Steel building insulation - options

[hyfire]

Hello Guys,

I am looking at a 50' x 75' steel building.

I know I need insulation, but the soft, puffy insulation the manufacture offers just wont look finished off and I cant afford to drywall over it right off the bat.
Are there any other options to insulate and give it a more finished off look? Also, something that is easier to clean than the soft plastic covered insulation?

Thank you for any input you can give!

Josh

 

[nehog]

That's what I have in mine, and it looks OK. It's a metal garage, not my living room, so I'm not terribly picky.

Alternatives are rigid foam, but that can be more expensive.

 

[hyfire]

Thanks for the reply Peter. Does rigid foam go over it, or in place of it?

Josh

 

[bazzateer]

Put up with it and get saving for the drywall. Having to look at it as-is will spur you on to get the cash for the drywall.

 

[nehog]

When I got my building I researched on the web for additional insulation (figured maybe I'd need it.) Most recommendations were based on existing buildings, and the foam usually went over the existing insulation.

In my case, first I found the 'soft' plastic faced fiberglass has a benefit, it has reasonable acoustics! My big sound system (with a pair of 15" three way speakers) sounds awesome in there. I did find a down side, in that it is slightly more fragile than sheet rock (only slightly, it is so easy to punch a hole in a wall, no matter what is there!) but it also repairs easily: I was given a big roll of 'patching tape' which is really just the plastic backing (it is reinforced with polyester 'threads') which when applied over a snag or hole is almost impossible to see after done. I can fix a hole in about a minute, and am all done. Can't do that with sheet rock: gotta patch, finish, and paint.

Sheet rock may offer fire protection advantages (I've never tested the stuff I have for flame properties) but with three trucks, and a bunch of cars inside, all with fuel in plastic tanks, likely a fire would total the building no matter what was on the walls.

 

[collmorgen]

My brother is a civil engineer/ general contractor and one of the buildings (a Fastenal Store) features an upgraded version of the plastic backed fiberglass that is normally used. It looks very good but it is more expensive.

 

[dugger10]

I have the rolls of firbeglass with the plastic backed as mention above and also keep a roll of tape to repair tears. It looks good enough, I thought about the spray in type and actually went and looked at one. I think the spray in will seal the building better and it can be painted, this stuff was green in color and I was told it would fade to a brown over time. This guy painted it white and likes it much better. The other thing that bothered me was spraying this stuff on the beams and purlins. I was told they could tape them off but scraping of was difficuilt. Here's my plan, I welded my purlin 4 ft from the floor. I'm looking for some old barn wood, plan to cover that 4 ft to protect my insulation, seems thats were i tear the insulation the most. Also thought about using chip board cut in half, not as good looking but cheap and would be easy to do.