insulating a metal building

[J Man]

I will be insulating a 30x60 metal building soon. Any suggestions on what is the best stuff to use? Also any recomendations on interior walls other than drywall? Thanks.

 

[mulepackin]

The ones around here that I'm familiar with have use a blown on urethane foam insulation. They didn't finish the interior walls, just left the foam exposed.

 

[leadsled01]

I used 7/16" osb for the interior of my shop. Holds nails and screws real good for hanging anything anywhere you want.

 

[1320stang]

I'd recommend blown on expanding foam and 8' of OSB painted white as well. Most of the foam I've seen is a sort of off white, so it should reflect light pretty well, but I don't know if it darkens with time or not.

 

[69Cat]

I'm thinking about this too. Right now am leaning towards insulation rolled out between the frame and the exterior sheeting then spraying about an inch of foam to the inside wall to seal everything up. Then will sheet the interior with steel or PVC sheeting - probably PVC. Doing all foam for an R20 value (3") is looking pretty expensive. Looking to read what others are thinking regarding your question.

 

[Krodad]

If you are looking at doing the insulating drape AND sprayed insulation, I'd just forget the blanket and go for the spray.

Don't worry so much about the R-value for this building...if you are planning on some spray anyway, just use the depth you originally considered...you will gain more from this due to eliminating air infiltration than you think. I used to be involved in designing and building large (200,000 sf and bigger) freezers in states like Texas and Florida, and when we did the analyses, even 1" of insulation in our method of construction performed VERY well...all infiltration was eliminated. Of course we always went with 6" because the architects wanted it and we sold more insulation!

Consider Hardi panel for the interior sheeting. Do everything you can to make the doors and windows tight.

 

[69Cat]

Thats good to know. I've been back and forth on this. For a 50x75x16' building one guy estimated me CAN$24,000 to spray 2-2.5". I found the two part foam system in large cylinders, I'd guess 350lbs each for US$5400 a pair so I would need two sets to spray about 2" deep (about CAN$13,000) to do it myself. So it is a little pricey. I really like the idea though.

 

[tintoptexan]

Here's a shot of the Spray Foam I used and how it looks on the walls. I plan to spray it white for better light reflection. I is 1" thick and really sealed up the building. After getting quotes any where from $1.25 to $1.95 per square foot, I found a person that came down to $.95 per square foot. The building is 50X60 with 12 foot side walls and the roof is on a 4/12 pitch. The total cost was $5,400.00. The shop is located between Weatherford and Granbury Texas so I assume the cost will vary around the country. Joe

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[hemi]

On my 32 x 72 polebarn, I investigated foam and found it was as you found very expensive. Instead I went with a Johns Manville process called "spider".
Its a spay in fiberglass insulation for vertical walls. Don't think it will work on the ceiling though.
hemi

 

[astroracer]

I have been working with some EPS foam core board out of Canada that is incredible stuff! Most of your Dow and R-Tech boards are rated at 2 or 3 R per 1/2 inch. This other stuff blows them away. A 3/8th inch sheet is rated at an R-14! A 1 inch thick sheet has an R-value of 28.
If you want to check it out go here:
www.p2000insulation.ca
If you are interested in getting some samples give me a call. I can also hook you up with a master distributer here in Michigan.
I will be using this stuff to insulate the other half of my shop. I HIGHLY recommend this insulation. It works! It has a very tough woven skin on one side and a reflective aluminum on the other. You can leave the white side to the room with no need to cover it. it looks good when taped up and you can even use it as a dry erase board, marker wipes right off it... It is a little bit more expensive then the Dow foam but it works so much better it is well worth the little extra.
Mark

 

[ranger_dood]

I would guess that on a metal-framed structure, you would want to use a spray foam for insulation. It seems like anything else would allow too much condensation to form between the metal and the insulation, possibly rusting your structure from the inside.

