Insulating question ?

[deans]

I have a small metal sided pole barn building 24' x 24' with posts on 4' centres. I would like to insulate the building so as to work in warmer conditions and wonder if any one has dealt with this similar situation. I plan on installing 1/2" plywood on the ceiling and not sure what to do with the walls. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, deans

 

[LD1]

I have a small metal sided pole barn building 24' x 24' with posts on 4' centres. I would like to insulate the building so as to work in warmer conditions and wonder if any one has dealt with this similar situation. I plan on installing 1/2" plywood on the ceiling and not sure what to do with the walls. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, deans

I'm not sure what you are looking for here. Insulting a pole parn is not something new. Many people have done it. Just go to a lowes of menards and price insulation, and buy what you want. Rolls of Insulation usually comes sized for studs that are 2' OC or 16" OC. So it will depend on what the spacing is.

If your barn has the posts @ 4'OC then it probabally has the boards that the siding is attached to running horizontal @ 2' spacing. If this is the case you can either add a 2x6 to these boards horizontally and run insulation horizontally, or you could add wall studs vertically @ either 16" oc or 2' OC and run the inslation vertically.

For the ceiling, if it doesn't bear any weight, I'd use 7/16 OSB. It is about half the cost of plywood and I would use it for the walls to once the insulating is done. I'd assume your trusses are 4'OC which gives you two options once the ceiling is up. You could either unroll 2 batts of fiberglass inbetween each truss or you could do blown in insulation. Blown in is usually cheaper.

Just plan ahead as far as plumbing and electrical is concerned. Once the walls/ceiling are insulated it is hard to go back and add outlets and light fixtures.

 

[carpenter383]

You'll have to frame in between the trusses to support the osb ceiling. You might want to check on using metal for the ceiling, it was cheaper for me with trusses 4' o.c. because metal will span the trusses without any extra support.

 

[LD1]

The osb will span 4' just fine as long as it only has to hold up insulation. You would not be able to walk on it from the topside or store anything up there. You would just hae to walk on the bottom cord of the trusses when insulating.

 

[BungeeII]

With 4' spans, it's common around here to put up metal. There's metal siding sold for interior applications that's cheaper than the stuff on the outside of the barn. Price it out. You'll have a better finished product anyway.

Rigid foam insulation is hard to beat for the walls, but it can get pricey. Fiberglass insulation @ 24" for 6" walls (R19) isn't exactly cheap either. A lot of folks will have closed-cell insulation sprayed on, as they can just leave it exposed. It's about the most expensive of products, but by the time you're done, you may find that an 1" of closed-cell foam will give you what you need better and cheaper than the other options, especially from the perspective of not having to finish the walls.

Metal ceiling with blown-in cellulose along with closed-cell foam on the walls will give you a pretty functional, economical outcome for the occasionally used barn.

 

[carpenter383]

The osb will span 4' just fine as long as it only has to hold up insulation. You would not be able to walk on it from the topside or store anything up there. You would just hae to walk on the bottom cord of the trusses when insulating.

While I've never personally tried to use 7/16 osb to span 4' it sounds like an awfull lot to ask of it. I just can't see it holding up very long before it started sagging in between the trusses. I'll take your word for it, but if it were my building I would'nt span more than 2' especially on a ceiling.

 

[George2615]

Deans,

I added a 16' x 32' pole barn addition to the back of my garage back in October. I insulated the walls with 6" x 24" rolled insulation then put up 7/16" sheathing. I did the bottom half first then ran all my electrical for lights, outlets, switches etc. I rented a sheet rock lift to do the ceiling. Last month I bought a used mobile home furnace that runs on kerosene and installed that for heat. I spend a lot of time in the garage and the heat sure makes it nice. The sheathing was on sale at Home Depot, the insulation was not (ouch). My posts are 6 x 6 on 8' centers. I ran 2 x 4's and 2 x 6's (left over lumber I had) horizontally on 2' centers for installing the insulation and sheathing.

 

[Travelover]

George, isn't it about time to buy a new car?

 

[ray66v]

I hate metal siding on a ceiling, but it clearly is the best way to go on 4' centers.

Anything else is eventually going to sag at 4', especially if it is damp.

Blown in cellulose is a reasonably priced, fast, easy way to go. DIY, it is by far the cheapest.

I would put up some of the steel, and blow the insulation from a ladder, as you go.

 

[RedDirt]

For a ceiling covering to hold insulation in place on 2ft OC garage trusses I have used Thermo Ply. It is a fiber oriented structural cardboard product. Here is a link: Thermo-Ply

I rip long 1x1 wood cleats from scrap and and air gun staple them on to the sides of the rafters/trusses, bottom of cleat even with bottom of rafter. Run the insulation then rip 2' x 8' strips of Thermo Ply and staple those to the cleats. The beauty of this system is negligble weight. No trying to muscle heavy sheetrock, plywood or OSB, high and upside down. As I recall cost was about comparable to 1/2" sheetrock (but I have not bought any in years).

Another plus...The stuff I got was gray on one side and white on the other. The white face is free of printing or other markings so it works very well as a pre-finished product.

I would not try to span 4ft with this stuff so you'd need to add an intermediate support but this could just be lengthwise 2x4 or even 1x4 in between the trusses attached to blocks nailed flat between the trusses. Or 2x4's flat blocking between the trusses at 2' OC.

 

[PILOON]

Whichever you select, I strongly suggest a good vapor barrier on the innermost side otherwise humidity will soon frost up in the wool insulation and reduce its effectiveness.

Also be sure to provide good ventilation in the attic as your roof will sweat like crazy

Another trick I have used is to toss in a sachet of rodent poison between studs as they soon find their way into your walls.
I varied the brands/types from stud to stud just in case they got picky or too used to a specific brands. Cheap insurance IMHO.

I also agree with 4ft being too much span, either go metal on 4ft or simply add furring strips at 16" centers--with nail guns today that is a cheap and fast solution.
Don't forget vapor barrier!
Then use batts or whatever insulation.

If northern Ontario, like north of TO go for R-32 or at least R-28, (in a house you'd want R 40) it will pay off in over a couple of years. Walls, Min r-16 but again r-20

With insulation the labor is all the same, so the extra is a solid investement.

 

[irvingj]

My garage was standard 2 x 4 stud construction, but I did much the same... inexpensive 7/16" OSB on walls & ceiling, after adding batts of insulation. One thing I did which really helped was to paint surface of OSB white before hanging stuff on it-- makes lighting much more effective.

George2615- is that a '55 or '56? Used to drive one of those old tanks just like that-- even the same color! The Olds I used was a '55. "Rocket" V8!

 

[George2615]

George, isn't it about time to buy a new car?

No, these two are paid for and easy to work on. No computers. That's why I built the barn, needed a place to store them in winter.

George2615- is that a '55 or '56? Used to drive one of those old tanks just like that-- even the same color! The Olds I used was a '55. "Rocket" V8!

Its a 55 Super 88, all original and I just repainted it last summer in original colors. The other one is a 29 Durant street rod.

 

[LRTX1]

Blown in cellulose is a reasonably priced, fast, easy way to go. DIY, it is by far the cheapest.

I priced insulation last summer at Lowes and Home Depot, both blown in and rolled to do my attic. Then I called a local insulation company. They came and blew more in my attic than I planned on buying for cheaper than I could have done it myself.