RH (muggy!).
Here's a shot of the wall showing a post, stud, and metal with a tape measure for reference -- though parallax makes the numbers kind-of meaningless :/
Thoughts?