metal building insulation

[deepsea]

What seems to be the best way to keep cold air inside a metal building. This is going to be a new construction and because I'd live in the south I'm not worried about heating the building what I need to know just how to keep the ac inside.

 

[930dreamer]

I'm told the expanding pro installed type seal the building the best, and cost the most.

 

[BrianC636]

I'm getting ready to use open cell spray foam on my metal building. 40 x 64 x 12, we're doing the roof deck and the walls. Right at 6k for it installed.

 

[deepsea]

Youre gonna invest 6k into insulating a garage in Missouri. Is it cause the super harsh winters or the super hot summers? Did I just say super twice?

 

[BadgerBoilerMN]

Hot or cold dosn't matter, but you have to control infiltration and ventilation. It's the humidity. A radiant barrier on south facing walls and roof is good...no not bubble foil.

 

[BrianC636]

Youre gonna invest 6k into insulating a garage in Missouri. Is it cause the super harsh winters or the super hot summers? Did I just say super twice?

LOL...it's the tornados I'm insulating for..

My last metal building was done with that bubble foil **** and I hated it. It was loud when it rained and I hated that bugs and stuff got in through the cracks around the base of the shop (pole barn) so I told the wife this time that I was going to do what I could to seal it up tight so I would have to mess with that again.

 

[whitejeeptj]

Open cell spray foam was the way I went on a 30x40x14 pole barn used as a camp/lake house on Toledo Bend. It was considerably cheaper than closed cell. Seals up the building nicely and keeps the AC from running continuously. I put 4 inches on the roof deck and 3 inches in the walls. It was around 4300.00.

 

[BrianC636]

Not bad at all Whitejeep. I finalized the bid for the shop and our house yesterday. $13,500 for both which puts the shop at about $5500 and the house at $8K.

This is with both of them getting 5-6" on the roof deck and 3.5-4" in the walls. The house will have some additional rooms done for sound proofing also.

 

[deepsea]

The price of radiant barriers is a lot more appealing than the spray foam. Using a 15000 btu AC if I could keep the temp 15 degrees cooler than outside I would be a happy camper. Hey, any of you guys had luck with Eagle Carports. I got a thread in general discussion and would appreciate yall checking it out. Eagle carports new build is the name of the thread

 

[haugy]

I put one inch of closed cell foam in my 30x40x14. It sealed it up, created a great vapor barrier, and made it much quieter. Since my poles were 6", I framed up the interior at 6" deep. This allowed me to then put in standard R19 fiberglass batts.

I then put on drywall. I have a 12,000btu A/C unit, and it keeps it at least 10 degrees cooler in there.

And I haven't even insulated the closed in ceiling yet.

I'd do a combo, it was about $2000 total, and it works great.

 

[deepsea]

There is a product that claims an R value of 15 at only 1/4" thick called Prodex. No... I don't believe the claim of R 15 but the idea seems realistic. Prodex is basically (according to their website) closed cell foam sandwiched between two radiant barriers. Has anyone had luck with Prodex. It doesn't seem like it will insulate the best but it seems to give the best bang for the buck. PS... I haven't seen snow in five years or a sweatshirt in two years but I can get a tan just by looking outside
Jesse

 

[deepsea]

700 square feet for $150 plus shipping for Prodex. $600 vs $6000. Badger, is this stuff too good to be true. I'm not storing icecream in my shop just trying to avoid heat stroke!! :violent:

 

[JakeKohl]

How can the prodex, at only 1/4" thick, achieve that kind of R-value while the 1/2" R-max foil backed foam board is only around R3? I suspect some creative use of the R-value scale too!

 

[deepsea]

R15 is probably an outright lie but I'm trying to wrap my mind around this whole "Reflects away 97% of radiant heat" line that they got going on. If that was the case I could get away with a dehumidifier (80 degrees in the shade and low humidity is rather comfortable) At the very least does anyone know where I can obtain a sample of this stuff. I know the Home Depot has got double bubble and radiant foil but what about this Prodex stuff. I know somebody out there has tried it in a hot climate.

 

[CoyoteLL]

I have been curious about ProDex as well.

Found this thread while trying to find out how much a 24X30X10 shop might be to spray with closed cell foam.