Insulation for shop ceiling

[tman1020]

Don't want to hijack thread or step on any toes so if I am just give say so but I was going to show my progress. I have almost all walls and doors done. I went to order the steel for the ceiling and decided to hold off. I think I will just install some R19 fiberglass for now and see if I'm happy with that. I think the steel would be awesome but I might be fine with just the insulation especially if I can find some with a white vapor barrier.

 

[tman1020]

Another pic. I'm covering with 7/16 osb and its working out nicely.

 

[ovrszd]

I think the steel would be awesome but I might be fine with just the insulation especially if I can find some with a white vapor barrier.

When we built my shop we wrapped it with fiberglass insulation backed with the white vinyl vapor barrier. I've since added liner panel to the ceiling and to the walls 7' up. I work with metal a lot. The white vapor barrier attracts smoke and dust. It's also very vulnerable to puncture. Although you can buy some time by leaving it exposed, I think you'll want to cover it eventually.

Looks like you are gaining on your wall project nicely!!!

 

[gsganzer]

Another pic. I'm covering with 7/16 osb and its working out nicely.

View attachment 449306

Is that styrofoam insulation? Do you do any welding/cutting in your shop and if so, are you worried about a spark skittering across the floor and starting a fire? Even with it covered with OSB, you'd still have a heck of a fire hazard, wouldn't you?

I've never used styrofoam for anything, so I'm just asking. I always assumed it ignites pretty easy and once it catches it's poisonous smoke and gets out of control fast. Does the blue or pink rigid also have a fire risk or is it different?

Everytime I've seen rigid used, it seems like there's still a lot of gaps where panels butt up to things allowing a fair bit of air leakage. The batts or blankets seems to seal odd geometry better, but I can understand uses for either.


Curious to know.

 

[Code54]

Don't want to hijack thread or step on any toes so if I am just give say so but I was going to show my progress. I have almost all walls and doors done. I went to order the steel for the ceiling and decided to hold off. I think I will just install some R19 fiberglass for now and see if I'm happy with that. I think the steel would be awesome but I might be fine with just the insulation especially if I can find some with a white vapor barrier.

View attachment 449305

As the OP - no worries - its all about insulating shops - keep it coming and thanks for the info and photos

 

[Industrial Toys]

I just finshed insulating a room for tight, heated storage after 20 years or so. That is the floor which is on the second floor of the barn. Asked for "Roxul" and got some similar Johns Mansville product. Utter, freaking garbage! Just falls apart! In fact one bag was opened and taped shut, with one bat mangled and un-useable. Probably someone bought it, said "what is this crap" and returned it. Then they sold it to the next sucker!

Anyway, the jobs mostly complete and the hydro meter hopefully won't be spinning as fast this winter!

 

[tman1020]

Thanks code54 will do. As far as fire risk with foam I suppose it is a concern. I do weld and burn in there from time to time. I have been using this method since 1995 in my other garage and never had a problem and there has been sparks all over it. I think being covered is key. Standard insulated garage doors use this same foam and also the door insulation kits and they are left exposed. I will do some testing with some of the scrap pieces and report back. This method is not as efficient as R 11 or R13 3 1/2" fiberglass but this gives me about R 7-8 and and a great thermal Barrier & avoids studding it out.

 

[STx]

30 x 40 seems huge for a workshop. Do you really use it all for workshop?

LOL, I rent a 40 x 80 and don't have enough room. I'll be building a 30 x 30 soon and don't know how I'm going to make it work but, it's what I can afford so I'll have to figure it out...

 

[newbury]

30 x 40 seems huge for a workshop. Do you really use it all for workshop?

Might need a clarification of "work shop". I call mine a shop. But I also park in it. 42x50 and needs to be bigger.

LOL, I rent a 40 x 80 and don't have enough room. I'll be building a 30 x 30 soon and don't know how I'm going to make it work but, it's what I can afford so I'll have to figure it out...

Five years ago I HAD a 15x15 "workshop" (225 sq ft), now I have about 5,500 sq ft,

still not enough. Need to put up a pole shed for attachments.

 

[tman1020]

Had to do some welding and cutting yesterday so I used a piece of the scrap Styrofoam that I'm using to insulate the walls as a backdrop. I purposefully tried to shoot as many sparks as possible all over it and it didn't phase it a bit. I'm not saying it would a great backstop I'm just saying that if a few sparks happen to hit it shouldn't be an issue. When I finish I will take a bunch of the scraps out to the fire pile and test it's flammability a bit more. I'm sure once it goes it's going to be like napalm.

