Pondering in the interest of time to have a quality shed builder make me one of those 16x32' ...
Any suggestions or no's from your experiences or stories heard? Old wives tales are also to be enjoyed.:laughing:
Closed cell foam is probably the best stuff out there, but it's expensive. Open cell foam is OK, but it's nowhere near as good as closed cell and if you are filling small areas, like in between the studs of a wall, it's not a great material.
Google the R value of open cell and closed cell. There is a huge difference.
Talk to several installers and get bids in writing before doing anything.
How much space will you have in your ceiling? If it's just the thickness of you rafters, closed cell foam is going to be the best choice, especially if they are 2x6's.
If it was me, I wouldn't use foam. It's just a weekend get away cabin, and probably not where you want to dump a ton of cash. If you have enough room under your building for a guy to spray foam it, you have enough room to crawl under there and install fiberglass and then seal it with plywood to keep out animals.
Wrapping the outside walls is very important. If you are having it built, insist that they do this. Also insist that they tape the windows. Keeping the wind out from the walls is a big part of maintaining your inside temperature. Open cell in the walls fails to do this very well, but closed cell is fantastic. But it's super expensive and rarely done when you find out how much it costs.
For the ceiling, if you are going with a flat ceiling and you have an attic, blowing in two feet of loose insulation is the best bang for your buck. You get the machine to do this free when you buy ten bags, and the new Attic Cat type insulation does not itch or require a face mask. I do a few houses every year with this and energy bills drop 30 to 50 percent on every job.
If you are going with a raised/vaulted ceiling and you only have the thickness of the rafters, then nothing will come close to closed cell foam. In your bid, ask them to give you a price for just the ceiling and then for everything else that you want sprayed. Break it into two bids.
Or you can add another 2x6 under what is already there and create a space of 11 inches for fiberglass insulation bats. I've done this a few times with great results. Here in Texas, heat is what we battle the most, but in Jan and Feb, it gets down into the teens, so we do have some issues there. I've found it to be very easy to heat and cool a room with two layers of R19 fiberglass bats in the ceiling. It's only R 38, but for occasional use, it's a great way to save some money and have a comfortable space.