Pole Barn Build 40x80x16 - Ft Worth area

[Beal095]

Hi guys, my family and I made the move from KC to the DFW area this year. I am having a 40x80x16 pole barn built. It's just the shell and the concrete as I will be finishing it out myself. I went with a pole barn for several reasons. I wanted 16' walls to allow for a 14' tall garage door. I also want to finish it out completely (eventually), easier to wire once studded, easier to finish out, and very quick to build. (We needed storage quickly).

They break ground in 2 weeks. As probably most of you, I pushed my budget to build the biggest building I could. Everyone I've talked to with a 40x60 still wishes they went bigger....lol.

I have a couple weeks to make an insulation decision. I was hoping the forums experience (and my searching the forums) can help me. This is a metal skinned building with a wood structure. I know the metal will sweat when I heat the building in the winter (even if it's just a month or two a year here in Texas. The builder offers a foil lined bubble thin layer moisture barrier/insulation that they state is an R6 and with get sandwiched between the metal and the wood. For my size of building, this option is $3800 installed.

Is this worth it? Does the roof of the building need a moisture barrier? Will the moisture just run down the 4/12 slope to the edge? My original plan was was to use fiberglass batt insulation in the walls(after framing) and blow insulation in the ceiling once I have the ceiling fastened to the bottom of the trusses. The builder asked me about the moisture Barrier and it's something I hadn't given much thought about. Of course I'd prefer not to spend the $$ now but if it's the best, I will try and find a way to do it. I can't afford spray foam. I saw a thread here about someone putting tyvek in with staples when they stood the walls up but didn't see anything about the roof. Is the R6 enough or would I add batt insulation along with this? My goal someday is to heat the building (if it was single digits, maybe heat to 40, etc). I'd also love to cool, but not sure how I'd do that yet, just trying to plan. Your thoughts on the foil bubble stuff vs tyvek after vs batt insulation etc. I haven't discussed with the builder about tyvek instead of bubble during installation. This is my first metal skinned building.

Thanks
Shannon

 

[rustyshakelford]

Is the builder the same guy as the one erecting it? 3800 seems very high for that bubble wrap to me. Maybe you could supply it and pay the erection crew a little to install it. Very easy to do. Worst case just do the roof and add batt or something else lasted down the road.

Brett

 

[jedeyeben]

I live in Indiana, the land of hot and muggy humidity in the summers, I went with the foil on the roof. Around here pole barns are very common and ones with just the metal and no insulation tend to sweat a lot as to the point sometimes it seems like it's raining inside. But that is in Indiana heat and humidity, I can't speak for Texas.

What I will add is that it also does a relatively good job of keeping the heat off inside through the summer. Now this is my first year with mine, built it last July, 50x96x16 and I'm glad I chose to do the insulation up top.


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[RAYJAY]

do the roof, when the metal is cold it will sweat somtimes you will think its raining inside ..lol

 

[Beal095]

Yes, the builder is the erector.

I will ask what labor is if I supply something myself. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I wouldn't pay more than $100 per guy extra at most. They roll it across the roof and slap nail it down before covering it with the metal. Adds maybe 1-2 hrs to a shop the size of yours for the roof

Brett

 

[Faster346]

The roof needs it more than the side walls in my opinion. I just built my building and did the vapor barrier and insulation on the roof. Not sure what it costed because I asked for that right off the batt from my builders.

 

[billgreenwood]

I am just a couple hours south of you (just south of Waco). I put up a 30x40x16 this spring/summer and did the bubble insulation on just the roof. I can't speak as to how it will he in the winter yet but it seems like it keeps the shop cooler so far. I work in a large metal building daily and it gets pretty miserable but mine is bearable. I also have 6 windows on mine (2 on each wall except the main door wall) which allows for good cross air flow.

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[Beal095]

I've read several builds that finished their pole barn out later. When finishing out they studded the bottoms of the trusses then put tyvek on before they installed Sheetrock then blew in insulation on top of that. Seems you'd want the vapor barrier on the metal side, but how well does this way work?

