Pole Building insulation questions

[bfuller83]

Hi! Brad Fuller from Onondaga, MI here! I am glad I found this forum and look forward to collaborating with everyone!

I have been searching and reading for quite some time but haven't been able to answer my question so I am going to just directly ask it. . A couple years ago I built a 30'wx40'L with 12' ceiling pole building with concrete floor and 2 10W'x11H' overhead doors. I have been slowly trying to get my tool/wood shop out into the garage and now am reaching the point where I need to insulate.



I initially was thinking that I would have the walls spray foamed to around flush with the girts (forgive me if I am not using the correct terminology I am talking about the horizontal 2x4s that run around the outside of the building and the siding attaches to.) and cover them with either plywood or OSB directly attached to the inside of the girts so I could attach tool hangers or whatever and leave the 6x4s exposed.

For the ceilings I was initially thinking I would just buy some ridged foam board and screw it to the bottom of the joists and tape it and call it good. Well from reading I found that, that isn't up to code and could be a major fire hazard so I kept on searching. I found the website insulation4less.com and have been looking at their Prodex Total 48 Inch. They seem to indicate that it can be used as the ceiling material but I am still unclear.

I think my plan for the walls is ok but I am really still unsure about the ceiling and attic space. I really look forward to your feedback!

I have attached a couple pictures so you can get a better idea of my construction. The joists are 24" oc. Sorry for the camper and truck in the picture I don't have a picture of the inside that doesn't have the cars in them.

 

[UpNorther]

Hi Brad and welcome to the forum.
There are tons of threads in the forum about insulating pole barns if you search for them, you can find many different ideas. I know because just a few months ago I posted a similiar question to yours, hahaha.
Im in Minnesota ,but farther north than you, so not sure how much warmer it stays where your at.
What I'm ending up for my pole barn is 2" spray foam, then R19 batts, then an inside girt on inside of poles, then wall metal/plywood sheeting.
The general concensus on flat ceilings seems to be: baffle off above the outside wall edge, poly the ceiling, then metal sheeting, then blow in cellulose.

You also said that your trusses are 24" OC. are you planning on storing stuff up above ?

 

[bfuller83]

I thought I was going to store stuff up there but the more I think about it with the trusses being spaced as they are I would probably need to reinforce if I was going to. I don't think I have a need to store in the attic.

 

[DougWil]

Unless the trusses were designed for a storage load they were probably only designed for 10psf or so.
Basically the weight of insulation and sheeting.

Using them for storage will only make them sag,,, or worse.

Spray foaming 1-1/2" of depth on the interior of your ribbed roofing won't provide much R value. And will make removing the ribbed siding very hard if you ever have to since it will be glued on.

Lots of threads on adding internal framing to a pole building to allow proper insulation and finishing with sheet rock, plywood, or metal.
Read up.

Also suggest you read up on http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/ about how to construct a well insulated and performing building.

 

[Maxxplanck]

Hi Brad, I just built a 40X64 pole barn in Fowlerville, MI. I'm having the same problem, I looked at several pole barns and saw several different ways, all not to code. I'm using 2" foam board, with expandable foam to fill any small gaps. With 1/2" OSB over that. Not sure what to do with the ceiling, I would like a cathedral type ceiling ( with out a hot roof ) so I'm still looking into that. I looked at spray foam for the ceiling, but cost was 12K for just the ceiling.