 

[tman1020]

Got the furnace mounted and fired it up this morning it works fantastic. Looks different sticking way up in the air like that but I like it. I'm going to put my toolbox right underneath it so when the furnace kicks on it will blow warm air on my tools to keep them warm. That way when I'm out there and have to use handtools they wont be freezing cold. It was 45° this morning when I fired it up I Ran it for about half hour straight and it was up to 55° and I have no insulation in the ceiling yet. I think it's going to work out very nice.

 

[gsganzer]

View attachment 449966

Got the furnace mounted and fired it up this morning it works fantastic.

Cool! Is that just a regular furnace like you typically have mounted in a closet in your house as part of a forced air system? I never thought of using an old one like that for heating a shop. Brilliant!

 

[ovrszd]

I use a house furnace to heat my shop when I'm too lazy to fire up the wood stove.

I studied that picture closely and can't figure out what that furnace is??? I'm guessing by your comments that it blows out the bottom?? You aren't gonna want your tool box under it, unless you like hot tools. 45 degree outside temp is not a test of your furnace. When it's really cold out and the furnace runs for 30 minutes without shutting off you'll see what I mean.

You are gaining. It'll all come together after you use your shop awhile.

Just understand, you can't heat a building without insulation. You can only take the chill off.

 

[tman1020]

Yes it's a 80% down draft that a friend that runs a HVAC shop saved for me. Someones ac went out and they just decided to replace the whole system so I got the furnace, it seems to be in very nice shape. I'm hoping to have the ceiling insulated by next week but it was nice to run the furnace while I was working in there just to take the chill off and the dampness out this morning. I don't think hot tools will be a problem. You can stand right under it and it's nice and warm but not hot. I think the fan blows high enough CFM to prevent getting to hot. Im more worried about condensation on them. It sure is better than the torpedo heater I was using. Man that thing was loud and annoying. If all goes well I should finish up the walls tomorrow if I don't get called away.

 

[ovrszd]

Your tools will only condense if they are hotter than the shop air.

 

[tman1020]

Got it started.

 

[GPintheMitten]

View attachment 450919

Got it started.

Great. It's going to be nice to have heat and insulation.

Do you have an air gap above the insulation to allow ventilation?

 

[ovrszd]

Looking good!!!!

If you haven't bought all of the insulation yet, I'd suggest buying rolls rather than pre-cut bats. Minimizes the splices you'll have. Be very, very diligent about leaving any gaps, even the smallest gaps.

As for ventilation. If the insulation stays up against the roofing you'll be okay. If it sags and creates air gaps between the insulation and sheeting then you'll have a problem. Can't tell for sure, but hopefully your insulation is thicker than your rafters?? If so sheeting under it will press it tight against the sheeting.

 

[tman1020]

I have a full vented attic above. I am buying rolls not batts. I'm just cutting up to the middle where I have some osb laid for storage i'm using R19 everywhere except for under the osb storage area which I will use R13 there. It was 30° here yesterday and I had about half the ceiling done. Before I turned on the heat it was 10° warmer in the building. It's 28° outside here now and I have my furnace set at 54 and it is cycling on and off even with a very large portion not insulated yet. It was kind of cool yesterday when I walked in as I walked right past the line where I had stopped insulating it was colder. Kind of like walking into a wall of colder air. I will try to be mindful of any and all air gaps. I'm not planning on heating this building all the time just on occasion when I need to work out there but who knows what the future holds. I figure I could always add more over the top of this if need be. But it is pretty Nice having a place that I can get warmer to work and I'm sure I'll use it more than I think now that I will have it.

 

[tman1020]

Well I just finished insulating the ceiling in the shop. What a huge difference. So far it has consistently stayed about 10° warmer in there without running the heater. When I do use the heater it heats up very quickly and holds the heat very well. Much nicer than my old kerosene torpedo heater. I thought I'd post this picture of another idea I came up with. I have a fan from an old furnace that I tore out that I had recently replaced the motor in. I mounted the fan in the ceiling of the barn to act as a ventilation fan. As I have it set up it should suck air out of the barn and push it into the attic. I thought this would be handy on hot days. I'm thinking it will draw hot air from the ceiling and push it into the attic and that should force some of the hotter air allready in the attic out the vents.