Insulating my Pole Barn.

[RonRock]

I've read many posts here and have not seen this question addressed.

I am at the point of finishing the interior of my PB. At the moment I have a LP furnace working, eventually to be reduced to stand by heat when I get my waste oil burner working. Anyway at this time there is no insulation in the PB at all. I have a full ridge vent that will let in rain and snow in a windy storm. I'm hoping that by insulating and finishing the ceiling that will stop.

But the important part of my thread is that the steel roof will condensate and actually rain on me all winter long as I bring the heat up from freezing to workable temp. Should this stop after insulating and ceiling install? Or do I need to figure a way to deal with the condensation issue first? I'm guessing I'd have to spray foam over the entire inside of the roof. Sounds expensive. Could I tack 1/2" Foil Face foam to the underside of the girts causing an air space between the roof and foam?

 

[Steve in Mi]

Should this stop after insulating and ceiling install?

Yes! Insulation below on the ceiling will stop the condensation on the underside of the metal surface.

 

[folgers]

Is your ridge vent installed right? There are suppose to be gaskets between it and the metal roof that should stop rain from blowing under it. I wouldn't worry about a little condensation dripping, it will stop after the ceiling is up and warm moist air can't reach the cold metal.

 

[ambenz]

Here is a great link you might find useful.....

http://polebarninsulation.net/

 

[RonRock]

Is your ridge vent installed right? There are suppose to be gaskets between it and the metal roof that should stop rain from blowing under it. I wouldn't worry about a little condensation dripping, it will stop after the ceiling is up and warm moist air can't reach the cold metal.

Yes I'm sure it is installed correctly. I live on top of an Iowa bluff surrounded by farm ground. Very windy area.


I'll take a look at the linked thread now.

 

[semi75]

I'm going through a similar situation. The easiest way to insulate a pole barn is while it is being built and before the metal is put on. A common method when doing it this way is to put a vinyl backed fiberglass insulation down with the vinyl on the inside and the metal tight against the fiberglass.

I have the foil type insulation on the roof in my large barn and it does well at stopping condensation but I have never tried heating it, it is 60x140. I would love to spray the entire building with close cell but it is expensive. Even with doing vinyl backed fiberglass after the fact there will still be gaps where there will be condensation around your wood supports. I built my 30x40 and wish I had insulated the roof at least when I built it. I asked the builder who built my larger barn and he said the best way is to take the metal off the roof, insulate and put it back on. I'm not up for that so I'm looking for another solution. Closed cell foam is looking better all the time if I can convince myself it's worth it.

 

[wuboring]

on my pole barn they put metal on the bottom of the trusses, and im blowing in R-49 insulation. between the poles in the walls they had rolled up 'blankets' of insulation that fit perfectly between each pole, then a vapor barrier, then metal on the inside to finish it off...works great

 

[bgarrett]

The guy I was talking to was telling me about filling the hollow space between inner and outer walls with white packing 'peanuts'
Any comments? Where would you get enough for a 40X40 with 14 foot walls?

 

[swvega]

If you blow the walls only use fiberglass as the blow in material. on ceiling be sure it has a vapor barrier. Also only use fiberglass in ceiling. Reason/ any condesation will cause regular blow in to eat away the tin liner and any tin on trusses.

 

[tdkkart]

The guy I was talking to was telling me about filling the hollow space between inner and outer walls with white packing 'peanuts'
Any comments? Where would you get enough for a 40X40 with 14 foot walls?

Regular packing peanuts are too large to be effective as insulation. They do not "pack" together tight enough to prevent air from passing through, which means they are more of a screen door than a window.

 

[bgarrett]

Regular packing peanuts are too large to be effective as insulation. .

Regular.

Yeah, that guy was describing these as similar to 1/2 of a peanut.
I dont have any clue what they are but have heard of packing peanuts so thats what I called'em..

Any idea what he meant?

 

[WIMike]

I'll be following this topic as I have a pole shed that will be insulated by next winter.

It is 32x40 10 foot walls. I will be using steel (liner panel) to finish of the inside and the plan is for fiberglass batts in the walls and blow in in the celing. There will be a 6 mil poly vapor barrier on the celing and walls as well.

Will I have a problem with condensation on the under side of the liner steel?