Pole Barn Insulation Help Needed

[Anonymous Poster]

What have others done to finish off the inside of their barns? My problems are the 2/6 trusses are spaced 8' apart, 24' by 48' ceiling needed. What kind of insulation in walls, etc.?

 

[nicklan]

I just finished one. My builder put on horizontal giders and skinned the whole inside- walls and ceiling with osb. 6" fiberglass in the walls 12" blown in the ceiling. Tyvek wrapped. Plastic sheeting under the ceiling osb.

Nick

 

[djradz]

I essentially created an inside 2x4 wall, flush with the inside of the poles, and then used 6" fiberglass insulation. I would have preferred to have the wall sprayed with styrofoam, but that would have cost more.

 

[PeteV]

Just finished my detached 24x30 garage, I had 6 ft between trusses, made some "beams" out of 2 by 4 for the full with of the garage(24 ft), put them in between the trusses and fastened them to the runners that hold the steel roof up. Each 24 ft long beam has 4 support points that way. Finished the walls and ceiling of the garage with steel siding(found a deal on some remnants). Used 4 inch insulation all around, would have loved to use thicker but it gets mighty $$ when you start looking at 6" or thicker (have a big woodburning stove, no problem keeping it heated)
thanks Pete

 

[cowboydoc]

For my walls I had just built the frame for the area that I wanted to be insulated. If you already have the barn built you can go back and put 2x6's in horizontally and then put insulation in between them. You can also use the blow in stuff and build your walls vertically. I used tongue and groove wood for my siding.

For the roof you can put a beam down the center and then use hangers and put a frame up to either nail to or hang steel. I hung steel for my ceiling. Then I blew insulation in on the top of it.

 

[cowboydoc]

On my shop I put styromfoam in between the purlins. That took a long time to do. You can also have insulation blown onto the steel itself. That's very expensive though, about $2/sq. foot.

 

[Darren]

If moisture laden air can get to the metal, you'll get some degree of condensation. Worse case, uninsulated metal skinned buildings can "rain" inside. Insulation can still allow the moisture to condense. The insulation has to seal the metal off from the air to avoid that. If you look at trusses in an uninsulated pole barn, the white traces on the lumber are from the dripping water. Even with insulation you can still have the condensation form and damage some types of insulating material.

Unless the insulation is put on before the roofing, the only method I know to guarantee no water problems after construction is complete is to use a spray-on insulation. The stuff is expensive. I've seen quotes of $2/ft. You can cut the cost by half if you purchase the foam and application equipment and do the work yourself.

The foam is packaged in everything from disposable cylinders the size of the small propane tanks used for gas grills to 55 gal. drums and sizes in between. If you're just using the space for storage, the ag foam board which can be cut to fit may work fine. If you're setting up a shop inside you might want to go with spray-on insulation.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I've got a 25 by 40 foot pole barn that was in the middle of being finished off when we bought the place. When I ran electricity out to it I had to rip into one of the walls the previous owner put up. The guy used rolls of fiberglass insulation stapled to the boards that run horizontally across the length of the barn. He did not put tyvek (or a similar product) against the outside wall before attaching the insulation. Is this going to be a problem? The inside is about half done and I was going to finish it this year. Do I have to tear down the areas the previous owner put up and install a moisture barrier? What future problems might crop up if I don't?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Bob

PS--I currrently do not heat the building, but it is something I was considering as my truck, tractors and small woodworking area are housed in the building.

 

[Darren]

Bob, my pole barn is the exact size as yours. I'm planning on setting up a workshop using two-thirds of the building. From everything I've found out you have to either prevent air from getting to the metal or use some sort of moisture barrier depending on the insulation.

This is a topic I'm always interested in.