 

[astroracer]

Any properly installed insulation (other then spray on) will leave an air gap between possible contributors to a "dew-line" formation. This air gap also prevents "leaching" of the heat or cold into the insulation. P2000 is not permeable by water, as fiberglas is, so there is no R-value lost through a dew-line formed in the insulation.
P2000 was initially designed to be installed in steel buildings and there are many ways it can be installed correctly depending on structure.
Mark

 

[69Cat]

Don't mean to hi-jack your thread J-Man - want to keep the discussion going.

Mark, I talked with a P2000 rep for awhile at a trade show and have some brochures. They describe it as coffee cup styrofoam with a foil backing. I think that with any rigid insulation it would be difficult to install unless some form of strapping was installed first - or is there an easy way to do this? I would still be inclined to spray foam around a lot of nooks and crannies. That is the one attraction to the blanket insulation installed on the outside frame. I would be inclined to use rigid insulation on a wood frame building though.

Ken

 

[astroracer]

A lot of guys are installing 1 x 2 furring strips vertically on 2' centers to screw to. This is the best route. Spray foaming the corners is a good idea just to seal them up and keep out drafts. It won't add anything to the R-value but it will help a lot with air infiltration.
3" of spray on foam for only an R20 is awful expensive. The P2000 1" board is rated at an R28 and it will also keep radiant heat out of the building with no issues concerning condensation or dew-line. I was quoted about 21 dollars a sheet for the Reflective/Reflective for my barn. 2" Dow foam is 25 bucks a sheet and you only get an R10 with that stuff! It was easy to make the decision on my part. Getting laid off in December put the dampers on my project though...
Mark

 

[brownbagg]

problem with the spray foam is, Its not cheap. I ended up building a 2x wall with regular fiberglass and plywood on top. also with the foam, grinder and sparks unless covered. Foam good idea but not cheap

 

[J Man]

Thanks for the replies. I would try to load the pics but the dial up is too slow. It is a barn type building so I will also need to seal up 2 of the big doors on one side of the building. For those that have used the spray in stuff, do you wire the building before or after?

 

[jimstandefer]

I used some of the new radiant insulation in my 40x60 shop. Your building erector installs it as the building is erected. I bought it from "insulation4less.com". I got the stuff they list as "most requested". All in all, the price wasn't bad and had a pretty good R factor (like 13) to be only 1/4" thick. It is highly light reflective too!

 

[sixt8bird]

I used some of the new radiant insulation in my 40x60 shop. Your building erector installs it as the building is erected. I bought it from "insulation4less.com". I got the stuff they list as "most requested". All in all, the price wasn't bad and had a pretty good R factor (like 13) to be only 1/4" thick. It is highly light reflective too!

Im at this stage right now. Looking at this stuff seems like a good deal. My concern is that the metal is up and then screwed to horizontal 2X 8s and then nailed to the face of 6X8s so I would need to cut it in between the 6X8s and staple it to the insde face of the 2X8s So there would be metal ,then a 1 1/2" gap by the wood 2X8 and then drwall screwed through the foil into the 2X8s. Im wondering if this will end up rotting the 2X8s?

 

[rodnok1]

Im at this stage right now. Looking at this stuff seems like a good deal. My concern is that the metal is up and then screwed to horizontal 2X 8s and then nailed to the face of 6X8s so I would need to cut it in between the 6X8s and staple it to the insde face of the 2X8s So there would be metal ,then a 1 1/2" gap by the wood 2X8 and then drwall screwed through the foil into the 2X8s. Im wondering if this will end up rotting the 2X8s?

If you already have the metal on I wouldn't add this type of barrier, it would leave the wood exposed to moisture and probably concentrate it on the wood. It is desined to go between studs and metal.

I am putting up a 40x60 very soon(when ground dries out...damn rain). I purchased a reflective barrier for the roof just to keep moisture off trusses/purlins. I am actaully going to divide mine into 2 or 3 sections and only insulate/heat some of it. I plan on using foam board(@1") on truss bottoms and prob same for walls in any area that I put drywall or other materials. In main area nothing on walls because I do too much welding grinding and I do not plan on putting interior walls up.