I just had a 28' x 40' pole barn built with a gambrel roof. I want to insulate it and contacted a guy that does closed-cell spray on insulation. I was floored by the cost of it. What are my options as far as insulating it goes? It is not "framed in" on the inside.
Thanks for any help you might have.
Prices for that sort of thing have gone way up. You could use sheets of either extruded or expanded polystyrene sheets. It should be covered with sheetrock to meet building codes. You want at least 2" so, to do the walls you need over 2000 board feet of material for the walls. For the best price, look for a foam fabricator rather than pay retail at a building supply or home center. If you are in New England I can point you to a couple of them.
For foam you do get what you pay for, higher R per inch, no air infiltration, no settling, no low temp or air degradation . Look at utility savings not just the cost, its like buying a Hummer and then bitching about gas, short sighted.
I wonder why.
Just poles and purlins? How about 1" "R6.8" double-foil polyiso board?
Around Phila, 4'x8' sheets cost about $16. With air gaps, the foils add about R3 to each side. You might glue square 1x3 spacers to the back with gobs of spray foam from a can, let that harden, then stick the board to the inside of the metal siding with more spray foam and foil-tape the seams.
For more cheapth, you might screw 2"x4" welded-wire fence to the inside of the poles with 1x3 cap strips and fill the 6" space between the fence and the siding with plastic bags containing dry leaves.
Then add Gary Reysa's $350 160 ft^2 solar barn heater, described at
Nick
Nick 1" foil faced poliso is R 7.2" not 6.8
I bought some stamped R7.2 last year. The latest batch is stamped R6.8.
Nick
Funny you should mention this stuff. I just put three sheets of it on the inside of my garage door. Just cut to fit into the panels and used 'construction adhesive' to attache the un-foiled side to the inside metal of the door panels. Figure between the foam and foil, should help keep the garage warmer. Don't deliberately heat it often, but with two car's worth of engine heat, it used to melt the snow off the car windows by morning most days. Hope with this foam (before was just uninsulated tin door), and the adjustments I made to reduce the draft around the door, it will be warmer this winter.
$15.97 at Lowes for 4x8 1" polyisosomethingorother. While one side is metal foil, the other is just 'sealed' with a plastic material.
daestrom
Home Depot and Lowes sell foil-1-side, but you can get it with 2 foils for about the same price from building supply places and save more heat that way if 2 airspaces are possible. One double-foil brand is Atlas Energy-Shield roof insulation.
Nick
I've been pretty happy with my purchase of rFoil from
I have a 23 x 40 pole barn and I cant decide on either spray foam or the Foil types. I also see several insulation foil types on ebay. I have heard about the cost of spray foam type insulation, and about the fire risk from both. I just want a cheap easy fix like the rest of you. I cant use the dried leaves either. it was a thought. lol I am really thinking about a radiant barrier, double foil faced with I believe it is a black mesh that is supposed to prevent the dust etc from degrading the foil reflection. I was told that I could install it underneath the truss.(so about 3 1/2 " from the metal roof and this would help against condensation also. I am not a carpenter by any means. staples? I could handle that. I guess that you would then also have to use the aluminum tape to seal the gaps? Would you vent this air gap on the top or sides of the end of the roof or would it just be a sealed pocket? just alot of questions and I didnt know what type is better. Thanks Ron
IMO, the fire risk is overblown. Covered with sheetrock, there is barely any risk at all. All foam insulation is made with fire retarding materials.
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