 

[Hornman]

I have a 1200 sq.ft. "red steel" metal shop building in Mansfield, just SE of you. I have the typical fiberglass batt insulation in walls and ceiling, no vapor barrier. I do get condensation on the roof and have staining on the exposed ceiling insulation. I insulated the 9' and 16' doors with foil faced polyurethane board. With all that, a 3 ton A/C cools the building. If you don't add the A/C, the building will be unusable six months of the year.

 

[rustyshakelford]

My building only has insulation on the roof but has 3 12x12 and 2 10x10 doors when all the doors are open, it's comfortable all day long. Really couldn't justify cooling mine and since I don't get much side sun exposure it's fine. I'm northwest of Houston 75 miles or so, so you know it's nice and toasty with extra humidity

Brett

 

[ckyle29]

I live just north of you about an hour and when I had my 30 X 60 built three years ago, I had the foil-faced bubble barrier installed and it completely eliminated any condensation issues. Don't count on it to act like insulation though, as it was still hot as hell in the building in the summer months. I too went with a pole barn so I could work on it myself and pay as I went. I framed my walls and ceiling and then installed R-13 batts in the walls and blew in the ceiling to R-38 and now have a mini-split heat pump that keeps it comfy year round for about $45/month. If you do the bubble wrap, you don't want any other vapor barriers in the ceiling though, as you only want the barrier on the predominately warm side, which here in the South is the outside of the wall/roof. I highly recommend soffit vents and either ridge or gable vents.

 

[NoMoreGreen]

Mind if I ask what the cost of the building and erection cost?

 

[Beal095]

I don't mind. My 40x80x16 with concrete is right at 45k. That included (1) 14x14 insulated garage door and (1) 3' walk door. That is an installed price.

 

[Beal095]

I went and priced the foil bubble insulation at a couple stores. With the size of my building and to do the entire 40x80x16 building, I'd be at $3000 just in bubble insulation with no labor.

 

[Beal095]

First official picture. My property is flagged as well as I stuck a couple fence posts in the ground by hand (easier to see, ignore them not being straight). 10 loads of select fill dirt brought in. Our house is on 4 acres of what once was a pecan orchard. There's a 8" hump that goes through the center of the building site. The dirt is to level the site with the tallest part.

 

[Disney]

I have it and I think it's worth it. I paid 2500 for my 30x50x13 to get insulated.

 

[Beal095]

Builder broke ground! I also went and bought all of my electrical conduit, Pex, and plumbing supplies. As soon as the dirt inside is finished being leveled, I'll be renting a trencher to stub everything in.

 

[Beal095]

I rented a trencher and put in my plumbing and my electrical conduits.

Toilet and Shower plumbing going in:



Pex water line going in. It was run inside a 2" electrical conduit just in case it needs replaced in the future. (you can see a little bit of the electrical conduit for wire crossing a little way down).



Moisture barrier and rebar going down.



Pouring and finishing:






We went with a sidewalk on the front to also act as a brick ledge in the future. Metal and doors go on in a week or two depending on weather.

Thanks, Shannon.

 

[pmiranda]

I'm curious if you priced out the same size in a steel-frame building?

 

[Beal095]

Yes I did. It was around 15% more. However since I'm going to finish the building out eventually, I needed the closer truss spacing that the wood offered.

 

[pmiranda]

Thanks, that's good to know.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Already looks to be a nice building in progress. make sure you take plenty of pictures as it progresses, you'll only have one chance to document the build.



BTW, moved your thread to the Gallery section.

 

[Beal095]

Thank you. I apologize if I started this in the wrong forum. I'm learning a lot here!

Thanks, Shannon

 

[Beal095]

The exterior is finished!

 

[pmiranda]

Cool.
Wow, that sure looks tall!
What did you end up doing on insulation?

 

[billgreenwood]

That looks great.

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[Beal095]

Thank you! I decided not to go with the foil/bubble wrap. I found several suppliers who offer wide rolls of coated insulation specifically made to install in pole buildings. It was 4k just for bubble wrap. The insulation quote for the wide rolls for the while building was just over 5k. That is the way I will go on the walls and ceiling when I can afford it.