Insulation, Vapor Barrier & Liner Panels

[TST17]

I have a few questions on insulation, vapor barrier, and metals panels for a pole barn that is just about finished.

It's located in south west Ohio, will be 42x72x14 with 8ft trusses. There are ridge & soffit vents.

I'm finishing out the interior myself.

My plan is to buy everything from Menards.

For the ceiling, I plan on buying 16' 3" metal panels so I can cover 2 trusses & have some overlap to keep things consistent.

Before I put up the panels, I was going to use a 6mil vapor barrier, and put in unfaced fiberglass batts (probably R38) as I go. I plan on picking up a drywall lift with extension on Amazon to hold up the panels.

Menards also has unfaced rolls of R19 which I plan on using for the walls, then a 6mil vapor barrier, then metal panels.

Does this sound like a good plan? I've done a lot of reading and people seem to be split on whether a vapor barrier is needed with a metal ceiling.

The space will eventually be heated, and possibly cooled in the summer.

Also, where the metal exterior walls meet the concrete, there is a slight gap (photo attached). Should I fill this in with a can of foam? Should I use the foam intended for windows (so it doesn't expand and push the metal out) or will normal foam work?

Thanks for any help or insight.

 

[Firebrick43]

I wont get into the argument if a vapor barrier is absolutly necessary or not. But it wont hurt. The most importantant thing about and wall or ceiling assembly is that its sealed(on the inside of a mainly heated building) 1 square inch of unsealed space can transport something like 30 cups of water over a year period.

on the other hand on the outside panels do not seal the ribs at the top and bottom. Shove a little ball of stainless steel wool in there to keep critters out but you want the ribs to vent, otherwise you have a double vapor barrier and that is bad. Also spray foam against the panel voids the warranty on most panels. Ideally you would put 1.5" of XPS foam between the girts, then the fiberglass. Are you using/framing for batts or using a blanket and placing girts on the inside.

 

[TST17]

As long as the vapor barrier doesn't hurt, I will go with it.

I intended on using blankets/rolls of insulation on the walls, held in place with insulation hangars on the girts, then running 2x4 for the liner panels to screw into.

 

[stm317]

Blown in cellulose in the ceiling will probably give you more R value for your money than fiberglass batts, but otherwise your plan seems solid.

 

[gmtech]

Check out RR buildings on youtube. He builds some top of the line pole buildings and goes over everything in detail. But be careful, its addicting watching his videos.

 

[Joe_K]

Everything sounds good, but I would use Rockwool in the walls and blow in Cellulose in the ceiling.

 

[Black Oak]

that gap at the bottom should have had the foam sealing strips installed when the metal went on . Menards carries them . I'm surprised you went given a heads up on that along the way .It's possible to loosen the screws , get it in there , and tighten back down . Every metal dealer will carry them . Stopping air infiltration is job 1 .

 

[Black Oak]

foam panels and sealing around the edges will fix that gap on bottom. Do you have the same situation on the top ? You need to look at that also .

 

[like2wheel]

Hmmm. I have the same question. I tend to agree with Firebrick that it would be a bad idea not to have a path for moisture to escape on the cold side of the wall.

I was originally planning on using spray foam to seal that bottom gap, but not the top. Now I'm not so sure what to do. I do know that a double vapor barrier is a bad idea.

 

[bullnerd]

There should be a rat guard trim on the outside at the bottom of the panels.

 

[like2wheel]

There should be a rat guard trim on the outside at the bottom of the panels.

There is. The picture is deceiving with the sun shining thru.

Not a perfect seal, there is a small gap.

 

[bullnerd]

I had a very similar situation on my pioneer building.

I didnt do anything about it. Too small for a mouse so I left it.

I didnt want foam touching my building anywhere.

Plastic on the inside will seal the air from getting in. I like that the metal has gaps to keep it dry.

 

[TST17]

I finally had a chance to get to the building and there is indeed a rat guard on the outside.

I'm thinking I will leave the gap at the bottom there for ventilation since I will be doing a vapor barrier.

My next question is about the panel size for the ceiling. I intended on doing 16' 3" sections to span 2 trusses with a little overlap, but I'm concerned that is going to be too long to handle with a drywall lift.

Does anyone have any experience with a lift and panels that long?

My post count is too low to post a link, but its on Amazon under the title "Troy DPH11 Professional 15' Drywall Panel Hoist Jack Lift Lifter Tool +Extension" for $189.99 shipped

 

[bullnerd]

My trusses are 4' apart, I did 16'-2", worked good. Still had to cut the short pieces at the ends to create stagger.

You can see the wood support I made (copied from someone here) in my build in the sig.

I installed them alone, but my ceiling is only 10' though.

 

[Steve R]

I had used the 6 mill plastic between the wood and tin on my garage. I went with blown-in Cellulose over the fiberglass. One reason for the plastic was that with blow-in that it will work its way into the seams of the tin where it over laps unless you put screws in that seam to hold it tighter. I also used spray foam in a can to cover my outlet boxes (for lighting) and mounting boxes for ceiling fans so no insulation could get in there and no air can get through them. Fiberglass (blow-in or unfaced batts) is not very good at stopping convection (air currents). Plastic would also help with that.

 

[4x4OnTheShore]

I just spent the last few weekends framing a 16'x20' office for my Wife. I went with the EcoFoil against the metal on the exterior walls (perforated). Before that went up I plugged the gaps at the metal with steel wool and a shot of spray foam. After that we framed the walls and used R-19 on the exterior walls and R-13 on the other 2 adjoining walls, then sheet rocked it after electrical.

Next week the ceiling metal is coming. I plan on putting up plastic for a vapor barrier then putting the metal ceiling up. I'm not putting a ceiling in the rest of the building just yet so I'm guessing I'll have to add R-38 rolled out as we install the ceiling.

 

[rburke65]

Will your metal ceiling span 8' ?

 

[NebrTd]

I just finished doing my interior on my building. I would agree that the RR buildings youtube page has a lot of good videos on finishing a building. I wished I had seen some about a year sooner.

If I were starting with a blank slate again, I would do batts in the walls. I would do 4' wide batts horizontal or try and do the Morton building way by sandwhiching the batts with boards that you hang from the top of the post.
Then the vapor barrier. Followed by the girts and liner panels.

As for the ceiling, I can't comment on the ceiling as far as your span, but I did do mine in 2 different lengths. This again was an RR video idea. By doing different lengths, in groups of 3 in my case, the system will keep itself strait by over lapping the seams with a longer sheet. I am not sure if that makes sense? I ended up pretty much perfectly square on a 43' run and only squared up the first 2 sheets.

I am blowing in insulation on top of my ceiling. Hopefully in the next week or two.