Insulating The Ceiling/Roof

[D45]

I have the walls insulated in my shop, under the finished walls (one side is rolling metal sheets, the other is wood siding

I am contemplating insulation the open/exposed ceiling now.......I wont ever finish off the ceiling, because I like it exposed for wiring and storage

While I do not have a full time, permanent heater in my garage (currently use a portable kerosene torpedo heater), it gets damn cold in the garage during the winter...............a NG fired hanging heater is in the future plans

I know paper faced rolls would be cheap and easy to do myself, but I am also concerned that they will fall down over the years, and the staples wont hold

I have about 6 roof vents also running along the top pitch of the roof

It's like a "lean to" style roof, so its flat with one pitch......seems easy

Would spray foam be better? What about the eaves on one side, do they just install baffles before the foam?

Will I really gain THAT MUCH by insulating the roof?

 

[bandit067]

I have never installed/owned a spray foam building. All my buds who built, building homes, shops, add ons, swear by the spray foam. Pretty sure an installerseller could answer all your questions. I think it would be the ticket for your needs.

 

[D45]

I am going to call the local spray foam business and see about pricing, I think its going to be more than I want to spend

 

[cdaiscool]

Will I really gain THAT MUCH by insulating the roof?

Yes. Heat goes up, no insulation means you're losing a LOT of heat through the roof.

 

[altersaddle]

I have been researching insulation for my tiny shop. I have been flopping back and forth between insulating the roof (to keep attic storage handy) and the ceiling (to simplify the setup, and to heat a smaller volume).

If your shop has a vented roof, I would consider ceiling insulation. If there are no vents, then spray foam directly applied to the underside of the roof may be a better option.

I have a single vent on the deck of the roof, and would need to switch to a ridge vent and some funny retrofits to keep condensation down if I insulated the underside of the roof deck. I also have skylights in the roof, which complicate things further.

What are you storing in the workshop attic? Would it benefit from a heated space or is it ok to leave it "outside"?

 

[D45]

Hard to see from the pics, with the snow covering the roof, but there are actually 5 or 6 of these type of vents:

 

[RickP]

You could use foil-faced rigid styrofoam under the rafters. That would also help by reflecting some of the roof heat in the summertime.

I wasn't clear on your exact roof/attic setup -- do you have flat ceiling joists in the shop that are open to the "attic" space under the rafters? If that's your setup, then insulating under the rafters might be a good way to go -- keeping the attic space warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Hard to see from the pics, with the snow covering the roof, but there are actually 5 or 6 of these type of vents:

But with that type of vent, you'll need to provide some ventilation above the insulation. You could add furring strips perpendicular to the rafters (or you might be able to add a ridge vent at the top, but I don't think that would work at the front of the shop where there's no ridge).

 

[ForceFed70]

In general - ceiling should have 3x the insulation of the walls. That's because it's 3x more important.

Whatever you do, make sure you have proper venting/airflow between the sheeting and your insulation. Unless you live in a cold climate location, heat from the sun will cause the shingles to fail way early without proper ventilation.

 

[DC73]

Hard to see from the pics, with the snow covering the roof, but there are actually 5 or 6 of these type of vents:

You could eliminate these and create an un-vented attic using spray foam. Research "un-vented" attics and insulating cathedral ceilings on BuildingScience.com and GreenBuildingAdvisor.com. You can't just put any insulation against the bottom of the roof. There are condensation issues to be concerned with and proper ways to do this for your climate.

DC

 

[Antique Engine]

Spray foam was one of the best decisions I ever made concerning my shop. I found the cost to not be near as bad as internet folks say. In my case it started out at 1.05 per sq/ft. I was able to negotiate a cash price lower when all was said and done.